kiwi_lady ([info]kiwi_lady) wrote in [info]egl,
@ 2008-04-21 14:30:00
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THIS REALLY SUCKS.
So I live in good ol' US , where I thought being hit by a custom was a myth.
WRONG.
I just got slammed with 50 dollar custom for a 265 dollar package, and I'm slightly annoyed by this. I mean, people with 400 + articles go off fine and they hit me up at 265?
I'm definitely going to protest, and I was wondering if anyone else in US got hit by the custom before and I want to know if you suceeded in protesting for the fee if you did. Thanks a bunch guys D : .


thanks for contributing and answering my quesitons, all of you have been quite helpful : ). I've cleaned up the post a bit so in future, when someone looks back at it to reference, they'll have easier to time looking for the relevent information.

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[info]abbie_chan
2008-04-21 07:34 pm UTC (link)
o__o oh lord. If that happened to me I would just DIE.
I know some people might say it's only $50.00 but still, that's $50.00 that could go toward the purchase of another brand item! XD
May I ask what state you live in?

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 07:37 pm UTC (link)
I knooooow ;_;. I live in Illinois, I hate O'hare now D : . Just to screw them over, here is the directory of all custom office's number in US. CALL UP LADIES, IF YOU HAVE ISSUES.
http://books.google.com/books?id=RXGPVeXBwyYC&pg=PA239&lpg=PA239&dq=514+express+center+drive+chicago+IL+60688+phone+number&source=web&ots=lK6vW7oahH&sig=xQTxEO0dzYg-4a_wZy-CtD0ALsM&hl=en

I'm paying the fee but I'm definitely calling them up again tmr and protest. I mean, COME ON, 265 T_T;;. It was one of those buy up for like 4 month and have it ship deal D : .

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[info]abbie_chan
2008-04-21 07:41 pm UTC (link)
I live in California, so I hope that doesn't happen to me.
>_o This is why I almost always buy second hand off of the sales comm, or just commission.
And really, $265 is NOTHING. What is wrong with you e-marica.

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[info]huneytea
2008-04-21 08:32 pm UTC (link)
I live in Missouri and I just ordered a bunch of things I hope we dont get hit with customs...'__'

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[info]petiteprincess1
2008-04-21 07:46 pm UTC (link)
I have had customs fees before too. It sucks I never here of anyone else getting them. I got mad and asked why cause I had packages that were way more then this one go through but she didn't explain to me very well why I got the fee. Proteseting will get you no where you will still have to pay. So I Can't really be of any help to you but atleast you know you are not alone. I am sorry you got the fee though. =(

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 08:15 pm UTC (link)
Knowing I'm not the only one in US getting hit by the custom does relive me to some point hahah ..Hopefully the protest will go through : /..

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[info]miyu_sakura
2008-04-21 07:50 pm UTC (link)
I would try and protest the fee. I have heard of people getting them every so often, but it seems arbitrary when it does happen and usually people can get rid of them.

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 08:15 pm UTC (link)
definitely. I'm going to hope i'm on one of their better side hahah T_T;.

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[info]cherry_siwi
2008-04-21 08:52 pm UTC (link)
You had to pay custom fees for a $6 package??
Under $20 CAD, either it be gift or merchandise, I'm pretty sure that you're not supposed to pay any custom fees.

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[info]brynnmyrddin
2008-04-22 12:38 am UTC (link)
They're not supposed to be able to charge you more than the value of the package, and if it's under a certain amount they can't charge at all. Whoever did that needs to lose their job.

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[info]lolichan
2008-04-21 08:32 pm UTC (link)
That's really weird, I've ordered tons of stuff and never ever got hit with customs fees. What service was it sent through? I worked at the post office for four years and never had to charge someone for customs.

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 08:36 pm UTC (link)
crescent shop :(. I've ordered things before and this is the first time I got hit by the customs! I guess it was just bad luck..

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[info]little_zooks
2008-04-21 09:00 pm UTC (link)
You should check the customs forms and make certain they marked it as a "gift". The only time I've ever had customs charges was when my seller forgot to fill that section out. I totally lucked out though, the carrier dropped it off without collecting, and when that happens the PO just has to eat it! >:3
If they had tried to collect it I would have had my seller contact them and say it was supposed to be marked "gift", and then seen if they would have dropped it. Good luck. :/

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[info]kei_choko
2008-04-21 08:38 pm UTC (link)
I also live in Europe and have to pay high for customs, but I won't complain to you as you're not living in the EU and it's a complete different situation ( => I don't think some comments above are helpful or relevant).

I hope you can settle this, 50 USD aren't nice.
I heard from other people in the US that they could avoid the customs by writing and calling the office and complain. I don't know, if this will work, but I wish you much luck :) .

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 08:59 pm UTC (link)
Thanks for the encouragement!

I can see why the EU would be upset by this post and my reasoning behind it , but you took the words out of my mouth. Money is valuable, whether it be EU or US : (.

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[info]hotstylechic
2008-04-21 09:00 pm UTC (link)
I live in California and one of my recent packages got stuck in customs, one of the family friends work for the San Francisco custom office up there and they said that policies regarding packages above $200 will change soon, they are actually going to start charging for packages over $200 now, but they say its a big change so when they start fining people, they will start with the more obvious packages first (if they find the package to be extremely huge, suspicious, and marked value really high, etc)

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[info]little_zooks
2008-04-21 09:02 pm UTC (link)
Aw rats, that sucks! I swear every single Celga package I get is "extremely huge, suspicious, and marked value really high"! DX

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[info]hotstylechic
2008-04-21 09:06 pm UTC (link)
perhaps split the order into 2 boxes to ship?

that's what I do and it works, you just have to pay more shipping, but I suppose that's better than your package stuck at customs? ^^;

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[info]manmadememories
2008-04-21 10:33 pm UTC (link)
oh man really I have huge box from celga coming soon. and now i'm paranoid they will charge me. do you know how much it will be? like what is the %? ...
thanks

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-22 02:09 am UTC (link)
14.6%, according to the sheet I got : ).

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[info]manmadememories
2008-04-22 02:36 am UTC (link)
ouch...ok thanks . i hope i don't get hit with the fee. sorry to hear you had to pay that really sucks

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[info]drahtpuppe
2008-04-21 09:00 pm UTC (link)
http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc7_003.htm#ep28855 protesting duties
if you do pay, then protest the fees, make sure you do it within 90days of paying!!!!!
customs locations: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immc7_001.htm#ep28696

hope that helps a bit

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 09:16 pm UTC (link)
wow, great info! Thanks so much for the links T_T.

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[info]drahtpuppe
2008-04-21 10:14 pm UTC (link)
i randomly assumed you got your mail through USPS... i hope i was right? o__o
if it was a private courier (dhl/ups/fedex) theyre KNOWN for extra fees...

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 10:14 pm UTC (link)
yes , USPS : ). Whom I still love although they bitch slaped me this time XDD.

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[info]cidsa
2008-04-21 10:06 pm UTC (link)
Yeah that sucks, it's a bit high for a $265 package too, at least in the USA..

I get hit with customs a lot, but lately customs has only been charging me for packages from the USA (I thought we had free trade or something? lol) and missing the ones from Japan. The highest fee I ever had to pay was something like $120 and it was on a $300 package from the USA.

Generally I always budget at least $100 extra for a package in case of customs. That way I never have a package come in that I can't pay for.

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[info]cidsa
2008-04-21 10:09 pm UTC (link)
Oh and customs is typically very random. Generally they don't have the man power to check through everything properly. So someone might get a $2000 package and not get hit with fees and someone with a $100 package might get charged.

You may be able to file a claim with the customs office.. you can do that here, there are forms at the post office. But for such a small amount, it's probably not worth the effort (you wouldn't get the whole amount back and most likely wouldn't get anything).

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[info]dazysweetdreame
2008-04-22 04:57 am UTC (link)
A $100 package wouldn't get charged... It's anything above $200 that has the chance of getting custom fees.

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[info]miffytoki
2008-04-21 10:11 pm UTC (link)
was the package usps?

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-21 10:15 pm UTC (link)
yeap.

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[info]miffytoki
2008-04-21 10:22 pm UTC (link)
crazy! I've had customs on other services, but never USPS!

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[info]saitou_null
2008-04-21 10:24 pm UTC (link)
I don't think it's been mentioned by you yet, but could you tell us who the package was from? Sorry if I missed this even though I looked through all the comments.

It kind of sucks that the US is getting more tougher on higher value packages. *A* Sorry, I don't have any advice for you, but my condolences. >_<; I remember I had to work so hard just for 30$ as a college student.

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-22 02:08 am UTC (link)
The package was from crescent and it was not marked as anything, so perhaps that may be the problem?

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[info]saitou_null
2008-04-22 02:25 am UTC (link)
I guess because they didn't mark it as gift or merchandise because this is what they frequently do on my packages from them. Anyway, Crescent never agrees to mark as gift. Did the package get sent by EMS? I am in Canada and packages sent as EMS marked as merchandise always get customs. But things sent by airmail get lesser chance of getting customs especially if they are labeled as used items. If you keep getting customs on shipment sent by EMS, you may want to consider asking them to ship by airmail (though there is no tracking or insurance).

About the customs duty you were charged, would you mind to tell us the break down of the cost in your post like what they charged you for? Like did they charge you for the handling of the package or how much percentage was tax and how much was duty. Or, did they open the package to examine it? etc. It might help others who may face customs charges in the future if US Customs is more strict in charging people for duty.

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[info]deadtree
2008-04-22 12:48 am UTC (link)
I'm sorry you got randomly hit with that, and moreover, I am sorry that your post is full of Europeans, etc, telling you that you shouldn't be upset without even considering the fact that 1) that's totally rude, and 2) Americans are completely unused to customs so of COURSE you are going to be upset about it and want to contest it (especially since the selection is kind of random). That said, you should be able to get rid of it. I've seen people do that in the past, but with the usual bureaucratic rigmarole.

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-22 01:53 am UTC (link)
thanks for the suggestion!
I think it's time for me to clean this thread up a bit : ).

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[info]therrymonk13
2008-04-22 01:57 am UTC (link)
Yah, I've got to agree with deadtree. I buy things from Japan with the expectation that there will be no customs fees. Besides, customs fees are ridiculous, given the way our government is always parading the benefits of free trade. No tarriffs/customs/related trade fees are the most BASIC policies in free trade. We should practice what we preach. T_T

I've had AT LEAST $6,000 of loli goods shipped to me within the last year, all in massive packages, and I have never ONCE gotten a customs charge. In fact, I believed that they didn't exist. I though we had some kind of free-trade agreement with Japan? What happened?

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[info]kiwi_lady
2008-04-22 02:07 am UTC (link)
Perhaps due to the downturn of the economy they decided to rake in via customs? hahah I'm not sure ... So appearntly it targets packages over 200 so I guess the US lolis should watch out a bit more now!

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[info]dazysweetdreame
2008-04-22 04:47 am UTC (link)
I've said it over and over again... Anything over $200 has the ability to be hit by customs. It just depends on where it's from, where the stuff that it's made of is from, what the items are, etc. as to how much the percentage is. It also depends on whether the person working catches the package or feels like marking it.

I don't think protesting the customs fee will do anything except possibly make them stricter at giving fees to everyone all the time.

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