Ordering from Lego.com in the UK

[Hellfire]

Hi, I don't see this already covered here but wondered if people knew where goods are despatched from when using the official Lego site in the UK? I'd always assumed they at least had some sort of distribution centre here.

I had an order despatched a week ago and was, naively, expecting it within a couple of days. The DPD tracking info is scrappy and suggests that it started in the UK but then went to Belgium for some reason.

I know with all the chaos currently going on that I should probably have been prepared for this, but still...

Anyone else in the same boat?

[MAB]

A lot of it comes via Germany/Netherland/Belgium. The DPD routes are opening up again so even though there will be delays, they seem to be getting through now.

[Hellfire]

Thanks MAB. I'm guessing the DPD site is messed up, then.

[Toastie]

10 hours ago, Hellfire said:

Thanks MAB. I'm guessing the DPD site is messed up, then.

I am not sure about the "messed up" issue.

It all depends on what postal service the goods from the UK, beginning 0:00, Jan 1st. 2021, are "handed" over to in foreign territories.

I ordered some computer vintage stuff just before Christmas, and it arrived here without glitch with DPD a couple of days later, even within the pandemic situation. Same happened with Deutsche Post. Ordered some other items on Jan 4, 2021 from the UK. The vendor let me kindly know that he has sent off the envelope on Jan 5 via Royal Mail. They in turn told me via tracking that the item "had left the UK" on Jan 8 and that it was handed over to Deutsche Post. And then it was gone for good. Today, Jan 13 (as every day the past week, 100€ will always be a lot of money to me) I tried to track the envelope again, and the Deutsche Post website said: "As this is a Non-EU parcel, it is waiting for inspection at customs/Frankfurt airport. Be patient."

This is the usual stuff happening now; I guess there is a serious disruption in many regards. And surely as expected. I also believe they all have to sync extensively software etc. pp. with customs.

It is what it is.

Best
Thorsten

[jus1973]

On 1/13/2021 at 12:04 PM, Hellfire said:

Hi, I don't see this already covered here but wondered if people knew where goods are despatched from when using the official Lego site in the UK? I'd always assumed they at least had some sort of distribution centre here.

I had an order despatched a week ago and was, naively, expecting it within a couple of days. The DPD tracking info is scrappy and suggests that it started in the UK but then went to Belgium for some reason.

I know with all the chaos currently going on that I should probably have been prepared for this, but still...

Anyone else in the same boat?

It appears we’re in the same boat.  I placed an order on the 1st Jan, Lego took their time and ‘shipped’ it on the 5th.  Looking at DPD it was authorised in Oldham UK on the 5th, and then registered in Belgium on the 6th, and it hasn’t shifted since.  I e mailed them yesterday to find out what the problem is, as they sent me an e mail on the 6th stating delivery in 2 working days, which would have been 8th, perhaps 11th latest.  I’m sure its a mixture of Brexit and Covid issues, but an e mail to let us know would have been welcome.

[MartyMcFly]

I got one package today.  Two weeks since I order it.  Still waiting for the second package, strange because they were ordered the same time.

[Toastie]

Mine came in today (16 16k x 1 bit and 8 64k x 1 bit dyn. RAM chips, @Duq knows what will happen now, the soldering iron is heating up).

Total time in transit: 13 days; of these 8 days time to mature in German customs. Caused by a) Brexit of course and b) the speed of German customs of course (so Covid needs not to be involved here at all: The moment a package falls into German customs hands, praying to the Gods of Customs and Speedy Release, wherever they reside, is a very good idea). As long as the UK was part of the EU, Germans did what they were told to do: Just get it delivered without even looking. Since 1.1.2021 the UK is not EU and Germans do what they have been told to do: Hand it over to German customs. And then - see above.

Oh well, the package has surfaces from deep waters of German customs - and I am very happy.

All the best
Thorsten

 

[Duq]

I'm in Ireland, not the UK, but we're also affected as we get our sets by DPD from Belgium.

DPD seems to have now figured out that the landbridge through the UK is no longer a smart option and are now using ferries direct from Rotterdam to Ireland. Unfortunately a good few of us have been caught out with orders that were shipped last week in December and first week in January. One of my parcels shipped from Belgium on new year's eve and has been in DPD's Hinckley depot since new year's day. It's been marked as 'Return to Sender' for 5 days now (because of customs issues) but is still in Hinckley...

@Toastie Had my iron out the other day to redo the wires in a Technic battery box that needed cleaning after leaking batteries. Next project: Dirt Crusher remote control :-(

[Thomas_w]

I had an order in on the 1st Jan for England, it got dispatched on the 13th and the DPD tracker suggested it was held for customs clearance for 2 days. Was not expecting it to be so long, but given the huge changes with regards to Brexit and also the global pandemic I think it is justified and understandable. Feels like the UK had taken a huge step back though. 

[MartyMcFly]

Finally got the Police Station today.  19 days.  And the box was damp.

[paul_delahaye]

Ordered mine on the 1st as well, and it took about 2 weeks.  At least I did not get hit with a Duty or VAT invoice on delivery, so we should consider ourselfs lucky!

[Gorki247]

9 hours ago, paul_delahaye said:

Ordered mine on the 1st as well, and it took about 2 weeks.  At least I did not get hit with a Duty or VAT invoice on delivery, so we should consider ourselfs lucky!

You shouldn't get an Duty or VAT invoice at all on orders from LEGO. VAT is calculated during checkout, and paid as normal. Import duty is not really our concern as we order from the UK site. The fact that LEGO ships decides to ship those orders from abroad is their issue, and they account for that in the cost of the products here.

It's detailed on their site actually:

Quote

When you make a purchase on the LEGO® Shop, any applicable customs, duties and taxes are included in the order total you see when you click ‘checkout’. There’s no need to worry about any additional or unexpected charges!

Edited January 24, 2021 by Gorki247

[Toastie]

14 minutes ago, Gorki247 said:

Import duty is not really our concern as we order from the UK site.

I believe it was more of concern for folks ordering from outside the UK. As of Jan. 1st this year every item coming from the UK to Europe arrives at customs and is treated as if it were from outer space. Just because it is how it is. Then they check all these items from outer space and find the one from UK. After quite some time of course - as there are so many parcels arriving from outer space. In case of outer space parcels they apply duties and so on, and then you are busted as that parcel is not delivered to you but to the nearest customs clearance office equipped with a cash register. The usual crazy stuff.

As of now though, who knows what happens in the coming months/years, the UK parcel is cleared and then handed over to the postal delivery service. At that point, you'll have to wait for a day, max. two.

Before Jan. 1st, a parcel from the UK was - handed over to the postal service, Royal Mail or whatever company you were dealing with, was cooperating with. Which I found very reasonable. Because a day or two after that you had it in your hands.

The moment they will send parcels from the UK via customs to a German Zollamt, I will never order from the UK anymore. Not because of the UK, but because a German Zollamt is - for me - a place of a time in space, where I simply don't want to be, not for a second, not in the 21st century.

Best
Thorsten

 

 

[jus1973]

Finally got my police station on the 20th. It spent a total of 14 days with dpd.  At least it all arrived in good order.

[djhuk]

just to add to the pile of anecdotes, I ordered a set on the 16th January, then it shifted to "In the Warehouse" for a few days, then "shipped" on the 22nd.

DPD tracking page said it was in Mechelen, Belgium for a long time, then eventually it turned up at my door yesterday (30th Jan)

Quite a long turnaround I hope they can improve on that in the future!

[Alexandrina]

Anecdotally I think things are speeding up again slowly. Like many, I ordered bright and early on January 1st (for the Herbology book and the re-released Ship in a Bottle). These were In Warehouse by the end of the weekend, but didn't then ship for about three weeks (once they'd shipped, it was no slower than normal - the delay just seemed to be that processing period).

Around the same time (actually I think the day after that order arrived) I had a notification that the Skull Sorceror's Dungeons - which I'd had on backorder since last November - was back in stock, and that they would send it shortly. That was in the warehouse for about two or three days before shipping, and again the actual shipping time was no slower than normal.

That said, I've noticed that DPD's live tracking doesn't seem to be working any more. I last used it for Lego in the late summer, as I had an appointment elsewhere during part of my hour window and wanted to know when to send someone to guard the box for me. It worked fine then. On both of my 2021 deliveries, there's been no live tracking at all. I'm not sure if that's Lego changing their practices for setting up the order, DPD changing their practices for delivering, or me changing a setting somewhere and not realising. It's also the ultimate First World Problem, but still...

[ks6349]

Why not ordering on Amazon.co.uk, they ship from UK and you'll get it quickly

[MAB]

2 minutes ago, ks6349 said:

Why not ordering on Amazon.co.uk, they ship from UK and you'll get it quickly

Because LEGO have exclusive sets that amazon do not sell.

[djhuk]

For this particular set I wish I had ordered from amazon as they could get it to me in < 24 hours, but by that point the Lego order had passed the point of no return (in terms of cancelling the order) so I had to wait 2 weeks to get it.

but yeah amazon doesn't have everything.