DHL Clearance delay... Should I be worried?

[mjs777uk]

Hi so I ordered some items from Hong Kong via EMS they never made it out of Honk Kong & were apparently seized by customs. So the seller posted me a replacement parcel via DHL.

I have never used DHL before but this is what it looks like so far:

Date and time Status Location Service Area
12/24/2010 11:03 am Clearance Delay Montreal, Canada
12/22/2010 1:57 pm Clearance Delay Montreal, Canada
12/21/2010 12:06 pm Clearance Delay Montreal, Canada
12/16/2010 12:13 pm Transit through DHL facility Montreal, Canada
12:13 pm Clearance Delay Montreal, Canada
12:13 pm Processing for clearance Montreal, Canada
8:04 am Depart Facility Cincinnati Hub, Oh
3:00 am Processed at DHL Location. Cincinnati Hub, Oh
1:40 am Clearance processing complete Cincinnati Hub, Oh
1:40 am Transit through DHL facility Cincinnati Hub, Oh
12/15/2010 4:13 pm Depart Facility Hong Kong, Hong Kong
3:05 pm Processed at DHL Location. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
12:17 pm Transit through DHL facility Hong Kong, Hong Kong
9:38 am Depart Facility Hong Kong, Hong Kong
9:33 am Processed at DHL Location. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
7:46 am Departing origin. Hong Kong, Hong Kong
12:09 am Shipment picked up Hong Kong, Hong Kong[/SIZE]

Having never used DHL I dont know if this is normal for it to take this long. I assume it could be delayed because of Christmas & what have you. I don't know. I have 6 days left to file a Paypal dispute & attempt to get my money back... But I can see he has posted it. So I feel like I'm being unfair if I open a dispute as its not really the sellers fault that customs seem to be taking an age to clear my item.

DHL did call to ask what was in the parcel I said iphone accessories as that whats on the DHL invoice.

Anyway any input on what I shoud do, or just wait it out?

Thanks in advance!

[shenzhenthor]

You have 6 days, wait 5, however consider it seized, and if they clear it, which it might, then consider yourself lucky. Never use trademarked terms on customers declartions. mobile phone is far better than iphone..

[cardfelon]

If they called you in regards to the contents then yes it is seized.

[slapped]

Originally Posted by mjs777uk

..........DHL did call to ask what was in the parcel I said iphone accessories as that whats on the DHL invoice.

Anyway any input on what I shoud do, or just wait it out?

Thanks in advance!.......................

Are u Kidding,,,You Used the Name Iphone???,,,,,Why did'nt your shipper simply write----"PLEASE SEIZE,,COPYRIGHT INFRINGING MATERIALS LOCATED WITHIN" in nice Big red Letters it would have made Everyones life Easier


Didn't the fact that your FIRST Ems Order did not make it out of Hong Kong Tip you and your Shipper off that Something was wrong??

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by slapped

Are u Kidding,,,You Used the Name Iphone???,,,,,Why did'nt your shipper simply write----"PLEASE SEIZE,,COPYRIGHT INFRINGING MATERIALS LOCATED WITHIN" in nice Big red Letters it would have made Everyones life Easier

ROTFL!

[jeffweico]

To the OP:

OK... I know this isn't funny to you, but the comment from Slapped was kinda funny...

But, seriously, please consider finding a niche product to sell that does not involve selling foo-foo's.

They are REALLY cracking down on this stuff, at all levels.

I would get a refund if at all possible. Your supplier obviously has no idea what they are doing, so I wouldn't worry about purchasing anything from them in the future. The fact that the first package was seized before it ever left China confirms this.

[shenzhenthor]

I agree with slapped.. :-)

[mjs777uk]

LOL yeah I suppose your right! Its not the end of the world, in all honesty the woman on the phone didn't seem to bothered or take any notice of what I said, she gave me reference number to call back & see what was happening with it in the week.

Ill call to see what they say, as if I didn't already know... I'll just play dumb.

I spoke to my supplier he is telling me not too worry. But he would say that. He is probably looking at the Paypal clock intently praying it goes beyond the deadline. I have ordered no end of things via EMS & nothing has ever been seized or held up at all, apart from the last parcel that never made it out of China.

My stuff usually goes through Vancouver customs & they never seize anything, everything flys through in a day or two.

Oh well such is life. Ill give until the day of the Paypal deadline & put in a claim if nothing turns up. Or the tracking number comes up seized or contact customer service or something similar.

If it indeed does get seized which seems highly likely at this point. Does anyone know if my address gets blacklisted? I heard a lot of talk about this, but some people claim to have had things seized then a week later had something successfully delivered to the same address.

Anyway thanks for the help! & humor! LOL at Slapped's comment haha its true! I wasn't thinking!

[HurricaneHuntr]

i switched address after i had 2 seized to same address.. only received one letter thus far. Didn't sign for it, wasn't home, after that i got a po box and dhl goes to a friend now

[mjs777uk]

Hi Bizzy2010,

Yeah I just started looking into getting a po box address, I have since ordered some more things but through EMS & not DHL. The tracking suggests there going to arrive without any trouble.

As for my DHL parcel the tracking hasn't changed at all, still stuck on clearance delay as of the 24th. Not heard anything from DHL or had any letters or anything... I guess time will tell.... But I think its safe to say its been seized a 100% now. No way should it take this long to clear an item I wouldn't have thought.

Oh well its only my first parcel to be seized well i think it has been anyway. I will definitely get a PO BOX there so cheap I should have just got one before really.

[teedon]

but now the price of EMS seems very expensive now,also it is a bit slowly for transfer the goods to canada from china ,DHL is faster.

Just be careful when you mark the package,the name should be not too vero,also the package should be not too big,finally,you should tell your supplier to packing the goods more carefully and more pretty.

[NyLv111]

UPS mailboxes work pretty well. I've been having packages come through using DHL without a problem for a few months now.

[rsot]

Speaking from knowledge of DHL in Canada, if your item is still showing up as Clearance Delay, it is 99.9% seized by Customs police.

The Customs office will probably either 1. send you a letter or 2. (depending on the RCMP person in charge at the office) call you up and ask you to come in and sign forms for items to be destroyed. You provide a valid phone number to your shipper?

[mjs777uk]

Hi again,

So I have an update, I called DHL to find out what was going on *as if I didn't already know* she asked if I had a customs broker? I said no.

She said you need a customs broker before customs can clear your goods.

She sent me a file via email a one time power of attorney file. She says fill that out fax it to the broker number she provided & they will get your parcel cleared from customs, she said it will cost about $7-10.

Thats all well & good but on the power of attorney form I have to fill out my real name with credit card details for tax payable & broker fees & my phone number but I could use a pay as you throw away phone for that.

Has anybody else had to do anything like this before? Seems risky... As obviously the contents of my parcel aren't exactly kosher.

Anymore advice would be greatly appreciated, as I'm really lost as what to do now.

Thanks!

[slapped]

That might Actually be good news,,,Althought It has Never Happened to Me,,,, it sounds Like that it might Possible that your IPhone Accessories do not Infringe on any Copyrights and customs may simply be Pissed that you tried to get this box through as a "personal" Item as opposed to a Commercial import in order to evade import taxes,,,

In the past when I Had Items Delayed and I called,,,,I was told Outright that Customs Siezed my Shipment,,,,Goodby,,,End of Story,,,,News at 11

[mjs777uk]

Ok so another update...

I called DHL today ask them if they got my one time power of attorney form they said they did, I asked what was going on she put me on hold.

She returned & customs had taken the parcel & they were waiting to inspect it, she said they just want to open it up & check whats inside etc.

So after all this messing around its as good as gone... As soon as they open it they will seize it.

So my next question is when it gets seized in a few days time when they've looked inside etc.

What do i expect a letter from customs saying they seized it? I hope I don't get into too much trouble. I will just play dumb & deny all knowledge & say thats not what I ordered... Is that the right way to go about it?

Thanks in advance!

[rsot]

From what happened to me, Customs will call you and ask you to come in and sign forms. You won't be accused of anything but they will want your real info on file. When the customs police called me, I just put it off - they will prob call again.

[slapped]

Originally Posted by mjs777uk

She returned & customs had taken the parcel & they were waiting to inspect it, she said they just want to open it up & check whats inside etc.

So after all this messing around its as good as gone... As soon as they open it they will seize it.

So my next question is when it gets seized in a few days time when they've looked inside etc.

This Thread is Confusing me,,,,,,Dude,,,If you KNOW 100% For Sure Beforehand that your items will get seized if they are Discovered,,,Then Why in the Hell are you Talking to them???,,Giving them Powers of Attorney,,Phone Calls,, and all that???

Why don't you just Cuff Yourself and Surrender,,,Save Everyone involved a Lot of time and trouble???

[jbluntz]

If they're really iphone acc's you might still get them, I had a package inspected once with some media and iphone acc's, they took out the media and sent the iphone acc's.

[mjs777uk]

Hi again,

Well I wasn't sure I just thought maybe they wanted me to pay duty on the item that was all....

Anyway the parcel has a substantial amount of computer software inside...

I was told I would be sent a letter from customs to ask if it was OK to destroy it. I was told to ignore the letter & not sign anything.

I obviously didn't call the customs number DHL gave me yesterday & now its confirmed that customs are going to open it up etc I have given up on it, I was hoping it was just to pay duty on it.

Oh well hopefully they'll just destroy it & that will be the end of it.

I wouldn't go into see the customs police or sign anything... I'll just ignore them, & if they manage to get hold of me I will say I ordered some mobile phone accessories not the computer software you found. Ill just play dumb.

I think its time for a po box though!

[slapped]

Originally Posted by mjs777uk

Hi again,

Well I wasn't sure I just thought maybe they wanted me to pay duty on the item that was all....

Anyway the parcel has a substantial amount of computer software inside...

You went from iphone accessories to Software??? You gave them a Power of Attorney which Required your Real Information???
Are you Out of your Mind????

Originally Posted by mjs777uk

I wouldn't go into see the customs police or sign anything... I'll just ignore them, & if they manage to get hold of me I will say I ordered some mobile phone accessories not the computer software you found. Ill just play dumb.

NOW,You are going to Play Dumb,,,,,How in the Hell are you going to Convince them that the iphone accessories are yours and the Software is NOT,,,,did you hit your head or something???

Originally Posted by mjs777uk

I think its time for a po box though!

Ya Think,,,,

My Advice to you is NOT to Talk, Fax, Text, Send Smoke Signals or Communicate IN ANY WAY to Dhl Customs or ANYONE Else about that Package,,,,and to Move to Uruguay,,,were they Never heard of Dhl or Customs,,,

[rsot]

Ha slapped.

Anyhow, read around the forums mjs777 and see what other stories exist, learn from them and all the best.

You need to provide all the truth from now on for responses. Going from iphone acc to software...just hiding the info. I think the work is done for this thread.