The Breitling Watch Source Forums

The topic of shipping watches from the UK to overseas has been discussed on here many times. Royal Mail, ParcelForce, UPS, DHL, FedEx etc all seem to specifically exclude watches from items they will insure. I've just sold my B-1 and need to get it to Denmark so after the usual rigmarole of going round in circles on the Royal Mail site, I looked for alternatives.

I found that Mail Boxes Etc http://www.mbe.co.uk/pack_ship/specialist.aspx will insure watches and, rather than have to spend ages working it out on a web site, I was able to call the local branch and have chat with a guy who talked me through all the options. It seems MBE are able to send watches insured via UPS and whilst its not cheap (£78 for 3 day delivery/£85 overnight), it's a damn site easier than all the faffing around trying to find a courier who will insure the watch yourself.

Hope this info will be of use to others.

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You're damn right it will be useful, Sharky! Nice one!

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Thanks Mr Shark,

I've had this same issue in the past.

This seems like a nice solution.

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In the US, Mail Boxes Etc. was bought out by UPS and are now called The UPS Store. They are awesome for shipping high value items, as since they're a part of UPS, their insurance claims canNOT be denied (which is absolutely NOT the case if you were to insure the same item yourself with UPS).

The ** KEY ** (and this is VERY important), is that The UPS Store ** MUST ** also wrap/package the item (additional cost), as presumably they're trained by UPS to best protect your item for shipment by UPS.

This applies for insurance claims for both damaged in transit as well as lost, especially for fragile items like crystal and paintings. But I've found it provides the best peace of mind for just about any items with a high insured value.

At least this was my experience in the US. Hope this helps

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a few Pams...

Hi,

My B1 was shipped from Belfast to Ostend - Belgium with ParcelForce last week and they 'lost' it. Contacting ParcelForce say's they give it at FedEx for shipment. Contacting FedEx say's they never got it from parcelForce

Thanks to forum-user (and seller) Willows they 'found' the package back and its back to the sender. Problem was that my address was not correct
Everything was 100% correct on the box and shipping documents. We pay't over £ 100 shipping cost and now the Breitling is back where it started.

So ParcelForce service is VERY bad !!!

Now we try to send it with Mail Boxes Etc and UPS and hope it all go's well this time. Let you know next week if it workout fine.
Lucky we got it back from ParcelForce because the B1 is a LE edition.

Thanks again to Willow for all the efforts to send the B1 and locate it back from ParcelForce.

So warning: never use ParcelForce for shipment because the service is realy BAD !!!

Looking forward for my B1

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Superocean Héritage Chronograph

i was just about to say to use parcelforce, the express can get to the states in 1 day, and if it does not you get 100% of your money back

which service did you send it on? because you might be able to get compenstation for it not getting there

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Brietling SO SF - Blue Dial

It was send with Global Express secure shipping (for £ 1500)

According ParcelForce who like to give it to FedEx there was a problem with my address and they could not ship it.
My address was 100% correct and a simple click in Google Maps show it.

After open a claim we could find the package in the warehouse of Parcelforce and it was NEVER been at FedEx ...
tracking.nr. 794005697276 (FedEx.com)

We pay't £ 101 for shipping a ParcelForce and they did nothing with the package.

I will tell Willow to claim the shipping costs back.

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Superocean Héritage Chronograph

did you do it at a post office or direct?

if at the post office they are meant to get you to fully fill in the cp72 customs dec that has both your address and the delivery address AND both phones numbers for both parties so that they can contact you if needed and sort any problems out. If this was not all done then i would want my 100% shipping costs back

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Brietling SO SF - Blue Dial

It's the same for MBE in the UK, they will insure watches at a percentage of the value but they must wrap it in their approved packaging.

I've always been lucky sending and receiving watches from all over the world, never lost one. However, it is a risk and a nail biting time whilst waiting. Apart from the Cosmonaute (when it goes) I think my selling days are over now as I'm happy with the current collection as it is.

Stef

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New nightmare?

Breitling B1 was given to MBE at friday, just after deadline of UPS that day.

They going to send it with UPS Express Save and will send us the tracking number on monday. Shipping was £111 for 1-2 day delivery. Yesterday we received nothing from MBE and so we cannot track it at UPS

Let's hope all go's well this time, its a real horror story to get the watch from Ireland to Belgium ... this is the second time we try to ship te watch and it takes a long time now. The watch should be here sins last week ... this is no express anymore. Already pay't + £200 at shipping costs now.

Hoping for good news today

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Superocean Héritage Chronograph

Hmmm. I wondered what happened to my local MBE store. Turns out I was doing right all along. All the watches I shipped were packed by the local UPS store/insured through them, etc... They charge about $9 US to pack a watch box perfectly. Sending a watch insured for $2500 CONUS is about $110 including packing.

Only beef - they don't sell stamps. Come on.

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SHARKMAN

Day 16 of this horror:

Mail Box Etc Belfast 'forgot' to ship my Breitling with UPS Express Saver.
( = Next business day delivery during the day to almost all European business centres)

After several faxes to MBE i finally got a tracking number en they promise delivery tomorow ...

What is going on with all those shipping company's. We pay a lot for a fast delivery, in one week, two companies could not ship in 24u .. one even 'lost' the package, the other 'forgot' to ship ...

I'm still waiting to see my watch ... and waiting ... and waiting ....

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Superocean Héritage Chronograph

*Long rant. Apologies*

Yes, wvynck and I have had a bit of a nightmare getting a watch to Belgium. I originally sent the watch with ParcelForce (Global Express) from my local post office, who then passed it on to FedEx to go to Belgium, but somewhere along the line the box "wasn't scanned" and it was "missing paperwork". The tracking info had gone dead and no one from FedEx OR ParcelForce could give me an answer on the whereabouts of the box. Both wvynck and I were in contact with the ParcelForce International search team (dum dum dum!!) AND my local PF depot. They told me the package had definitely left the depot, but without the tracking info, I should go ahead and fill out a claims form. Oh no....

In the process of filling out said form, thinking the watch was gone, I found out that even with the extra PF insurance, their compensation actually excludes watches! I had specifically asked about this in the Post Office and was told the extra insurance would cover this item. There was no mention of a cp72 customs form or anything like that.

Anyway, to keep this short - the box turned up eventually! It was missing for over a week before it came back to the ParcelForce depot here in Belfast via FedEx! There was ParcelForce and FedEx documents all over it. Where had it been all that time? I have no idea! Thankfully, it was unopened and there was no damage.

The PF/FedEx excuse for losing the package? "Address details incomplete", supposedly!! Both wvynck and I confirmed that the address details were 100% correct. I had sellotaped an A4 sheet of paper with wvynck's details in large font on the top of the box. This was covered in sellotape, so it couldn't be torn off. The edges of the box were secured with parcel tape. It was VERY well packaged. The details were all correct and VERY clearly displayed on the top of the box, along with the shipping documents on the side.

Anyway, ParcelForce were then supposed to send the box back to me, but in the end I had to actually go and collect it from their warehouse depot!!! ARgh!!

At this point, I was happy to offer wvynck his money back. I was a little worried about sending it again, but we decided to go ahead and try a different courier. The day before sending, I had seen this thread and decided to use MBE/UPS. The guy in the MBE store was very helpful. He photographed the watch, the boxes and all the papers. I was late in delivering the box to the store on Friday, but it was guaranteed to be sent Monday for next day delivery. On Monday afternoon, I phoned the MBE store to confirm the tracking details, thinking it would all go smoothly this time. Nope!! The guy in the MBE store "forgot" to send the package!! I could have throttled him!! He contacted me the next day to apologise and assured me it would be sent Tuesday afternoon for delivery on Wednesday (today!), and thankfully it has arrived safe and sound! It was a day late, but there were no shipping problems this time! Fast delivery and good tracking info from UPS.

Moral of the story? Always check that your packages are 100% covered! Avoid ParcelForce/Global Express/FedEx like the plague! Although there was a slight hiccup with MBE, I would definitely use them again. It's good to know they cover expensive items (including watches!). UPS service was excellent.

The watch arrived to it's new owner in the end! Thanks again, wvynck! You've been very patient these past few weeks!

And cheers Sharkmouth for the heads up on MBE. I owe you one!

Any special considerations for sending from US to UK? Thanks!

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