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If your Sellers says that the Package is in CHINA Customs, There is Something Really Wrong there, China Customs In My Opinion would only hold a Package Only if they were Asked to,,By Law Enforcement or Something like that,,,or it could be a Scam Alltogether,,It just I Have NEVER Had a Problem with Customs in China,,and I have Been Doing this for While,,,

I had stuff held in China customs before but it was only because I used a different zipcode and they don't always accept that.

One of my suppliers told me that China CUstoms is not really a problem, that they are looking for what they consider to be "subversive materials" such as pornography, but that the vast majority of items get through just fine.

I know it was really unusual. I really dont like dhl but its quicker

By far, the WORST managed courier is in fact DHL!

DHL has the WORST customer service in my opinion and it TOOK over five days to trace a package which was lost and they basically told me in the end that it was being help for pick up.

I called EVERY single day in regards to my package but the DHL employees basically gave me an excuse advising me that the package will be arriving the next day.

I LOVE UPS, I have received a DOZEN packages without any problems before. Although it is slightly more expensive then DHL, it's well worth the money. Customer service is prompt and there tracking is more detailed.

UPS--can't be stealth can it?
pm w/ details when u have time plz.

if your package being seized by custom,ups also cannot help you to get out it.

Got to agree. DHL's customer service is awful and they never give you a straight answer.

Yes, everyone knows that by now. The government and customs are the ones which regulate the items coming into a country. At the end of the day, it depends on how strict that certain customs are..

UPS can be stealth if you would like, but you have to be there to accept the items upon delivery..

I never used it as stealth, but you can if you wish.

preciate it.

Noticed something different today on ems (another line item saying it's been handed over to customs?)....perhaps this means I might have a slight chance of getting my package?

"2010-08-29 07:23:00 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USJFKA Handed over to Customs "

That IS unusual. Either the package was put off to the side and temporarily forgotten about - and is now back in the "stream" so to speak, or somehow the website update was a mistake.

Let us know what happens.

My most recent package was IN & OUT of DHL Cincinnati in less than 9 hours on Sept 4th....
1 package - 51 pounds

9/4/2010
11:55 am Depart Facility Cincinnati Hub, OH
6:05 am Processed at DHL Location. Cincinnati Hub, OH
2:49 am Transit through DHL facility Cincinnati Hub, OH
2:49 am Clearance processing complete Cincinnati Hub, OH

Package left HK by DHL on Sunday and landed in Cincy Tuesday morning. Now that's a long time to be in the air. Then a clearance delay 7 minutes after landing that has now stretched to almost 24 hours. I am hoping it is just the Labor Day weekend that has everything jammed up in Cincy.

labor day is passed,if your package still have been released,you need to prepare to thinking bad result for your shippment.

got another package sitting in Hong Kong for 6 days......

Yeah, DHL has been hit or miss lately, sometimes the package takes 3-5 days just to show up on the tracking, just had one of my Clearance Delay packages released, so that was a relief. Regardless DHL is good business, packages arrive to me in 1-3 days while ems takes 1.5-3 Weeks with unreliable tracking

It is beginning to look like the screws are being tightened. My supplier in HK says he is having massive problems getting shipments through with DHL. Anyone else hearing this?

Yes. It is definitely becoming more difficult to get items through (VERO) or to get them on time (NON-VERO).

Most of my stuff is in the NON category, but clearance delays mean an extra 3-5 days (or more, in some cases) before it is received. Makes it kinda difficult to have product consistently.

In the past DHL was CAKE. Very easy with almost no delays. Now, that has changed.

Having the right suppliers is CRITICAL. They need to know what paperwork to include and how to package the items. That helps to speed things up.

AGREED! :thumb:

They must be reading these forums then, every time something gets more difficult, it always seems to happen after lot's of post's go up about it.

Now im stuck in cinni with a ....."PLEASE CONTACT DHL" I'm done with dhl!!!!!

what link are you using for dhl?

i tried on both the chinese link and the us link. they both say the same.

just called and package was siezed by customs. dhl is dead to me for vero

DHL is getting bad over here in the U.K. too. Our newly elected government has really cracked down on the importation of Vero goods, a few of my competitors have disappeared because of all the seizures. It's more or less survival of the fittest.

My package is seized AND my "WORK" laptops hard drive just crapped out. What a beautiful day!!!

Bad things always come together.

how long after you see the 'Clearance delay' does the 'seized by customs post?
does any dhl site actually say 'seized by customs' in the tracking info?

I don't think so. After "clearance delay" it says "contact DHL customer serivice".

"Contact DHL customer service" means seized by customs. At least in my experience.

How about ditching DHL for EMS? I used to use EMS all the time until about a year ago when Chicago started blocking almost every shipment. Wonder if it is better now.

That's all I still use is Ems, only used Dhl a couple times, had one seized in NY recently but usually 9 out of 10 make it through, that's if you order a small single package.

Small packages are much less likely to get inspected than large ones. You may pay a little bit more for each item, but the risk of seizures is far less.

Also it depends on what you order, I deal in alot of small stuff 50-100 per shipment you'd be suprised what you can get in the size of a shoe box and the profit margins can be greater than a 50lb dhl shipment full of boxsets.

,,,,,,,
 

You are completely right on that aspect...Smaller items doesn't necessarily mean smaller profits.

GREAT FIND!

Thanks for sharing.

I think our government is picking on imports allot more cause the Chinese won't play fair about US exports. Maybe they don't bother much with small boxes cause they want bigger tax duty seizures.

I placed a new order last night.
Today I got a message from my overseas Seller.
He said that they will NOT ship DHL right now.
He would break the 1 shipment into 2-3 smaller boxes and ship them EMS.

This is a first in the 10 months that I have been dealing with this overseas Seller.

So the overseas Sellers must be getting hit hard due to the US Customs Seizures.
Not a good thing rolling into the Holiday Season.