Amazon purchase

[Grumpy Old Man]

I want to share my recent experience of making a purchase from Amazon.com USA with DHL "Premium Express Delivery and Processing Service"

 

Last week I was asked for help from an old American lady living in Chiangmai with an online purchase through Amazon.com USA the said items being insect repellent wipes, insect repellent lotion and Avon original "Skin so Soft" I ordered these items through my Amazon.com USA account and the processing and delivery service requested was their "Premium Express Delivery and Processing Service" with an estimated Tax and import payment in advance; Amazon accepted the order, payment and confirmed everything by E-mail as per normal procedure and confirming DHL are the "Premium Express Delivery and Processing Service" being used for this point to point premium service .

 

Fast forward twenty four hours to the GUARANTEED delivery day. . . . . 

 

At 16:00Hrs. local time a DHL van arrived with a delivery or part there of; asking the DHL driver / delivery guy where the rest of the order is the reply was "Maybe coming soon" and now starts the infuriating next three days. . . . . 

 

I'm straight online to my Amazon.com USA account to see those words "Delayed and held by Thai customs for special inspection" so much for the "Premium Express Delivery and Processing Service" then it's a call the DHL to be told ALL parcels go through this process to this statement I replied RUBBISH, I've just had one of the two parcels delivered to my home and they came from the same place, please explain that. . . . . The reply "Wait a moment" !

 

The conversation continues with DHL . . . . I was asked to confirm the contents of the parcel to this I replied, I can only confirm what I ordered not what is in the parcel as I don't have the parcel and then I made them aware that EVERY international parcel has a customs declaration at the point of export detailing the contents and value Etc. and this would or should have been completed by the DHL representative at the point of origin being the USA, check your OWN documents for the parcel contents. . . . . "Wait a moment" we will get back to you.

 

Another twenty four hours and according to DHL delivery tracking, "Delayed and held by Thai customs for special inspection"

 

DHL call me . . . . the conversation continues; I am required to complete an DHL importers document to confirm the contents of the parcel as it is believed the material the "FOOTWEAR" is made from might be illegal to import into Thailand; yes I am also very confused at this point too, what "FOOTWEAR" I asked DHL to explain to me where the "FOOTWEAR" has come from as they have a copy of my Amazon.com USA order and the Amazon / DHL customs declaration and there is NO "FOOTWEAR" on either  . . . . "Wait a moment" 

 

 Another twenty four hours and according to DHL delivery tracking, "Delayed and held by Thai customs for special inspection"

 

DHL call me again . . . . the conversation continues; if my order clears "Thai customs special inspection" today being Saturday 17th February I might get my delivery on Tuesday to this I made two statements . . . firstly being; DHL Thailand have show themselves to be totally incompetent with processing the "Premium Express Delivery and Processing Service" . . . secondly; the next and only call I want from DHL is to confirm the delivery day and time, do your job and get it sorted ! 

 

I did read a few horror stories about importing items into Thailand privately or through businesses and though it can't be that bad, with my experience it is. . . . .  

 

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Yes.   I learned quickly to stay far away from DHL and FedEx.   And if an item on Amazon or Ebay ships with one of those then I pass.   

 

Regular airmail with tracking number works much better, although experiences with the USA haven't been great.  Much better from Asia or Europe.

[robblok]

In general the problems stem from using DHL its always far worse then regular mail.

[TerryLH]

1 hour ago, Grumpy Old Man said:

said items being insect repellent wipes, insect repellent lotion and Avon original "Skin so Soft"

I would think ordering Avon products would be better done from Avon in Thailand.

[LivinLOS]

NewsFlash.. Thai customs is a slow and corrupt joke.. Hold the front page.. 

 

 

[jenny2017]

 

OP, Avon sells through Lazada. Might save some headaches? 

 

       https://www.lazada.co.th/avon/

[orang37]

Time to lower expectations.

 

o:37;

[sharktooth]

DHL

Drop it

Hide it

Lose it

 

i got a delivery from DHL years ago and the guy phoned me and asked “where do you live?”

i replied “at the address on the parcel mate.”

Useless.

[FolkGuitar]

Both DHL and FedEx have their own Customs clearing facility, separate from the ThaiPost Customs. Because of this, virtually ALL parcels coming into Thailand via DHL and FedEx will get charged Import Duties. And... with FedEx for sure, and probably DHL, because they have to run them through their Customs area, they have to hold them an extra day. AND... if they are going to hold them an extra day, they CHARGE a storage fee... AND... because they are storing them, they insist on protecting them with an INSURANCE policy, charged to you as well. Of course, since FedEx (and probably DHL) don't deliver on the weekends, any package that arrives on Thursday or Friday will have to be held until the following Monday, which gives them 2-4 days of storage and insurance for which to charge. It's brilliant and it's legal. And it generates a fortune in income for these companies at our expense... if we allow it.

 

I will NOT order from any company that insists upon using DHL or FedEx to ship to Thailand. If I can't avoid doing business with such companies, I'll have them ship to my USA re-shipping office. It still comes out less expensive that way.

[scottiejohn]

13 hours ago, sharktooth said:

i got a delivery from DHL years ago and the guy phoned me and asked “where do you live?”

i replied “at the address on the parcel mate.”

Are you suggesting that a "Postal Delivery Operative" (cannot say mailman any more) is capable of
 a. Reading an address correctly

 b. Finding said address correctly

 c. Leaving contents in a secure dry area or waiting at least 1 minute for you to answer the door

Also remember that if you want to make sure the large breakable Item comes in multiple smaller pieces clearly mark it is fragile.

And I am not just getting at Thailand!

 

FedEx of course stands for

Finds

Every

Delivery

Except yours

 

or

Flings

Every

Delivery

Expertly over your wall

 

 

 

Edited February 19, 2018 by scottiejohn

[Langsuan Man]

11 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

(cannot say mailman any more)

You can call the letter carriers

[FolkGuitar]

1 hour ago, scottiejohn said:

Are you suggesting that a "Postal Delivery Operative" (cannot say mailman any more) is capable of..............SNIP............

 c. Leaving contents in a secure dry area or waiting at least 1 minute for you to answer the door

 

 

UPS delivery workers in the US are, in training, instructed to;

1. Knock on the door rather than spend time searching for the door bell.

2. Not spend more than 18 seconds waiting for the door to be answered.

I don't know about most folks, but my Butler can't walk the 75 meters from the kitchen TO the front entry hall, much less across it, in 18 seconds. What ever do people do?!?  ROFL!

[scottiejohn]

2 hours ago, FolkGuitar said:

but my Butler can't walk the 75 meters from the kitchen TO the front entry hall, much less across it, in 18 seconds. What ever do people do?!? 

I have a couple of solutions where either the younger under butler runs out from the pantry or one of the parlour maids opens the door and does a striptease at the main door.  It speeds the butlers progress and of course grabs the delivery chaps attention and slows them down.  The other solution of course is just to send the chauffeur or private jet to collect the parcel direct.