NOTE TO OUR SWEDISH MEMBERS!

[Amon]

Hi!

 

I just wanted to put up a warning sign to our Swedish members.

Recently our post office started to reject swords much like Ems Japan did.

But this is worse since they reject them after they have arrived here with no notice.

This is a decision made up by themselfs and are against Swedish law.

Swords and sabers are by law allowed to bring in to the country.

 

I recently bought a sword which now I don't where it is any longer.

I only got a note home from the post office which was saying that the sword

was returned to the sender and that was just about everything.

 

A sword and money gone cause of silly decisions!

 

If bying, use another shipping method!

 

Best regards,

[watsonmil]

Dear John,

Excuse me John, ... but why would you look for a different shipper if it is lawful to have a sword shipped to you via the postal system ??

It would make more sense to what I used to call " Roast a Bureaucrat ". I've personally roasted a few in my life, ... even gave one a heart attack once. Bastard never worked again in his life as though he ever did. You go to your Member of Parliment and raise proper hell. If that doesn't work then go to the media, ... that always gets a Politician's attention. It's time Bureaucrat's become responsible for their actions, ... in this case the loss of your sword. Small debts court is a strong incentative to smarten up a Government department that steps out of line. I once sued the Minister of Agriculture for the Province of Manitoba. After a phone call from his office protesting my actions as being unheard of, .... I was promptly issued a cheque for the monies owed me. I did the same with the Explosives Branch on a FEDERAL level, ... and had a cheque in my hands within a couple of days ... SPECIAL DELIVERY no less. It's high time people realize that these are public servants, ... full of wind and generally stupid people. If they get put in their place occassionally they soon climb down off their bamboo supported ivory towers. I was trained and found it useful information if practiced without exception, .... the very best defence is to go right for your opponents throat ........ Ron Watson

[Daniel]

Lucky for me I didn't read this a few weeks ago before my sword arrived. About two weeks back I bought a sword from an nmb member in Ireland and that sword was delivered by the postal office without any problems. Did you order your sword from outside of EU? Maybe it just slipped trough customs since it it was ordered from another EU country and therfore the postal office didn't know what the package contained. Anyway thank you for letting us know because I'm just saving to buy a Nagamitsu. Regards Daniel

[Amon]

Hello Ron!

 

Excuse my bad english!

Sweden doesn't have any laws or regulations against importing swords.

What I meant was that starting rejecting swords are only a decision made

by the post office, not by our government etc like in the UK.

I just talked to the police office and they are saying that swords and sabers are perfectly

legal to bring in.

They couldn't answer why the post office suddenly started to reject swords but recommended

another shipping company.

And after a long to talk to the post office their explanation was that the new rule

was to protect their employes , from what? a sword that attacks them in a hurricane?

 

Thanks for the tip Ron! I am gonna claim money from our post office and I also

gonna email our customs here in Sweden and explain how much money they will loose

upon our post office decisions, see if they will jump on it.

 

Kind regards,

[Amon]

Your most welcome Daniel!

 

Great to hear that your sword reached it's destination.

After talking to the post office they said that their new rules is covering every

country, no matter EU or not.

But like you said so don't I think they check EU packages as hard as the ones outside EU.

 

Kind regards,

[Curgan]

About a month ago I had a sword sent to Sweden from the States and it arrived safe and sound. I think it is a bureaucrat, but since you have his signature at the letter can't you file a report on him or ask for an explanation?

[Amon]

Hello John!

 

I belive it is a matter of circumstances, what it says on the shipping handlings, which people that works just that moment etc and a great deal of luck from now on.

I talked to several friends that started to investigate this further with ending up with the same result: no more swords will be let in to Sweden by the swedish post office.

 

I also received a sword not long ago and had no problem at all with that shipment so that's why this is all so confusing.

 

Kind regards,

[Curgan]

Is it the swedish postal service that considers them dangerous to handle or is it a customs problem? In the first case you should be able to pick up the sword directly from customs or -in the worst case- choose FedEx or another courrier.

[Brian]

After talking to the post office they said that their new rules is covering every

country, no matter EU or not.

From that little snippet, I am genuinely scared that we are about to see a worldwide new policy from EMS themselves, to not take any edged weapons anymore. In the politically correct mess-of-a-world that we have nowdays, it would not surprise me at all. It would be a tragedy here, as all other methods are unreliable and expensive here in SA.

Pray I am wrong and paranoid... :?

 

Brian

[Amon]

Hi!

 

In fact it is the swedish post office that made up these new regulations, not the customs.

I have also talked to the swedish customs and they doesn't really understand this either.

Like I wrote earlier the post office says it is to protect their employes... .

 

The very bad thing in this is that they don't give you any chance to pick it up or somehing else like that.

I tracked my sword to Malmoe ( I live in stockholm ) and after two days I got a letter which said that the package was returned to the seller.

They didn't gave me any chance to pick it up, talk to them and explain what it was etc, they just sent it back.

 

 

Kind regards, John

[Daniel]

Hello John Please let us know how this mess ends.Regards Daniel

[Amon]

Hello Daniel!

 

I finally got a an tracking number from the post office and have now contacted

the seller after that.

Now it seems like it could be a kind of an happy ending on this story.

 

Kind regards,

[watsonmil]

Dear John,

I am happy to hear you have tracked down your sword. I do not however agree that your story has a happy ending. If as in most countries the Swedish PO is a Crown Corporation, or a Govenment controlled agency, .... then whomever decided to take it upon themselves to decide what the PO will and will not handle, .... unless authorized to do do so by the Governing body needs to have their bureacratic ass kicked. I suspect this is some pencil pushing moron who took it upon himself/herself to impliment rules without authorization. Perhaps I am wrong, ... but were it me ( as has happened in the past ), ... I would be on their case like s**t sticks to a blanket. You should be taking this up with the highest authorities possible, .... your member of Parliment. All may end well for you, ... but what about the next person ??? Do what I do and try to eat at least one bureacrat a week, ... it makes for better roughage for the digestion than oat bran ! .... Ron Watson

[Amon]

Hello Ron!

 

What I meant was that instead of have lost sword and money in to nowhere

at least I got something back.

No one had been happier than me if I had the sword in my hands instead.

 

This ain't over for me and several other collectors / practitioners that I know.

We are worried about the future and therefore we must react.

I also feel like you that it is a person who belives he/she has put up an excellent idea that

went terrible wrong.

 

 

 

Kind regards,

[watsonmil]

Dear John,

Thank you, .... I was hoping you and fellow collectors would follow up on this issue. It really is important to keep Government and the bureaucracy it entails working for us and not against us. Please keep us at the NMB posted.

Regards, ... Ron

[Daniel]

Hi I bought the book Japanese military and civil swords and dirks at ebay. Today I got a note that the package was returned to sender. The idiots thought the package contained a sword how retarded must one be to classifie a book as a sword. It has to be a very special and secret ninja sword if you can hide a sword in a package like that. I don't know wether to laugh or cry. But I do know that it's time to act, so to all the swedish members what do you say isn't it time to give them hell. Write to them, email them and phone them. Let us be a real pain in their arse. Regards Daniel

[Curgan]

I am having a sword sent to sweden and asked the seller to mark it as "martial arts equipment". I am curious whether it will be stopped or not. The sure thing is that immediately after I see that it has left the customs, I will have it picked up...

[Kevin]

A sword and money gone cause of silly decisions!

 

Worth while sueing them for the value of the sword?

 

Kevin

[Kevin]

But like you said so don't I think they check EU packages as hard as the ones outside EU.

 

I'vr been having a chat with a Swedish customer. It appears that airmail from Japan is reaching him faster than airmail from the UK. In fact it is frequently taking as long for an airmail packet to reach Swedish customers as it does for one to reach New Caledonia in the Pacific. We can get post to Bulgaria and Moscow faster. It is not just sword items either - my partner finds that haberdashery items sent to Sweden take forever to be deliverd. Other on-line sellers have their own similar stories.

 

Now Japanese items have a Customs form. The Swedish post office can see what is inside. Mail from the EU doesn't need a Customs form, so they've no idea what's inside. My guess is that they are running the whole lot through a scanning machine to see if there's anything inside of which they disapprove. Result - backlog.

Kevin

[Kevin]

In the first case you should be able to pick up the sword directly from customs or -in the worst case- choose FedEx or another courrier.

 

In the UK Fedex or UPS won't carry swords on the grounds that they are weapons. Both companies scan all exports to see if there's anything in there that shouldn't be. If there is, they'll send it straight back to the despatcher, which is why I no longer use either. In fact you won't be able to get a sword carried by the UK branch of either firm. UPS in Japan won't apparently carry them either.

 

I would imagine that the Swedish post office is using the same technology. It is fairly ubiquitous, and you just put things on a conveyor belt, like at the airport. If such technology wasn't available, the Swedish post office would not have the resources to check every parcel, so they'd be unable to impose a blanket ban on items. I'd imagine that they argued for introducing such technology for 'security reasons' to fight 'terrorism'. Lots of things got introduced that way. Also makes money for the firms that make the equipment.

 

Kevin

[paulb]

Kevin,

Is this a sudden change with Fedex? Over the past couple of years I have had swords imported to and have sent swords out of the UK using Fedex. They have always been relatively trouble free.

I know UPS refuse to carry swords, antique or otherwise as I think do DHL, but till now Fedex havent ever been a problem.

 

Other than them I have used one specialist antique shipper to send stuff out of the UK and again they have been good so far.

If anyone wants their details please pm me.

regards

Paul

[Kevin]

Is this a sudden change with Fedex? Over the past couple of years I have had swords imported to and have sent swords out of the UK using Fedex. They have always been relatively trouble free.

I know UPS refuse to carry swords, antique or otherwise as I think do DHL, but till now Fedex havent ever been a problem.

 

I phoned them a couple of years ago and had a categoric refusal. OTOH, they have no problems delivering swords picked up in the US.

 

You can try Fedex, but I've long since gone to an international shipping firm specialising in fine arts.

 

Kevin

[Curgan]

What upsets me is the fact that a perfectly well packaged sword will be returned on the grounds of "safety". It would be easier -and safer for him- for a villain to use a shotgun shortened or not, rather than a sword....

 

... which reminds me the scene with Indiana Jones at the indian mine

[Amon]

Well, a friend of mine got his Iaito sent back so now even books and

blunt weapons are deadly as a white shark according to Swedish post office.

 

What I think is that they need a proper education!!!

 

I've have spoken both to the Swedish police and customs and there is nothing they

could do since every shipping company can make their own rules.

 

But after some good advice from Ron me and others are moving upwards to reach some sort of results.

 

I'm hoping other members will follow!

 

Kind regards,

[Kevin]

But after some good advice from Ron me and others are moving upwards to reach some sort of results.

 

I'm hoping other members will follow!

 

There's a Swedish customer of mine who hadn't heard about the restrictions (till today) and is now hopping mad over this. He's going to research the issue himself and if it comes out as expected, he's going to make waves. Want me to put him in touch with you, Amon?

 

Incidentally, I could go through my Swedish customers and contact them about this, but I think it is more efficient to put a little notice on my website for the benefit of Swedish customers and flag up this thread. I'll do that asap - however, right now I'm fighting off a bug, so I need sleep and strange potions. :-/

 

Kevin

[Amon]

Yes Kevin, that would be great!

[Kevin]

Write to them, email them and phone them. Let us be a real pain in their arse.

 

Don't forget to make it very public. No organisation likes to be made to look a fool in public.

 

Kevin

[Curgan]

In Sweden the media have great power as I am informed...

[Kevin]

I've got an idea of a possible approach - a few years of having worked in a press office - but it will have to gestate overnight cos I'm fighting a bug off.

 

Kevin