US Customs

I ordered some Rink Grips on March10, from Pardini USA. I received an email yesterday from Pardini advising the grips have been held by US Customs since April 20. They said this is very unusual.  Has anyone else experienced this issue. I have ordered in the past, with no problems.

Trying to determine import duties, randomly

I have ordered many things from Europe (Canada is even worse) and the time in Customs seems to be completely arbitrary. 2 weeks and more is not unusual IMHO.

I expect that Pardini made a "bulk" order as they are the US agent for Rink. That probably makes things more difficult.

I have ordered direct from Rink many times - no problem with Import Duty, but sitting in Customs is usual.

Patience is needed.

Ordering direct from Nil and Rink, and one time I bought a rifle sight for a Walther KKM II, from Bulgaria.  All came quickly with no delay.
I never had a delay, not even from Ireland.

Had a two month wait for overseas grips to just sit in customs.  

Everyone runs around blaming everyone else.  

Then one day, the magical box gets checked on the right form by accident and the shipment gets released.

All parties take credit for that happening.

willnewton wrote:Had a two month wait for overseas grips to just sit in customs.  

Everyone runs around blaming everyone else.  

Then one day, the magical box gets checked on the right form by accident and the shipment gets released.

All parties take credit for that happening.

Ahh...use of proper lubricant helps!

It's usually green too!

bruce martindale wrote:It's usually green too!

Inferring that federal officers take bribes is pretty serious. Not something to joke around about, especially in these times of hate of law enforcement.

"Never ascribe to malice, that which can be adequately explained by incompetence"

Some of you guys may need a serious wake-up call.  I order stuff from overseas a lot not only for firearms but also older vintage motorcycles.  I don't mind waiting for items to clear Customs because I know they simply don't have near enough manpower to process shipments in as quick a manner as we may like.  It is mind blowing how much stuff comes thru this country from overseas on any given day.  Not only are these items coming to the States, they may just be passing thru on their way to another country.  And the concern for illegal products isn't just drugs and or money.  It can be agricultural products, art of various sorts, antiques, firearms and firearm parts, animal skins, shells, fish and on and on.  To complicate matters these goods come in via road, air and sea.  Customs has an impossible job to do in apprehending most, let alone all of these illegal goods, so the only thing they can do is "target" certain shipments coming from countries known to be sending questionable goods.  So sometimes the shipment with your super important items in it is in one of those questionable shipments and it sits waiting to get checked.  This may take several days or a few weeks, but I have only had one item I ordered not eventually show up.  In fact it was the fault of the post office who inadvertently sent it back to the sender.  And then of course lets really make things worse and include "priority" shipments that need immediate attention by Customs.  A very wise person once told me never to accuse or insinuate someone did something wrong without solid proof, otherwise you make yourself look like a fool.

Rick H.

Its been said they have two speeds so if you don't like this one you are really going to hate the other one.

Rick H. wrote:Some of you guys may need a serious wake-up call.  I order stuff from overseas a lot not only for firearms but also older vintage motorcycles.  I don't mind waiting for items to clear Customs because I know they simply don't have near enough manpower to process shipments in as quick a manner as we may like.  It is mind blowing how much stuff comes thru this country from overseas on any given day.  Not only are these items coming to the States, they may just be passing thru on their way to another country.  And the concern for illegal products isn't just drugs and or money.  It can be agricultural products, art of various sorts, antiques, firearms and firearm parts, animal skins, shells, fish and on and on.  To complicate matters these goods come in via road, air and sea.  Customs has an impossible job to do in apprehending most, let alone all of these illegal goods, so the only thing they can do is "target" certain shipments coming from countries known to be sending questionable goods.  So sometimes the shipment with your super important items in it is in one of those questionable shipments and it sits waiting to get checked.  This may take several days or a few weeks, but I have only had one item I ordered not eventually show up.  In fact it was the fault of the post office who inadvertently sent it back to the sender.  And then of course lets really make things worse and include "priority" shipments that need immediate attention by Customs.  A very wise person once told me never to accuse or insinuate someone did something wrong without solid proof, otherwise you make yourself look like a fool.

Rick H.

I also import goods for a living, and Rick H is 200% correct.

Some times it's two days and some times it's two months. Despite doing this all day every day, no connection I have will help things move faster. They clear when they clear.

Relax, you'll get your grips, or Rink will make you new ones.

Besides, anticipation is part of the excitement!

Rick H.

estuck wrote: the grips have been held by US Customs since April 20. 

This is not even three weeks, not unusual AT ALL.

I have two parcels from 4/23, two from 4/28 and one from 4/29 all waiting clearance.

Not bad at all really.  I shipped a handgun to Clark Custom Guns on a two day rate.  Charged me $65.00 and took almost two weeks to get from Wisconsin to Louisiana.  The poor thing sat in the Memphis FedEx terminal for most of the shipping time waiting to get cleared.  I had some strange notion that handguns had to go overnight, but guess I was wrong.  Oh and my motorcycle part that was accidentally sent back to Germany by the US Post Office was in-transit almost 8 weeks before it finally showed up on the senders doorstep in Germany.  It wasn't damaged because the seller packaged it very well, but the outer box looked like it went thru a war zone. I think what messed up that one wasn't Customs as much as the hand-off from DHL to our very own USPS who could never find it in their tracking system.  Dealing with USPS is an exercise in complete futility.  I finally got it when the seller went out of his way to send it via FedEx Priority.  Only took about two weeks for that trip. 

Rick H.

Wow! I just shipped 1000 Star HBWC’s USPS flat rate from Detroit to NY and it arrived in 2 days!

post office has gotten better,   but still not as good as it was last year, 


re the import, 

I bought some stuff from a guy in NZ a month or so ago, 

shipping time from NZ to US was a day, 
from Cali to Va,  took a week, 
no customs delay at all, 

maybe since the guy labeled the 1903 parts as typewriter parts,,,,

I ordered rink grips a few years ago and they sat in customs for 7 weeks.....  Waiting isnt fun but eventually they'll show up

Latest email from Pardini is the grips have been sitting in Customs in Miami since April 20th. Pardini says this is very unusual, however after reading the posts, maybe it is not. Apparently Customs does not have to give any explanation until June 22. Pardini advised if they are not released by the 22nd, then Rink will make another set of grips and ship them. Fortunately the grips are for a back up pistol.

Look at the bright side.  At least you know where your grips are. More than a few times I have ordered something only to be told it is "in transit to the next location" by the post office. Even they can't tell you where it is exactly and God Forbid it is a hand off shipment to them from another shipper.

Rick H.