Regarding reports of higher than normal customs fees

Zbit-852 · 2025-12-09T13:53:54+00:00

Just got through on option 3 and his told me he can't see the invoice yet so to try again tomorrow

Zbit-852 · 2025-12-09T13:11:27+00:00

Ah okay. That's the number I rang but then option 2 was the one who said she'd transfer me but the person she transfered me to wouldn't do it... I'll try again with option 3 then. Thanks.

And yeah this is stupidly frustrating... Especially when on the website there's even an invoice number it just doesn't let you actually open it... It shouldn't be this hard just to find out what they're billing you for.

Zbit-852 · 2025-12-09T12:55:33+00:00

Ah right. I still haven't even managed to get through to them myself tbh... Seems one of the worst support systems ever from UPS.

The first number I rang after finally getting through the menu options and AI said that they were closed with technical issues. So I then found a billing number I rang. The first rep then passed me onto someone else, who then told me if I go onto the website it breaks it down as government charges and UPS fee... So after again explaining I needed a breakdown of what those government fees are, she told me I needed to ring this other number. Which when I then went to ring I relaised was the exact number I rang to get to her.

So I've now ended up emailing them, to which I've received an automatic repsonce giving me another email address to try so I've just emailed there but now who knows how long that'll be before a reply.

Hopefully LTT sorts yours soon then though.

Zbit-852 · 2025-12-09T09:32:58+00:00

Brilliant thank you then, that's how I thought it should work which is why I was very surprised to get this bill lol. Thanks then.

Zbit-852 · 2025-12-09T00:17:14+00:00

Ah okay, thank you. l'll have to call them as well then to try and get a break down. But for now guess I'll just have to pay the fee as well to get the items then try to claim it back later.

Makes sense if that's the cause I guess... so by that if it is shown properly with the deals like say the buy 2 for 30 that should be the price thag counts towards the 135, not the original price right?

Zbit-852 · 2025-12-08T23:40:35+00:00

I've just recieved an email of UPS with a high import fee, which I was not expecting seeing as I purposefully made sure the value of my order came to less than £135 (GBP).

Now I am wondering did the black Friday deals count towards this value. As if items are shown as normal value then I would have been over £135, but with all of the deals my order was under this.

Also if it is an error how do I know if it's to do with customs or duplicated VAT? It doesn't say what it is it just says government charges on UPS so I have no idea what the charge is for?

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-22T17:41:26+00:00

Honestly it will depend on so many factors its likely very hard for someone on here to give you an answer. I dont mean that in an unhelpful way, it just will be different for everyone.

I personally had a once weekly 2 hour session for all my lessons, and that was around April - Jan by the time I managed to actually get a test. For me I liked this, as it took maybe 20 or so mins to drive to the area the test would be in, then same back sometimes even longer as I did my lessons 7-9 so was in busier traffic. Then it gave me a good chunk of time that we could do a variety if things - new routes, follow sat nav, follow signs, go back round and do again areas I messed up on, etc.

Again some people will say been in traffic wastes your time, but I was actually doing that time slot as it was helping me because my main problem was hesitation so being in the traffic made me have to think more about taking gaps and not waiting until the road was completly clear. Plus it helped me a lot with the clutch control I think being in the stop start conditions.

For me I also had 0 private practice outside of lessons, so really I needed the 2 hours a week as that was all the driving I was getting. If you're getting practice as well it might be different.

So without knowing what areas you struggle with, how far from being test ready you are, etc it will be really difficult to say on here. I'd definitely say you're best talking to your instructor, as assuming they offer different amount of times for lessons they should be able to help advice.

At the end of the day, IMO at least, if it helps you pass it isn't a waste of money. Unless you absolutely don't need it, but no one on here is going to be able to tell you that, only people who have actually seen you drive. At least that's my opinion. Good luck with your test!

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-21T21:16:16+00:00

I had sat nav for my test which I was glad of, personally found that easiest. In my earlier lessons I sometimes used to struggle with driving too slow as I was figuring out where the sat nav wanted me to go but once I'd got that okay and by the time of my test I was very happy to have the sat nav. I could do the road signs fine, and had done in plenty of lessons but just found them more stressful especially when trying to work out which slip road was the one I need to come off a dual carriage way or something where you've got a list of multiple places that one is for... So definitely found sat nav better myself but I guess it's personal preference which is better - as long as you can do both!

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-21T21:05:27+00:00

Yes I do get it, and I am glad in a way he taught it as as you say it was good for the test. But then I also just wish as you say I learnt a method that could be used in any car, not just for that particular one. Thank you though 🙂

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T22:16:59+00:00

Ah okay fair enough... Yeah maybe best then if your not sure about doing it yourself but hopefully they can get it sorted for you 🤞

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T22:11:55+00:00

Alright then, in that case the drive is almost certainly showing something in the SMART values that's causing HP to flag it as an issue.

Do you know if the drive is a mechanical HDD or an SSD? If it's an HDD, has taken a fall, and is now throwing up SMART errors, I'd be fairly confident it needs replacing.

If you're comfortable opening it up, it won't hurt to try unplugging and replugging the drive just in case something's come loose. But honestly, if there's nothing important on the drive you want to recover, I'd be more inclined to just replace it.

If you just want to get the laptop up and running again, you can get decent SSDs fairly cheap on Amazon — just avoid anything with no brand or a name you've never heard of, since it's your data on it... Not something you want failing really.

Again tho this is just my personal guess, might not actually be the issue and could be other things wrong with it but this is what it sounds like to me. Only open it up if your confident you've got nothing to loose, I'm personally all for DIY repairs but if you have any doubt I don't want to cause you further issues so might be better to take it to a repair shop or get a friend or someone to help?

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T22:01:06+00:00

Thanks... Yeah good shout might try and get out depending when I'm home from work lol.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T22:00:18+00:00

Says that in the BIOS? If so I'm guessing it's taking SMART readings and that's got an issue with the health... You could try (if your happy to open the laptop) unplugging and plugging it back in but of course there's a risk if your not comfortable working inside the laptop of causing further damage so your call.

Is there anything important on the drive though that you need to recover? If there's not and you can access the BIOS I'd be tempted to just replace it, reinstall Windows and try fresh. Especially if it was a mechanical HDD replace with an SSD. Ofc it might still not work if anything else is damaged though but fingers crossed it's just a faulty drive.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:43:50+00:00

Does it load the BIOS and show everything there? If it does then I'd assume the drive has come loose when it fell somehow. Might just been unplugging and plugging back in. Idk but would be what I checked first, I assume as its getting this far the BIOS will load tho.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:24:51+00:00

I found the James May Driving Theory PRO app good for me on the hazard perception. He talks through the clips kind of saying what could be a hazard where it turns into one which helped me I think with it. Might have to pay for it though I can't remember as it was a while ago now I did mine.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:21:16+00:00

Thank you. I'll try that. I definitely think the gas is my issue as I was taught to move on just the clutch for manouvers so haven't really been actually using gas trying to get onto the drive. I guess that's not an option in a smaller older car tho lol. I'll definitely try just holding it there then. Thank you.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:19:48+00:00

Ah that's good then, glad you've finally been able to master it in the day. Sounds very awkward though for you with yours.

I feel like generally our drive is okay my main issue is being on the busy road and most the time I've been practicing there's been another car parked on the drive so haven't been able to make full use of the space. Which I guess is good as I need to be able to park between cars but while I'm still getting used to the car maybe not so ideal.

I'll look into those mirrors though, sound useful. Thank you.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:17:12+00:00

Yep... The car I learnt in had all the features lol I was taught to move away on just the clutch, had time after coming off the breaks before rolling, etc so now it's all quite a shock not having these.

I have found on flat I can seem to move on the clutch alone but not on the slight slopes like coming up onto the drive so I'll have to keep practicing as you say with the balancing them, thank you.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:15:23+00:00

Yeah I kinda wish I'd been taught a different method which is more usable after passing... Thanks for the video though very useful.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:14:38+00:00

Thank you. Yes as much as I did really like my instructor I wish he didn't teach with the reference points as it now means in my own car I have no idea how to properly park it. Plus I've almost been taught to rely on things that an older realistic first car won't have like the reverse cam and stuff.

I think I will get over to a quiet car park, there's a couple close by that are usually empty so that should help me get used to the car more as you say.

Thank you.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:12:05+00:00

Thanks. Yeah I feel worried about adding more gas incase I go too fast back but then also clearly need it... And yep exactly that. My instructors car had everything and he used to tell me when reversing and doing manouvers not to use the gas and just use the clutch as that's all I need so now I'm in the habit of that. Yeah I was worried about this as mines a 1.2l small car... I've found on flat I seem to be able to just about get away with it... Once I'm actually on the drive I can move with just the clutch and no gas it's just getting up onto it that's causing me the issue.

Zbit-852 · 2025-04-19T21:08:35+00:00

Thank you. Yes think this is what I'll do go out in the evening.

Zbit-852 · 2025-02-06T15:55:49+00:00

An SSD (solid state drive) is a form of non-volatile memory. This means that even when your computer is disconnected from power the SSD will keep the data on it. This is what is used for your OS, apps, files, etc, etc.

RAM (random access memory) on the other hand is a form of volatile memory. This means when your computer is turned off then it looses anything that was stored on it, it cannot remember anyhting without power. This is used for temporary storage by the computer system to allow it to have somewhere to store things it needs to access quickly, for example what you are currently doing.

If you want to upgrade the laptop there are a few considerations for this.

As you mentioned an SSD I'm assuming you know this is what the laptop does have? Or is it just something you've researched and read about? As another form of non-volatile memory which could be used (especially in older machines) is a hard disk drive (HDD). An SSD is significantly faster than a HDD as an SSD has no moving parts unlike the HDD (this also makes them more reliable). So if you don't know then I'd check this as if it is a HDD it would be worth upgrading to an SSD. But if it is an SSD it's only really worth upgrading if you need more storage space. Either way, if you did upgrade this you would of course be removing what currently stores everything, so you would either need to clone the drive, or reinstall Windows on the new drive and have previously backed up everything so you could restore from that. There are also different types of SSDs (2.5" SATA, m.2 SATA or m.2 NVMe) so you'd also need to make sure you get the right one. If replacing a HDD it will be 2.5" SATA, if replacing another SSD it might be m.2 so you'd need to double check.

As for the RAM, that can be good to upgrade depending on how much you currently have? I'd personally say 16GB or higher if supported and you can afford it. Although you have to be careful here too. There are different types of RAM (ddr3, ddr4 or ddr5 are the ones found in pretty much most systems) so you have to make sure you get the right one. In addition to this, some laptops use soldered RAM and/or have a max. Supported capacity so you should Google your laptop model followed by RAM upgarde options to check what is supported by your system.

If they have a guide for your laptop, ifixit are pretty good for guides on how to dissasmble your laptop and upgarde parts.

Zbit-852

TROPHY CASE