November 23, 2010
I buy a Canon 7D with a 28-135mm lens kit off of eBay. That is the exact listing in which I paid for the item. $199 in shipping costs puts the total to a little over $2000 CAD.
November 24, 2010
This is the day it got shipped out according to the UPS tracking website.The shipping process was going smoothly until it landed in Beijing on November 29th, 2010.
November 29, 2010
I left a message for UPS, and a broker called me back. She spoke virtually no English. She asked me to send them a copy of my passport, a list of the package content and to sign this letter:
I am not kidding. Feeling desperate, I hastily sign it and await for "good" news.
November 30, 2010
No good. Beijing customs decided to open my package and "inspect" it. At this point I am already really angry.. One fingerprint on my camera and I swear I was gonna hurt someone.
December 1, 2010
UPS tells me I need an invoice. I provide it to them. My broker Yeling replies with the following: "这个不行啊，您这是网购的吗？你申报的价值是509.25usd，这个发票怎么是1669usd？？" (This is not good, did you buy it online? You declared 509.25USD, but this receipt says 1669USD).
At this point I'm going crazy.. If the sender is going to declare a much lower value, they should at least let me know, right? Totally not my fault. I tell USP 1) the true value is 1669USD, 2) I just want my package, and 3) please use English. After a long period of correspondence, she agrees to do what she can with the documents I provided.
December 3 - 5, 2010
I email and call. No response.
December 6, 2010
Yeling: "hello,you parcel have a big problem, because the waybill value is 509.25usd,and the actually value is 1669usd,the two price are great disparity. the customs thought its had smuggle suspect,and now they need check and audit with it"
Me: Will it help if i contact the sender? I am leaving the country on December 29. Will it get here before then, if at all? What can i do to make the process faster?
December 7, 2010
Yeling: "hello,your parcel had new information. the customs let you call him ,and pls let them know the actually condition and you could discuss with them how to do with your parcel. tel:010-804XXXXX/804XXXXX/804XXXXX."
I call. I told them my situation, and they basically said it's not true and that I can't speak to them directly. "Don't believe in UPS" were their exact words. At this point I'm so furious my head is about to explode.
I email Yeling and tell her what happened. She basically said, oops, my bad, call again and look for Mr. Wang Jun. I do, and this guy speaks zero English. Way to go, UPS. I understand that I'm in China, but if you're working for freakin' UPS or China customs and you're keeping $2000 cameras from foreign girls because you're being petty, then you're asking for it.
I ask my dear friend Desiree to help translate for me and we have a lengthy 20 minute conversation. He tells me I need to write another letter to customs explaining the price discrepancy, proof that I bought the camera, etc.
He said the whole process would take 3 months. What. the. hell. IT'S A DAMN CAMERA. But nonetheless, I supposedly "broke" Chinese law. Apparently there's a law stating that you can't ship over 1000rmb ($120 CAD) in goods to China. $120CAD. My freakin' iPod is worth more than that.
I told him I'm leaving the country soon so I need it within two weeks. He said he'll see what he can do, which means that... Nothing's gonna happen.
I AM SO MADDDDDDDDDD!@#$%^&*()
I buy a Canon 7D with a 28-135mm lens kit off of eBay. That is the exact listing in which I paid for the item. $199 in shipping costs puts the total to a little over $2000 CAD.
November 24, 2010
This is the day it got shipped out according to the UPS tracking website.The shipping process was going smoothly until it landed in Beijing on November 29th, 2010.
November 29, 2010
I left a message for UPS, and a broker called me back. She spoke virtually no English. She asked me to send them a copy of my passport, a list of the package content and to sign this letter:
I am not kidding. Feeling desperate, I hastily sign it and await for "good" news.
November 30, 2010
No good. Beijing customs decided to open my package and "inspect" it. At this point I am already really angry.. One fingerprint on my camera and I swear I was gonna hurt someone.
December 1, 2010
UPS tells me I need an invoice. I provide it to them. My broker Yeling replies with the following: "这个不行啊，您这是网购的吗？你申报的价值是509.25usd，这个发票怎么是1669usd？？" (This is not good, did you buy it online? You declared 509.25USD, but this receipt says 1669USD).
At this point I'm going crazy.. If the sender is going to declare a much lower value, they should at least let me know, right? Totally not my fault. I tell USP 1) the true value is 1669USD, 2) I just want my package, and 3) please use English. After a long period of correspondence, she agrees to do what she can with the documents I provided.
December 3 - 5, 2010
I email and call. No response.
December 6, 2010
Yeling: "hello,you parcel have a big problem, because the waybill value is 509.25usd,and the actually value is 1669usd,the two price are great disparity. the customs thought its had smuggle suspect,and now they need check and audit with it"
Me: Will it help if i contact the sender? I am leaving the country on December 29. Will it get here before then, if at all? What can i do to make the process faster?
December 7, 2010
Yeling: "hello,your parcel had new information. the customs let you call him ,and pls let them know the actually condition and you could discuss with them how to do with your parcel. tel:010-804XXXXX/804XXXXX/804XXXXX."
I call. I told them my situation, and they basically said it's not true and that I can't speak to them directly. "Don't believe in UPS" were their exact words. At this point I'm so furious my head is about to explode.
I email Yeling and tell her what happened. She basically said, oops, my bad, call again and look for Mr. Wang Jun. I do, and this guy speaks zero English. Way to go, UPS. I understand that I'm in China, but if you're working for freakin' UPS or China customs and you're keeping $2000 cameras from foreign girls because you're being petty, then you're asking for it.
I ask my dear friend Desiree to help translate for me and we have a lengthy 20 minute conversation. He tells me I need to write another letter to customs explaining the price discrepancy, proof that I bought the camera, etc.
He said the whole process would take 3 months. What. the. hell. IT'S A DAMN CAMERA. But nonetheless, I supposedly "broke" Chinese law. Apparently there's a law stating that you can't ship over 1000rmb ($120 CAD) in goods to China. $120CAD. My freakin' iPod is worth more than that.
I told him I'm leaving the country soon so I need it within two weeks. He said he'll see what he can do, which means that... Nothing's gonna happen.
I AM SO MADDDDDDDDDD!@#$%^&*()
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