Back in June, a friend mentioned interest in a limited-edition book--
called 8 Missions in Ukraine but said she wasnrCOt planning to order it. Ukraine is an interest of hers, so I decided to order the book for her
from Rehi. It arrived in a few days, and she got the book. Then, just
last week, I got an invoice from FedEx for $18.50 in customs fees. I couldnrCOt figure out what I was being billed for, so I wrote to their dispute address. I got a response a couple of days later with more documents, letting me figure out it was that book purchase.
Just a few problems. Rehi hadnrCOt told me I was ordering from outside the US or would be subject to customs charges. According to the
documentation, it was shipped from Estonia. Second, I thought books werenrCOt subject to customs. Not long before that, I ordered Walter MoersrCO novel Qwert from the UK, and so far no onerCOs charged me customs for that. Third, $18.50 is over 50% of the price of the book! Are
customs fees really that high? That seems exorbitant even for Trump.
IrCOm trying to get this straightened out. An Internet search shows IrCOm far from the only person being billed for surprise customs fees, and
some of the reports predate last yearrCOs tariff blitz.
This morning, I got a followup reply from Fedex.
//////////////
-a-a-a Dear Valued FedEx Customer,
-a-a-a Thank you for contacting FedEx Disputes.
-a-a-a Our records show that the duty amount in question is less than $20.00.
-a-a-a If you wish to proceed with an entry correction, please note this may be subject to a $90-$150 processing fee for correction US Customs & Border Protection if deemed customer caused (No additional fee may apply
if it a FedEx/customs cause)
-a-a-a Kindly confirm whether you would like to continue with the correction process under these terms.
////////////////
Seriously. It could cost me $150 to get a charge of $18.50 removed.
That's like plea bargaining, though I'll grant the stakes are smaller.
IrCOm better off just refusing to pay.
(Slightly rewritten from my blog post: https://garymcgath.com/a-customs-surprise/ )
It arrived in a few days, and she got the book. Then, just last
week, I got an invoice from FedEx for $18.50 in customs fees.
Back in June, a friend mentioned interest in a limited-edition book
called 8 Missions in Ukraine but said she wasnrCOt planning to order it. >Ukraine is an interest of hers, so I decided to order the book for her
from Rehi. It arrived in a few days, and she got the book. Then, just
last week, I got an invoice from FedEx for $18.50 in customs fees. I >couldnrCOt figure out what I was being billed for, so I wrote to their >dispute address. I got a response a couple of days later with more >documents, letting me figure out it was that book purchase.
Back in June, a friend mentioned interest in a limited-edition book
called 8 Missions in Ukraine but said she wasnrCOt planning to order it. Ukraine is an interest of hers, so I decided to order the book for her
from Rehi. It arrived in a few days, and she got the book. Then, just
last week, I got an invoice from FedEx for $18.50 in customs fees. I couldnrCOt figure out what I was being billed for, so I wrote to their dispute address. I got a response a couple of days later with more documents, letting me figure out it was that book purchase.
Speaking of risks, I regret to announce that Peter G. Neumann, the
creator and moderator of the ACM Risks Digest (and parallel newsgroup, comp.risks) died in May of this year. And he apparently made no
provision for the digest to continue.
Well, it did have a 41-year run, which is impressive.
This seems to be the new normal, alas. My usual bookstore in the UK will
no longer ship to the US because of this uncertainty. Just as I was
about to put in a $200 order, too...
In article <113mms0$1dsg4$1@dont-email.me>,
Tim Illingworth <tim@smofs.org> wrote:
This seems to be the new normal, alas. My usual bookstore in the UK will
no longer ship to the US because of this uncertainty. Just as I was
about to put in a $200 order, too...
This was normal _before_ the tariff craziness began. The tariff craziness just gives UPS more opportunities. Ship books by mail.
--scott
2) Mark wanted to order a book by Sleeman about the thuggee in
India, but the only place it was reasonably priced was from a
publishing house in Nepal. They warned him it would take a while,
and they must have sent it by yak, because it took almost six months
to arrive.
Evelyn C. Leeper <evelynchimelisleeper@gmail.com> wrote:
2) Mark wanted to order a book by Sleeman about the thuggee in
India, but the only place it was reasonably priced was from a
publishing house in Nepal. They warned him it would take a while,
and they must have sent it by yak, because it took almost six months
to arrive.
Or perhaps by frog. Or are those only used for crossing the Andes?
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