British_in_Brooklyn

I've filled a basket on BCS.co.uk and I was just reading through the FAQs and now I'm a bit nervous about customs - both additional charges and whether or not items will be allowed through.

I've only ordered from a place that had already imported everything and shipped from the US, I now realise that this place ships from the UK.

Has anyone placed an order with them? Any experiences to share? Good or bad?

Thanks!

SanDiegogirl

I've order Christmas foods from the UK for years. No problems at all.

Anyone who ships from the UK has all the necessary customs procedures sorted out.

Sue

Give Amazon a try, it's amazing the British stuff that you can get with next day delivery these days.

We've just ordered 14 tubs (yes 14 ... long story, we aren't eating them all promise) of Quality Street, that are getting delivered tomorrow.

Pulaski

We buy very little by way of British groceries, but have been buying Heinz beans through Amazon at a pretty good price (two thirds of what we could buy them for locally), and free shipping.

CA-NY

I just had an order from British Corner Shop. Took around 9 days to arrive, it was delivered by USPS (Parcelforce on the UK end). No customs or extra charges to pay on delivery.

ottotheboar

I had a shipment from British Online Supermarket rejected by customs as the forms were incorrect, FedEx had sent them several messages but they were shut down for around two weeks over the Christmas holidays and did not respond to FedEx or my messages. The shipment was sent back to the UK and destroyed. I was out of pocket and they were very unhelpful blaming me for not reading the fine print indicating they were closed over Christmas. Needless to say I have never dealt with them again.
The only other issue I had was with a case of Wispas and some other Cadburys items were snagged at the height of the Cadbury controversy but the broker resubmitted the entry and it cleared.

MorsePacific

Another vote for Amazon. I wanted to see if I really missed Heinz Beans so ordered 8 cans. They showed up the next day! I've got some salad cream on order too ...

robtuck

Had a delivery from britishcornershop last week, no issues with customs. Got another one coming next week hopefully.

British_in_Brooklyn

Thanks for your input, everyone. As it's quite close to Christmas I've decided to order from the US website for now, but I appreciate your help. Thanks.

British_in_Brooklyn

Thanks for the help, I've decided not to risk it this close to Christmas.

Jerseygirl

Can you not get all your Christmas goodies from the various British shops in NYC? I found several stores in NJ where I could pick up British goodies...especially around Christmas.

British_in_Brooklyn

Thanks.

We've not sourced anywhere local that has a proper supply of things and the odd things that we have found have been quite expensive. I'm sure we'll find somewhere by next year.

We've made an order with an online shop that ships from the US, to take away the unknown customs factor this time around. It's not really stuff we *need* but it'll be nice for us to have a few home comforts (...Birds trifle) because it's our first Christmas away from home.

Jerseygirl

I understand that...when I found stores where I could get a ‘Brit. fix’ it went a long way in helping me get over homesickness. There are several BE members who have lived and worked in NYC...maybe they will be able to recommend a few local suppliers.

Good luck.