Fedex And Customs Scam

[p_brownstone]

I know a guy with a business here, every time a package is sent to him by FedEx they keep hold of it until he stumps up some extra cash. I guess the best thing to do is write a written complaint to the head office which i assume is in America with the receipts etc.

Yes, i think going by the Thai post office is a better idea in future, it's one of the few things here that seems to work quite well.

Send a letter to the analysts that track the stock. Mention criminal operations and wait for a downgrade. Then contact Fedex. Their attitude will change, just like their liquidity did. Be persistent!

I never thought of that!

D@mn, for sure one letter is going to Tank their Stock.

I feel SO stupid: thanks again!

Patrick

[NancyL]

Gosh, p_brownstone, all the techniques you're using -- why didn't I think of that when FedEx/Thai customs held a 95 kilo shipment of our household goods hostage when we moved over here as retirees? Oh maybe it's because I'm a retiree without the resources of a major corporation at my disposal! I'm sure one nasty-gram from me about their criminal operations would have had them quaking in their boots -- "ooh, we don't want to lose the future business of NancyL"!

Edited April 28, 2014 by NancyL

[p_brownstone]

Gosh, p_brownstone, all the techniques you're using -- why didn't I think of that when FedEx/Thai customs held a 95 kilo shipment of our household goods hostage when we moved over here as retirees? Oh maybe it's because I'm a retiree without the resources of a major corporation at my disposal! I'm sure one nasty-gram from me about their criminal operations would have had them quaking in their boots -- "ooh, we don't want to lose the future business of NancyL"!

Apples and Oranges dear lady, Apples and Oranges.

Patrick

[NancyL]

Patrick, that's why it's not an "Urban Myth" that the Customs Dept and the Courier companies are in league together. They know not to mess with you apples because there are plenty of us oranges to squeeze dry.

[speedtripler]

My friend runs a small business and relies on shippings from USA by FEDEX. She has received many times a 'bill' form customs for taxes that was even up to 3 times the value of the goods. Go to the local office and you can protest it (with necessary paperwork) after a few days they will 'recalculate' your taxes.

Its a pain... but TIT...

i bought a pair of safety shoes (work boots ) on ebay uk

thai customs sent me a bill for triple the price of the shoes

and the invoice said i could pay at mo chit post office

i went there to complain and the guy just shrugged his shoulders and gace me a form to fill in

needed 2-3 copies of wifes id card and some copies of a the credit card bill as well to prove the true

value

after reviewing the documents in about 5 days customs called and "haggled" the price down to about a third of what it was

then they said if i pay the new price i can collect it again at lak si post office

i had to just agree ,they had me by the balls ..........

maybe i should have went to the actual customs office instead of the post office to haggle there but i dont know where it is

and cant be bothered wasting half a day finding it ..........

[NancyL]

Sppedtripler, according to Patrick, here's what you should have done --- I'm taking advice from his post No. 56

"Make sure your Supplier sends you a copy of the Airwaybill and Commercial Invoice immediately the equipment is shipped; look up the correct Tariff Code in the Harmonised Tariff Code (if you don't already know it) and send an Email to UPS in Bangkok, or wherever, informing them of the imminent arrival, give them the relevant Tariff Code and the Thai translation of the equipment, taking that from the Harmonised Tariff Code. UPS will then send you a Draft Import Entry which clearly shows what Import Duty they estimate is due - percentage rate and Baht amount - plus VAT. This document will also show additional charges which are included in the calculation of Duty and VAT, mainly Freight (and yes, you pay Duty and VAT on Freight too) and a notional calculation for Insurance.

If you agree with the calculation, inform UPS to go ahead and clear through Customs on your behalf when the shipment arrives.

Of course, at least with new Items, the Customs Department may disagree with your choice of the Tariff Code in which case you may have to go to the Customs Department at the Airport to clarify / negotiate but once you have imported with an agreed Tariff Code that sets a precedence as far as the Customs are concerned and you will very rarely encounter another problem with them in that regard."

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

You do know all about the Airwaybill, Commercial Invoice, how to look up the Tariff Code in the Harmonized Tarif Code and the email addresses for UPS in Bangkok, right? Plus you do know how to calculate the the Import Duty and VAT. It is something you do every day, after all.

Us "normal people" don't stand a chance when we import stuff into Thailand and the customs dept knows this. That's why they cherry pick who they're going to work over and who they're going to leave alone.

Edited April 29, 2014 by NancyL

[speedtripler]

Sppedtripler, according to Patrick, here's what you should have done --- I'm taking advice from his post No. 56

"Make sure your Supplier sends you a copy of the Airwaybill and Commercial Invoice immediately the equipment is shipped; look up the correct Tariff Code in the Harmonised Tariff Code (if you don't already know it) and send an Email to UPS in Bangkok, or wherever, informing them of the imminent arrival, give them the relevant Tariff Code and the Thai translation of the equipment, taking that from the Harmonised Tariff Code. UPS will then send you a Draft Import Entry which clearly shows what Import Duty they estimate is due - percentage rate and Baht amount - plus VAT. This document will also show additional charges which are included in the calculation of Duty and VAT, mainly Freight (and yes, you pay Duty and VAT on Freight too) and a notional calculation for Insurance.

If you agree with the calculation, inform UPS to go ahead and clear through Customs on your behalf when the shipment arrives.

Of course, at least with new Items, the Customs Department may disagree with your choice of the Tariff Code in which case you may have to go to the Customs Department at the Airport to clarify / negotiate but once you have imported with an agreed Tariff Code that sets a precedence as far as the Customs are concerned and you will very rarely encounter another problem with them in that regard."

Sounds easy enough, doesn't it?

You do know all about the Airwaybill, Commercial Invoice, how to look up the Tariff Code in the Harmonized Tarif Code and the email addresses for UPS in Bangkok, right? Plus you do know how to calculate the the Import Duty and VAT. It is something you do every day, after all.

Us "normal people" don't stand a chance when we import stuff into Thailand and the customs dept knows this. That's why they cherry pick who they're going to work over and who they're going to leave alone.

ive been told never to pay any money at post offices etc and go direct to the customs hq (i think lad krabang serves my area of bkk )

and haggle there with the actual customs oficers because thailand post are powerless and have to collect whatever amount customs have

stated

the upside of doing this ive heard is they normally offer you half the going rate if you pay outside in the carpark (because there is CCTV inside at the booth ) and also you agree to no receipt

i havent dont this yet but ive heard from more than 1 person it works and i would try it if buying something expensive and there was a lot to be saved ............

[seajae]

mate fedex are rogues and charge you duties that they dont pay, have had it happen twice abd never use them anymore. Had a pair of boots I bought on ebay from the UK for under 1000 baht delivered so they should be tax/duty free but the customs people asked for 1200 baht because they said they were wirth more. I actual;ly showed them the ebay page where they are sold but they refused to change their stance, they are thieves and this is how they make their extra cash, either you pay their bullsh*t charge or they keep and sell your goods.

[p_brownstone]

Let me say it again : Courier Companies do not get kickbacks from whatever Duty is charged by the Customs Department.

They are COURIER COMPANIES - their Revenue comes from Freight and Handling Charges and that's it!

Unless you are Pro-active and give them the details first - as I outlined above - they will simply accept whatever Duty Charge is calculated by the Customs Department and pass it on to you, the Customer.

Once the Customs Department have decided on a particular Tariff Code and Duty percentage it is very difficult to persuade them they are wrong, hence the advice to get in first with your own determination of the correct details.

It is NOT the responsibility of the Courier Companies to dispute or negotiate the level of Duty charged - why on earth would they? They get absolutely NO benefit for that extra work - whatever is decided by the Customs Department is simply passed on to the Importer as already said, why should the Courier Company waste their staff time to change something that does not provide them with income?

Simple business sense.

Patrick

[h90]

Let me say it again : Courier Companies do not get kickbacks from whatever Duty is charged by the Customs Department.

They are COURIER COMPANIES - their Revenue comes from Freight and Handling Charges and that's it!

Unless you are Pro-active and give them the details first - as I outlined above - they will simply accept whatever Duty Charge is calculated by the Customs Department and pass it on to you, the Customer.

Once the Customs Department have decided on a particular Tariff Code and Duty percentage it is very difficult to persuade them they are wrong, hence the advice to get in first with your own determination of the correct details.

It is NOT the responsibility of the Courier Companies to dispute or negotiate the level of Duty charged - why on earth would they? They get absolutely NO benefit for that extra work - whatever is decided by the Customs Department is simply passed on to the Importer as already said, why should the Courier Company waste their staff time to change something that does not provide them with income?

Simple business sense.

Patrick

Not the customs department decide on the tariff code. FedEx is doing it and they use the code with the lowest troubles.....

[zib]

Fedex did it again. Ordered 2 monitors from South Korea. They asked me for the HS code upon customs declaration. I gave them one for LED/LCD Computer monitors. This was apparently wrong since the monitors contained a HDMI port which can then be used as a TV according to them.

Because I declared it wrong I will now have to pay 80% instead of the real 27%. (20% duty, 7% vat) because I lied on the form.

I f***in hate this company.

[chiang mai]

Dudes have got scam on the brain, FedEx scams about as much as the Royal Mail or US Postal Service, imported goods gotta be declared, heads up, that's not a scam!

[JesseFrank]

Let me say it again : Courier Companies do not get kickbacks from whatever Duty is charged by the Customs Department.

They are COURIER COMPANIES - their Revenue comes from Freight and Handling Charges and that's it!

Unless you are Pro-active and give them the details first - as I outlined above - they will simply accept whatever Duty Charge is calculated by the Customs Department and pass it on to you, the Customer.

Once the Customs Department have decided on a particular Tariff Code and Duty percentage it is very difficult to persuade them they are wrong, hence the advice to get in first with your own determination of the correct details.

It is NOT the responsibility of the Courier Companies to dispute or negotiate the level of Duty charged - why on earth would they? They get absolutely NO benefit for that extra work - whatever is decided by the Customs Department is simply passed on to the Importer as already said, why should the Courier Company waste their staff time to change something that does not provide them with income?

Simple business sense.

Patrick

When I imported a salt water chlorinator from Australia a few years ago, which is exempt from import duty, I provided the seller with the tariff code so it was all over the export/import documents.

When it arrived in Thailand TNT called me and said I had to pay 35% duty. I provided them again with the tariff code that was written on the documents, and a few minutes later they called me again and said 20%. I insisted on using the tariff code I provided and they called me a third time the next day, this time offering me 10% duty, but again I insisted on using the code I provided.

It was at the end declared duty free, but they charged me a few hundred Baht storage charge.

[robblok]

Fedex did it again. Ordered 2 monitors from South Korea. They asked me for the HS code upon customs declaration. I gave them one for LED/LCD Computer monitors. This was apparently wrong since the monitors contained a HDMI port which can then be used as a TV according to them.

Because I declared it wrong I will now have to pay 80% instead of the real 27%. (20% duty, 7% vat) because I lied on the form.

I f***in hate this company.

Actually that is true because of this monitors with hdmi port used to cost more in the Netherlands.

[96tehtarp]

Never, ever, ever, ever use DHL or UPS for anything!!!!!

Always use your local govt. mail, USPS or whatever and send it registered mail so you can track it.

Sending mail out the same way, registered, as EMS can be expensive too.

Agreed! If you use the local post here and the local post from your own country (in my experience I have never ever had a parcel, letter stopped) Use those bastards at DHL and you are going to get shafted big time!

The only time I had a problem with the Royal Thai Mail was about 12 years back, I stupidly sent my wife an air ticket to Hong kong with some Thai Baht that was left over from a previous visit - they opened the envelope - stole the Baht - but thankfully left the ticket...you live and learn!

Agree 100% Prior to a one year stay in Thailand I packed a lot of "personal effects" in to a large box and weighed it out at exactly 20kg which was the maximum allowed for airmail. I sent it regular airmail with a detailed customs declaration valued at one dollar. It was used shoes, used socks, used T-shirts, used books, used electronics etc.

To my surprise it arrived in Nakhon Nowhere two days later with no customs fee. If they had charged me I would have refused delivery.

The moral of the story is to use the postal service.

Fedex/DHL/UPS/TNT are good for important documents and not much else unless you use a customs broker if that's even possible.

Edited August 12, 2014 by 96tehtarp

[theguyfromanotherforum]

It is really simple. I don't get it how people are so dumb. In Canada (so it is not only Thailand dummies) it also happens that if you order from USA and get it shipped by FedEx and UPS, you often get charged over the original amount. This is because these companies do broker the goods for you instead of you doing it yourself. You are paying for the "service".

[rahul213]

Yeah. These courier companies are a scam. ordered some clothes online worth 180$. Was shipped by UPS (60$ for shipping).And now UPS calls me to pay 3200 Baht in the name of customs.

[angiolo]

I think these greedy idiots at customs key off of Fed EX. dont ship through fed ex and you should be fine!

Most of the comlaints about customs comes from people that have used Fed EX or another big carrier.

Greg

I have had many items posted to me... yes through UK post office. No extra customs,no delay. Some tine sent by tracker

[Headgame]

I guess there are many different experiences regarding shipping to TH. Mine is simple. Regular buyer on eBay but only with sellers who use the postal system with tracking. In 5 years with dozens of shipment I've never had an item not arrive and not one instance of being charged customs or VAT. Lucky me I guess.

[rahul213]

I guess there are many different experiences regarding shipping to TH. Mine is simple. Regular buyer on eBay but only with sellers who use the postal system with tracking. In 5 years with dozens of shipment I've never had an item not arrive and not one instance of being charged customs or VAT. Lucky me I guess.

Yeah should have done the same thing. But the website where I bought the stuff had only UPS and Fedex as their for some reason. These UPS guys are a racket taking customers hostage to this situation by asking them to pay unreasonable amount of money.

[bill1369]

Quite awhile back I sent a friend a bottle of perfume USPS to BKK, clearly marked value was $50. She got a notice from Customs to come pick it up.Customs wanted her to pay 5,000 baht duty + 150 baht/day for storage. She told them to forget it. So, guess a Customs thief got a nice present for his wife or mia noi.

[tropo]

I think these greedy idiots at customs key off of Fed EX. dont ship through fed ex and you should be fine!

Most of the comlaints about customs comes from people that have used Fed EX or another big carrier.

Greg

I have had many items posted to me... yes through UK post office. No extra customs,no delay. Some tine sent by tracker

They commonly get through, but it is still left to chance. If they open up a parcel you'll be paying through your nose if you haven't been honest with your legally required customs declaration. More and more parcels are being opened these days too.

Past success is no guarantee of future success.

[tropo]

Quite awhile back I sent a friend a bottle of perfume USPS to BKK, clearly marked value was $50. She got a notice from Customs to come pick it up.Customs wanted her to pay 5,000 baht duty + 150 baht/day for storage. She told them to forget it. So, guess a Customs thief got a nice present for his wife or mia noi.

A marked declaration doesn't mean anything to customs officers. If they don't believe the declaration they can charge what they want, which can include a penalty. When you ship with FedEx or other big carriers, nothing short of an invoice/receipt will satisfy their curiosity because they need to use a Thai broker to clear stuff. I got burned sending cosmetics to Thailand via FedEx. What a nightmare that was, plus double the cost of the cosmetics and shipping when it was all calculated.

[Cat ji]

It is not a scam. Scam means a fraudulent way of getting money.

It is called IMPORT DUTY, IMPORT TAX. google it, learn something, maybe. Like had you never heard of import tax? That it is set by government of each country? Your ignorance, your problem.

If any PO [international depot, Customs] of any particular country does not check every parcel, or every parcel above a certain stated value, you are fortunate. Try Canada or any typical EU country; some of them check everything.

And, 20% import tax and 7% VAT is not equal to 27%.
The import tax is calculated on the stated value or invoice value of the goods, converted to the local currency at the exchange rate that day. That amount is added to the value of goods.
Then VAT is calculated on that subtotal and added. In other words, on the converted invoice value of the goods plus the import tax.

Edited April 10, 2015 by Cat ji

[NickJ]

They often include the cost of shipping in the duty.....I remember shipping used clothes over.......and the ups total was about ten times what the value was......i just told them to keep the parcel.....

[Cat ji]

Quite awhile back I sent a friend a bottle of perfume USPS to BKK, clearly marked value was $50. She got a notice from Customs to come pick it up.Customs wanted her to pay 5,000 baht duty + 150 baht/day for storage. She told them to forget it. So, guess a Customs thief got a nice present for his wife or mia noi.

That would mean that the import duty on perfume in Thailand is about 500%? Seems quite extreme.

[Cat ji]

They often include the cost of shipping in the duty.....I remember shipping used clothes over.......and the ups total was about ten times what the value was......i just told them to keep the parcel.....

it can happen by error. (Although it seems unlikely with a major courier company with information systems process and so on.) Then the problem is that to get it changed is typically not worth the trouble. Maybe/probably easier/possible with a courier company, not with the PO. In my case, the PO will give you a form to be submitted to the Revenue Service, and tell you that it takes at least 2 or 3 months.

So...is there import duty on used clothes, personal clothes, not for resale? ...Not a problem for me, but i'd like to know what would happen if i shipped over a lot of tools. Big enough and heavy enough that i suppose it would be better to get a shipping/clearing agency to handle it.

[h90]

Quite awhile back I sent a friend a bottle of perfume USPS to BKK, clearly marked value was $50. She got a notice from Customs to come pick it up.Customs wanted her to pay 5,000 baht duty + 150 baht/day for storage. She told them to forget it. So, guess a Customs thief got a nice present for his wife or mia noi.

That would mean that the import duty on perfume in Thailand is about 500%? Seems quite extreme.

MARKED is the key word....You can mark the new Mercedes with $50 and will pay import duty because no one will believe it....

[p_brownstone]

They often include the cost of shipping in the duty.....I remember shipping used clothes over.......and the ups total was about ten times what the value was......i just told them to keep the parcel.....

it can happen by error. (Although it seems unlikely with a major courier company with information systems process and so on.) Then the problem is that to get it changed is typically not worth the trouble. Maybe/probably easier/possible with a courier company, not with the PO. In my case, the PO will give you a form to be submitted to the Revenue Service, and tell you that it takes at least 2 or 3 months.

So...is there import duty on used clothes, personal clothes, not for resale? ...Not a problem for me, but i'd like to know what would happen if i shipped over a lot of tools. Big enough and heavy enough that i suppose it would be better to get a shipping/clearing agency to handle it.

It's neither a Scam nor an error.

Import Duty in Thailand (and in most other Countries) is calculated on the C.I.F. value of the Shipment ;

Cost of Goods + Insurance + Freight.

In theory at least Import Duty is payable on Personal Effects - used or not, although you may get away with it sometimes.

Returning Thai Residents or non-Residents changing their Residence to Thailand may Import Household Effects Duty Free however the legislation specifically excludes Personal Effects :

http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/individuals/importing+used+or+secondhand+household+effects/importingusedsecondhandhouseholdeffects+

This is made very clear on the Thai Customs Website but many people do not make the distinction between "Household Effects" and "Personal Effects" - this is usually the source of the complaints from people who claim they were Scammed by Customs / Courier Companies.

Patrick

[ezzra]

All those Thai based shipping companies, the Thai FDA, customs and quarantine services are a

cartel and in a cahoots with each other, whereby if you do not collect your goods after 3 months

it goes in to a 'black hole', a black hole that ends up in the pockets of all the above entities,

and no one can touch them...