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YesAsia e-mail - shipment held by customs

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YesAsia e-mail - shipment held by customs

Old 09-13-03, 08:08 PM
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YesAsia e-mail - shipment held by customs

Well this had shipped from YesAsia on August 31st so I sort of had a feeling that it had been intercepted by customs. Today I got this e-mail from YesAsia:

Dear Valued Customer,
>
> Thank you very much for your support to YesAsia.com.
>
> With reference to your recent order (Order No. 3077063 ) shipped on 2003/8/28 under Shipment No. 439581 , we would like to inform you that the captioned shipment is being held at the Canadian Customs for inspection and they do not confirm when they will have the inspection completed. Hence, you may expect that there will unavoidably be a delivery delay. If, in case, your shipment is not release in 1 week from this notification, we will then bear the responsibility to reship the captioned shipment to you.
>
> Please kindly accept our sincere apology for this unexpected incident. Should you have any further inquiry, comment, opinion or suggestion, please never hesitate to contact us.
>
Ok I'm not complaining about the e-mail because it's actually nice of them to inform me of this but I wonder why Customs Canada contacted them? Usually, customs inspect the package or they don't. If they do and the declared value is above the set $$$ limit it's delivered to your home and you have to pay brokerage/customs fees. I mean it's not like we don't expect it to happen from time to time. I wonder if it's perhaps that YesAsia are not properly labelling their packages/declaring value according to Customs Canada standards and that they are being slapped on the hands for it. The seem to hint that it's possible the package WON"T be released and that they might have to resend it, i.e. with the proper packaging/labels/declared value as per customs Canada standards. They mention this "unexpected incident" as in we're sorry for getting caught. I mean it's not like the package is being stopped because it's porn or something.
Old 09-14-03, 10:25 AM
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I would agree. It's very strange that Yesasia would get that information from customs and pass it on to you. If it were just a case of a customs delay, it certainly wouldn't have been reported to Yesasia. There has to be more to the story, and your explination is probably correct.

I've always found it interesting that international buyers try to get DVD retailers to break the law and de-value packages so that they don't have to pay customs fees. Customs fees suck, but it's all part of buying from other countries.

To me, it's kind of similar to buying bootlegs to save money. Both are illegal activities, but people don't care as long as they can save money.

Although I'm sure the many crooked customs agents, and over-inflated fees charged by some countries probably has a lot to do with people's desire not to pay!
Old 09-14-03, 11:52 AM
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oh - you're in Canada... I couldn't figure out at first why the hell a Yesasia shipment would go through customs since they're located in the US. There I go again - thinking like a typical american.
Old 09-14-03, 05:14 PM
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Originally posted by Sifu
I would agree. It's very strange that Yesasia would get that information from customs and pass it on to you. If it were just a case of a customs delay, it certainly wouldn't have been reported to Yesasia. There has to be more to the story, and your explination is probably correct.

I've always found it interesting that international buyers try to get DVD retailers to break the law and de-value packages so that they don't have to pay customs fees. Customs fees suck, but it's all part of buying from other countries.

To me, it's kind of similar to buying bootlegs to save money. Both are illegal activities, but people don't care as long as they can save money.

Although I'm sure the many crooked customs agents, and over-inflated fees charged by some countries probably has a lot to do with people's desire not to pay!
High customs fees have nothing to do with anyone's desire not to pay fees, they are set by the goverment as a cash grab, plain and simple. When was the last time that customs fees were redistributed to businesses that are hurt by people buying their product outside of the country? Never, and they never will be. It's no different then the municipal goverments adding extra tax hikes to the prices of gasoline to cover their cost overruns.

In this case, the held shipment probably has more to do with Yes Asia bulk shipping their parcels into Canada and then reshipping from within Canada. It would be their shipment that was held up. Large shipments, and large ones from Asian retailers, tend to be subjected to more scrutiny. Your package was likely just a tiny part of the shipment.
Old 09-14-03, 06:25 PM
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High customs fees have nothing to do with anyone's desire not to pay fees
I hope you are kidding. People on boards like this one even identify retailers as "customs friendly" if they undervalue a package, and sometimes won't even do business with them if they don't.

The amount of the fees has everything to do with people's desire to pay them. If it didn't, no one would complain : )
Old 09-15-03, 09:32 AM
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What I am saying is the rate of customs fees is not set artificially higher to offset the losses that are incurred due to a percentage of the people who will always try to circumvent payment, which is what one of your statements seemd to imply.

Being in the US, you really don't have the same perspective. Put it this way, you have a 400 USD dollar allowance before any customs fees are incurred. When was the last time YOU had to pay customs fees?

In Canada we are allowed a maximum of about $15 USD. Many other countries have similiar limits. We also get taxed on any gifts that are over $35 USD. Tell me, what possible justification can any goverment have for taxing you on say a $50 birthday gift a foreign relative sends you?

As is I said, it's cash grab for virtually every country out there, and their low customs free rates are indicative of that. If people were allowed more reasonable figures like even 100 dollars, nobody would complain about having to pay customs fees. I gladly pay customs fees on my larger shipments as it works out to be fairly minimal relative to the value of the goods, but for small shipments I do go with customs friendly retailers.
Old 09-15-03, 08:37 PM
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Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. And I think you have some good points.

A $15 allowance for Canada is just silly!
Old 09-15-03, 09:52 PM
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Originally posted by Sifu

A $15 allowance for Canada is just silly!
Yes it it. Like furious mentionned, that's why we Canadians tend to stick with "custom's friendly" e-tailers. I myself very rarely order more than 2 DVD's at a time from overseas because e-tailers will use enveloppes instead of boxes for small shipments and from experience, envelopes have a better chance of getting thru unnoticed. It's the name of the game, we know we'll get "hit" by customs from time to time. By sticking to my above plan though, I'd say I get "hit" about 1 out 10 shipments which is pretty good.
Old 09-17-03, 04:43 PM
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Well another e-mail today. Looks like they will resend that shipment to me. Why Canada Customs is holding the 1st shipment and contacted them about it instead of delivering it to me and collecting brokerage/customs charges remains a mystery.

On 17 Sep 2003, at 22:57, Alicel wrote:

> Dear Customer,
>
> Thank you for purchasing at YesAsia.com. We apologize for the long waiting of your order.
>
> Further updated by the Canadian delivery agent, the held up of your order, according to Canada Custom, remains to be announced.
Instead of waiting further, we have arranged the reshipment of the held shipment, which will be shipped out shortly. Again, you will receive our shipment confirmation email when the reshipment is ready to be sent. Your patience in this matter will be greatly appreciated.
>
> Once again, please accept our sincerely apology for any inconvenience caused. We look forward to serving you soon.
>
> If there is still any further enquiry, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].
>
> We hope this informative and look forward to serve you soon.
>
> For better service, please include this message when you reply.
>
> Regards,
> Customer Relations Department
> YesAsia.com.
Old 09-17-03, 04:45 PM
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Hmmm, maybe I should reply sounding very angry and ask for a coupon on my next order.
Old 09-17-03, 08:16 PM
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If you do reply, ask them why it was held by customs, considering there doesn't appear to be any good reason for it.
Old 09-18-03, 03:46 PM
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Well, I did reply and ask but didn't really get an answer. However I just got this:

On 17 Sep 2003, at 22:24, [email protected] wrote:

> Dear Customer,
>
> Your order number: 3077063
>
> Per your request, your order's shipping method has been changed from Canadian to Canadian Expedited and the shipping
fee has been adjusted to USD 0.00 with the order total revised to USD 0.00. You will receive an email notification once your order
has been shipped out.
>
> Sincerely,
> Customer Relations Department
> YesAsia.com

BTW I never issued such a request. Guess it just means they are sending me a new shipment but changed the shipping to Canadian Expedited. Since my original order qualified for free shipping, they are just "upgrading" for free.
Old 09-22-03, 12:39 PM
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Well this ain't my month for shipments... I just got Drunken Monkey from DDDhouse instead of Dead or Alive: Final.
Old 09-26-03, 09:58 AM
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Does the US have any customs problems with any etailers? I haven't experienced any, but am wary of it.

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