DutchNibbles

Hi,

First time posting and any help would be appreciated.

I have read that it is very likely that boxes containing CDs, DVDs, Books, Games etc. will be inspected and items maybe confiscated (destroyed) or sent back to origin.

Does anyone have any experience of items being confiscated and what are the items I should be aware of? I have a large collection of the above; music is hip-hop/rap, latin, jazz, dance/house, rock etc. (a wide range) and the same for movies, action, drama, horror, sci-fi. Games are things like Batman: Arkham Asylum, GTA, Uncharted, Dead Space, Rock Band...

Are there any particular artists, albums, titles that are more likely to cause offence and be taken away and that I should simply remove and not ship?

As an added thought, are there any regulations or checks on Hard Drives and home computers, as many of the cds have been ripped to MP3?

Thank you for the help.

Bob

Might get some luck searching out past threads on the topic as I'm pretty sure it has come up a few times, one fairly recent, thought I think that was else where in the UAE.

Welcome to BE though

Sandboy

never heard of any problems - daft things like books on wine, "marital aids" and items made in Israel being confiscated from luggage at the airport but not from shipments, they probably can't be arsed to check

just don't pack any "Frankie Vaughan" or candles ( they melt while they sit on the docks)

archie159

I don't think anything in our container was checked when it came in last autumn - certainly there were no signs of anything being opened. I'd be amazed if they ever got as far as checking hard-drives etc. I've heard rumours of DVD boxes occasionally being rummaged, but I don't think I've ever heard of anything being confiscated.

Agree with comments about candles etc melting. Also the heat seems to discolour some light coloured plastic - radios, computer speakers & monitors, and a number of other white or cream-coloured plastic-encased electronic items all came out of the container with a nasty discolouration (though they still worked fine). Anything which won't stand 50+ degrees heat, while sitting in a metal box in the direct sun, shouldn't be shipped.

Oyibopeppeh

They went through and opened every single box in our shipment, broke a load of CD cases and confiscated madame's toys...

archie159

They must have thought you were a particularly dodgy person...! I can't find anyone amongst my colleagues (I've just asked a few in the office who moved here after me) who had their container checked, at least as far as they could tell.

DutchNibbles

Thanks for the replies.

It seems then, that there is a low chance of them checking. I guess I can use my own caution if there are any items I am particularly concerned about and I would rather keep and not risk being taken away or damaged. My wife has a collection of vinyls with some rare examples and it would be bad if they removed or damaged any of these!

Great information about candles and light coloured plastics. I would have never thought about that.

lullabelle

Wish I'd known about the candles... Bloody mess that was. if I'd packed up the house I'd have left them anyway, but the husband did it.

Funnily enough our leather sofas didn't handle the hot container very well and started cracking and peeling after their seven week ordeal in a giant metal box. Might be something to think about if you have an expensive one - mine were shipped in August/September and then left on the dock for a week while my company arsed about not paying the shipping company.

Our packers didn't take our indian god collection but that was it. Even a book called "The God Delusion" slipped through. Nothing appeared to have been opened.

Autonomy

The heat will warp your vinyl - I'm pretty sure about that. I shipped my 1,000+ vinyl out in winter to avoid the heat. Personally, I would not chance any time from March to November for vinyl if you are worried about it.

Oyibopeppeh

The PRO told me that when they X-rayed the container they found a load of bottles packed inside. Correct, they were empty bottles which I use for my home brew.

Anyhow, it was a red rag to a bull so they tore into the lot.

Patsy Stoned

My container was searched, they took a box of dvds to check and gave them back about a week later. They stole my rabbit :-( They opened every single box...they even ripped open the bottom of my sofas and chairs! I just think that because the container went via Turkey it was singled out. All my stuff was delivered to me on the back of a couple of open trucks, God knows what happened to my container!!!

mikewot

Didn't you bring it out with you in it's hutch?

britexpat76

Maybe it 'hopped' out the back of the open truck.

Saff_Parker

Not sure how relevant this is now but when I moved out to the Gulf in the late 90s, all our boxes full of DVDs and books were inspected. Several kid's movies were "confiscated" haha

Saff

Norm_uk

Well they confiscated my entire collection of Zionist poetry and my extensive medieval dildo collection has yet to be returned.

Oddly enough my crusader outfit was allowed through though.

N.