You couldn’t go pick them up and send them onto us could you? 
@yong Do this hold-up include Estonia? I have no updates since 12 July. I still have statement the item is ready for shipment. Maybe you can find mine in the Chinese warehouse?
haha! Was only a joke. It’s admirable that you’d take the batteries out though but very unlikely that they’d ever let you near them.
Surely you don’t send a PALLET of devices without checking the rules concerning shipping them??
This is really preposterous.
Calm down please.
The parcels went through German custom, and ask people in the electronic industry, German custom are the worst when it come to pinpoint problems and refusing parcel, and they all went through.
I do t understand what NL custom want to do there, but CPI is clearly not in fault there.
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It’s not the branding but more how they’ve been packaged. As lithium-ion batteries can be unpredictable they need to now be packaged in a certain way which is inside the device etc. Apparently they’re just packaged seperately in the box and not in the device.
What I don’t understand is that when I buy cameras etc the battery is always separate so I’ve no clue what a going on with the rules.
Presumably the problem is only with shipping by air. The good news is that, if the parcels are bound for the UK and Europe, shipping by air should be easy to avoid. As someone said earlier, it is possible to ship to the UK by train through the Channel Tunnel, though more practical options could be by sea: ferries run between Rotterdam and Harwich in Essex, and these carry freight by lorry.
In any case, sending the whole load back to Hong Kong on a container ship sounds like insanity.
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I think it mostly travel by air between China and EU but well… XD
And as I said it went through some of the most annoying custom when it come to be picky and they say nothing about it.
Let’s check how it was packaged from other people photos of unpacking.
From what I see here:
https://forum.clockworkpi.com/t/shipment-has-started/370/132?u=godzil
The battery is separated in a specific compartment and in its own bag so it is protected against shortcut, so I think it comply with regulations.
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From the videos I’ve watched of it being unboxed, there is two different boxes. One looks like a premium type box which you may get if you’ve ordered additional cases. Within an anti-static bag that comes in a small box it contains the battery. All of the small boxes with parts in them appear loose in the main box for this one.
In the other box it contains a foam cut-out where all the parts are placed within the foam. The battery is separate in a small plastic bag.
Says in PostNL battery guidelines (a few posts up) that they need to be inserted into the device.
Also it has the un38.3 certification for transport safety.
That said, Post.NL’s rules are pretty strict here, and will effectively ban any device which ships in kit form with a detached battery, such as the GS or the odroid-go. Unfortunately they are not the only carrier enforcing such requirements, either.
I think the only viable solution for CPI atm is to do what 8b craft does with the raspiboy. Send the kit partially assembled with the battery inside. I have had 2 raspiboys delivered through Post.NL without trouble (on the other hand, I may have been lucky they were never inspected).
That’s a pity.
We were unlucky with the customs inspection, but as of recently Post.NL is not the only carrier who is enforcing “battery in device” requirements.
A possible workaround for this is doing what 8b craft does with their raspiboy kit: use the shell as a packing device and send the battery, screen and board inside it, but disconnected. This would unfortunately require you to trim and assemble the component cases before shipping, but it may also save money on packaging. Buttons and cables may still be sent in blister form.
Let me try to answer these questions:
1 - We are not given specific time when PostNL can send the parcels back. If they have to be sent back, we will see if we could get them re-shipped in NL, the worst case is do it in HK.
2 - If they decide to destroy the whole parcel, which is very unlikely, we will refund or send you replacement.
3 - This is the most likely resolution. We have to pay them to destroy the batteries though, and some fine. We are looking to buy from some UK suppliers to deliver the BL-5C batteries (like this one: http://a.co/2cKtVO3) for us, this battery should be easy to find, you may already have one from your old Nokia phone.
4 - No! if we have any other options.
Hope I have answered your questions a little bit. Keep in mind PostNL and the NL Customs are slow to dealt with, and we are not in NL, any message sent to them takes forever to get back.
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I can’t see them sending the parcels back to you, if they are “too dangerous” to send them onward to here then surely they are too dangerous to send back.
Hopefully they can remove the batteries and send them without. If they are unwilling to remove the batteries themselves ask them if you can send a representative to do it, I’m sure you could appoint a local person from the clockwork forums as a rep (I’d be happy to do it myself for travel and hotel costs from UK).
I hope you are not getting too stressed about the whole thing, as a business owner I know what it’s like to disappoint a customer, even when it’s something that is out of your control.
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Thanks @yong for answering the questions.
I love the fact everyone’s willing to do what it takes to sort this situation out even though they don’t have to do anything and could just complain. Thank you lot for this as it shows what a great community is being set up here.
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Thanks @yong for the clarifications 
Quick question, but does the parcel have such a sticker:
?
If not, maybe it is because of that they complain?!
Damn, I think I got rid of all my BL5C’s a few years back when I ran out of nokias 
Hopefully someone can split the packages and forward on without going back through HK, but I will eagerly await my final product no matter the new timescale. I guess we can all blame Samsung for this mess
At the same time, Lithium battery that stay on shelves for a long time tend to degrade a lot
depends on storing conditions and charge