Customs Tax On Cloths Shipped In

[hogheaven]

I moved out of Africa to Thailand and shipped items , cloths, shoes, pants, shirts to my friend here and now DHL wants 25,000 baht to leave items.

Driver told my wife's friend he would leave 1 free but i had to pay to get the rest.

I call home office and they say it is customs ??? then why leave 1 box free and keep the rest???

Also what law is there that says you must pay for used cloths ...personal items when shipping into Thailand .

As i ask the office in Bangkok if i was Thai studying over seas and moved back to Thailand would i be charged for the cloths i sent back....I would think not...

I was shipper and receiver on this as i flew in last night and that seems to worry DHL as i guess that will be hard to explain why they are trying to extort money from me as both shipper and receiver.

Any others have same experience ..what did you do??

As a note i sent 10 boxes 2 months ago and was charged nothing for them same stuff,,,cloths..

[BB1950]

Some people just don't get it. Dealing with customs in Thailand is always a crapshot!

IT'S ENTIRELY UP TO THE CUSTOMS OFFICER AT THE TIME OF ENTRY!

There is no appeal to the decision. You'll only be told to buy the items in Thailand. New or used, it's still imported (you think wrong). You either pay the fee or refuse it.

Your best bet would have been not to ship it via FedEx or DHL, but to use the postal service or importer specializing in shipping household items to Thailand. That's water under the bridge now. You got caught with your knickers down.

Good luck!

Edited July 21, 2010 by BB1950

[mallyrd]

Seems more like a scam to me. DHL will never ever pay customs duties on behalf of the shipper and/or receiver. If as stated, the DHL driver would never have offered to leave one free and pay to get the rest. This is not a case of being "caught with your knickers down".

Edited July 21, 2010 by mallyrd

[sulasno]

do a search on Importing Personal Effects to Thailand

[hogheaven]

I have manager of DHL calling in morning and i spoke to DHL corp office in USA, and will again soon they are also upset as stated , driver left 1 box FREE and said the others would be delivered if paid for,

i agree why would they get to house and not be stopped by customs, who would release to DHL if fees paid to them not DHL ?????

,

Corp office in Bangkok is saying , if used cloths then no inport fee so i told them to open boxs and look ....nothing to hide ...used cloths....i will have them send it all back if needed as i still travel to Africa to fish and hunt so they can pay to ship back ...

[hogheaven]

Got import page thanks

I can show all items & i meet these requirements listed.

and will gladly open and prove to customs, not DHL

I have manager of DHL calling in morning and i spoke to DHL corp office in USA, and will again soon they are also upset as stated , driver left 1 box FREE and said the others would be delivered if paid for,

i agree why would they get to house and not be stopped by customs, who would release to DHL if fees paid to them not DHL ?????

,

Corp office in Bangkok is saying , if used cloths then no inport fee so i told them to open boxs and look ....nothing to hide ...used cloths....i will have them send it all back if needed as i still travel to Africa to fish and hunt so they can pay to ship back ...

[glegolo]

As long as you NOT are telling anyone that the items shipped are for anybody else than yourselfs. Of course it is free of customs duty and VAT.

But if you mention or state in the documentation that there is one shipper and another consignee, there will be problem.

Because than they suspect commercial trading. And than it is a matter of customs duty and VAT debited from the customs in Thailand (or wherever on this planet). This is the basic rules wherever and nothing specific for just Thailand.

Your shipment is being held by DHL and they are SCAMMING you. If they do it together with the customs officedr, I dont know, But nevertheless you did the right thing.. you contacted DHL higher up and also in the US. Good job...

Good luck..

Glegolo

[hogheaven]

As long as you NOT are telling anyone that the items shipped are for anybody else than yourselfs. Of course it is free of customs duty and VAT.

But if you mention or state in the documentation that there is one shipper and another consignee, there will be problem.

Because than they suspect commercial trading. And than it is a matter of customs duty and VAT debited from the customs in Thailand (or wherever on this planet). This is the basic rules wherever and nothing specific for just Thailand.

Your shipment is being held by DHL and they are SCAMMING you. If they do it together with the customs officedr, I dont know, But nevertheless you did the right thing.. you contacted DHL higher up and also in the US. Good job...

Good luck..

Glegolo

You are correct,

Now they say there guy in Africa did wrong info and they will go to customs again and correct,

They still will not explain how they have items and they said they paid customs for me ...and i said %$@@ $*&^ to him no way you would pay and they expect me to pay,,,,do not lie...i am not ...you want me to believe you paid 25,000 baht and thought i would pay you .....what c%$#

This is just a scam ....nothing more and they know i am no fool and know the law and customs .......you are correct you may ship in cloths items and no fee and as i told him most items were bought in Thailand so look at labels ,,,

[imaneggspurt]

Dhl do their own clearance, and you pay the driver the customs and handling charges, they are in cohoots with each other 100 per cent,.last week we had to pay in 4500 baht to a private bank account before our goods would be delivered, and not the first time,. draw your own conclusions,

[Beardog]

DHL UPS FED-EX all the same they make up their own rules on duties. Usually customs will only tag duties on new items less autos electronics or goods they deem as cashable transactions down the line. Never include invoices. I got tagged $151.00 on a pair of sunglasses that were bought for &169.00. They were repaired under warranty & charged in the U.S. Thailand & Fed-X for duties & tarrifs.

As others said it is all how the wind blows on a given day how you will be charged.

Sounds like you are getting scammed for the DHL leg of the journey. 1 free probably equates down to the driver making some good money & splitting some with dispatch.

[hogheaven]

DHL UPS FED-EX all the same they make up their own rules on duties. Usually customs will only tag duties on new items less autos electronics or goods they deem as cashable transactions down the line. Never include invoices. I got tagged $151.00 on a pair of sunglasses that were bought for &169.00. They were repaired under warranty & charged in the U.S. Thailand & Fed-X for duties & tarrifs.

As others said it is all how the wind blows on a given day how you will be charged.

Sounds like you are getting scammed for the DHL leg of the journey. 1 free probably equates down to the driver making some good money & splitting some with dispatch.

Today all delivered FREE i spoke to DHL USA and manager in Bangkok and read Thai law to him and had him try to explain,,,,now i call or e mail him before i ship and no more problems.....you must fight for what is right......and stop paying the thief's or they will all become thief's.... .stupid frang always pay you can get money to just tell them must pay they will........that is part of the problem hear ,,,,people do not fight for what is right.

[Beardog]

DHL UPS FED-EX all the same they make up their own rules on duties. Usually customs will only tag duties on new items less autos electronics or goods they deem as cashable transactions down the line. Never include invoices. I got tagged $151.00 on a pair of sunglasses that were bought for &169.00. They were repaired under warranty & charged in the U.S. Thailand & Fed-X for duties & tarrifs.

As others said it is all how the wind blows on a given day how you will be charged.

Sounds like you are getting scammed for the DHL leg of the journey. 1 free probably equates down to the driver making some good money & splitting some with dispatch.

Today all delivered FREE i spoke to DHL USA and manager in Bangkok and read Thai law to him and had him try to explain,,,,now i call or e mail him before i ship and no more problems.....you must fight for what is right......and stop paying the thief's or they will all become thief's.... .stupid frang always pay you can get money to just tell them must pay they will........that is part of the problem hear ,,,,people do not fight for what is right.

Hog

You Da Man

Congratulations & your right if you don't ask the question & just pay you always get screwed. Sometimes the sun shines on you when you least expect it.

[NanLaew]

Dhl do their own clearance, and you pay the driver the customs and handling charges, they are in cohoots with each other 100 per cent,.last week we had to pay in 4500 baht to a private bank account before our goods would be delivered, and not the first time,. draw your own conclusions,

You claim you HAD to pay 4500 baht into a private bank account? BS call on that! You HAVE absolutely NO obligation to pay anything into anyone's private bank account. You just rolled onto the path of least resistance, admittedly the scammers path but that decision was entirely yours so don't call foul of Thai Customs, DHL and their delivery people if you can't be arsed to sort things out like the OP.

I have had one DHL package that had import duties levied on it due to incorrect declaration by the shipper and when I went to collect, there was the Thai Customs receipt attached that showed it had already been paid by DHL (on my behalf) so I reimbursed DHL and they gave me a receipt. No hassles at all.

BTW, well done to the OP but since he had shipped several boxes of 'used clothing' without a problem a few months earlier and then he does the same a few months later... could look like a pseudo-importer to the casual Customs scammer officer no?