Well Amazon kindly sent me an email today (below) , wow I get half my money back. Thank you United Parcel Service for well bugger all basically.
It wasn't exactly an amazing shopping experience, so to sum up, I ordered summit on 17th June and after nearly 2 months of messing me about I get half my money back.
My thanks go to:
Turkish Tax/Customs (making up the rules as they go along)
United Parcel Service (words are not enough to say what I think of these muppets)
Ace Photo Digital (unhelpful, their customer service moto should be "it's your problem, deal with it")
EF
is the saga finished ?
and who knows and who gives a monkeys left testicle anyway ?
Refund confirmation for Ace Photo Digital order #xxx
From: Amazon.com (payments-messages@amazon.com)
Sent: 06 August 2008 19:32:14
Reply-to: Amazon.com (custservice@acephotodigital.com)
To: ef@hotmail.com (ef@hotmail.com)
Cc: payments-mail@amazon.com (payments-mail@amazon.com)
Greetings from Amazon.com.
We are writing to confirm that we have processed your refund in theamount of £74.79 for your Order #xxx from Ace Photo Digital.
This refund is for the following item(s):
Item: E-reader 6IN Portable Silver E-book Approx 170 Pix/inch
Reason for refund: Customer return
Your refund is being credited as follows: Visa Credit Card [ending with xx000]: £74.79
Total refund for this order: £74.79
Have questions about our refund policy?Visit our Help section for more information: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/537794
Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com. Sincerely, Amazon.com Customer Servicewww.amazon.com
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
United Parcel Service, latest!
Well, it seems that the saga may be overaccording to the United Parcel Service shipping thigie.
Looks like the parcel is going back to sender, probably losing me $200 plus on shipping plus customs fees for an item I never received, haha thanks UPS!
Location Date Local Time Description
ISTANBUL,
TR 17/07/2008 19:00 RETURNED TO SHIPPER
So, wherever you are, remember, use any alternative possible, even putting your parcel in a big bottle and chucking it in the sea, because I am sure it will get there quicker than United Parcel Service.
I think they should be renamed due to the trade description act, to UPN, United Parcel NonService
Looks like the parcel is going back to sender, probably losing me $200 plus on shipping plus customs fees for an item I never received, haha thanks UPS!
Location Date Local Time Description
ISTANBUL,
TR 17/07/2008 19:00 RETURNED TO SHIPPER
So, wherever you are, remember, use any alternative possible, even putting your parcel in a big bottle and chucking it in the sea, because I am sure it will get there quicker than United Parcel Service.
I think they should be renamed due to the trade description act, to UPN, United Parcel NonService
Monday, July 14, 2008
United Parcel Service tracking
IT is back in Istanbul, probably was pining away in the states... You can't make this stuff up even if you tried!
Location Date Local Time Description
ISTANBUL,
TR 14/07/2008 8:54 TRANSFER NOTIFICATION FROM SITE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY
Location Date Local Time Description
ISTANBUL,
TR 14/07/2008 8:54 TRANSFER NOTIFICATION FROM SITE TO OBTAIN ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REQUIRED FOR DELIVERY
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Last email to United Parcel Service
Dear Mr İşteal / Molly Ellis,
Can you please send the item back to the USA as inexpensively as possible.
I will not wish to be contacted from this week onwards because I am moving to thailand to live and need to concentrate on packing etc.
I am sorry we could not come to some sort of agreement but I have wasted too much of my time and effort in an attempt to resolve this problem.
I do not want to recieve telephone calls or emails from UPS any more as I have had enough, I about as fed up and hacked off as you can get.
Thank you
EF
p.s the blog of this stupid saga can be found at http://rottenrottenservice.blogspot.com/
Can you please send the item back to the USA as inexpensively as possible.
I will not wish to be contacted from this week onwards because I am moving to thailand to live and need to concentrate on packing etc.
I am sorry we could not come to some sort of agreement but I have wasted too much of my time and effort in an attempt to resolve this problem.
I do not want to recieve telephone calls or emails from UPS any more as I have had enough, I about as fed up and hacked off as you can get.
Thank you
EF
p.s the blog of this stupid saga can be found at http://rottenrottenservice.blogspot.com/
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Email from Ace Photo Digital
I had an email last week I should have published on the blog, but here it is.
Customer Service (custservice@acephotodigital.com)
Sent: 08 July 2008 18:16:21
Reply-to: Customer Service (custservice@acephotodigital.com)
To: ef@hotmail.com
Hi, Unfortunately United Parcel Service would not budge with the shipping costs. We have argued with them for a week regarding this. To return this package they were charging us with Custom and Duty charges which you we required to pay as well as $200.00 for shipping, this is more then the package was worth. They abandoned the package because you did not want it and we would not pay that amount to have it returned. I believe they are still holding it at their location until they decide what should be done. This package will not be coming back to us. If you still want to receive it, you can contact them however there is nothing more that can be done on our end that will help with this package. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you,Nikki/ Acephotodigital
Customer Service (custservice@acephotodigital.com)
Sent: 08 July 2008 18:16:21
Reply-to: Customer Service (custservice@acephotodigital.com)
To: ef@hotmail.com
Hi, Unfortunately United Parcel Service would not budge with the shipping costs. We have argued with them for a week regarding this. To return this package they were charging us with Custom and Duty charges which you we required to pay as well as $200.00 for shipping, this is more then the package was worth. They abandoned the package because you did not want it and we would not pay that amount to have it returned. I believe they are still holding it at their location until they decide what should be done. This package will not be coming back to us. If you still want to receive it, you can contact them however there is nothing more that can be done on our end that will help with this package. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.
Thank you,Nikki/ Acephotodigital
Reply to United Parcel Service Istanbul's email
Dear Mr İşteal
Thank you for your email but I am extremely sorry that answers nothing for me, it contains no details, no costs, no breakdowns and no real information.
1. What are CIF charges ?
2. What is the percentage tax charge on imported items ? Are they different for electronic items.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION
3. Is my item excempt , it is for educational purposes, it is not a game, a computer etc, it's purposes is to read books loaded on the device. I do not know if this applies but:
Quote: Imports of machinery and equipment for projects introducing new and competitive technology and imports of products utilized in training, education and research, are exempt from customs duty.
This is from the government web site, address:
http://www.turkishembassy.org/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=233&Itemid=282
****** I do not know if this law/rule applies to personal use. But then again customs are stating this item is classed as for commerical use then it does not matter, i.e I can argue as it is classed as a commerical import, then I can state it is for commercial educational purposes ******
4. If the low limit is 100 EUR does that mean that tax is not charged on the first 100EUR or is it ?
5. Are you charging me tax on the TOTAL cost (this seemed to be the case when I was told the value of the shipment was some $400 i.e inclusive of carriage) as the actual cost of the shipment is only $279.
6. Will KDV be applied to the total bill i.e am I going to get taxed twice in effect ?
7. Please list all charges to be applied as approximately as possible as %.
8. Can you please show me a goverment web site where these charges are listed so I can verify these for myself or if you have documentation from the ministry of trade outlining these costs can you send me them, I have turkish friends who can translate these , thank you.
9. How is the holding fee calculated ie. by LB per day etc ?
10. "Customs law and regulations , the low value limit is 100EUR
which means the non-commercial shipments declared under this value , can be released by the customs as low value shipments without formal entries. Of course there are also physical inspections on the packages and determined by
the type of commodities , quantities etc, the customs authorities have the right to hold any shipment for a formal entry."
a. This is for personal use only, the item is going to a private individual for personal use you are stating that customs have no other way to differentiate between commerial and private use apart from the 100EUR limit and anything over and beyond this is classed as commercial ?
b. Type of commodities, Point 3, this is for educational purposes, maybe customs thought it was a game, computer or video player ?
Yes I know they are a lot of questions, but I have lived in many countries and do not know of one which wants to charge in excess of 100% fees to import an item into the country, that is why I want a breakdown of the costs and yes it does feel like I am being ripped off, it is all very well stating this is the law but when the law is so skewed there is something wrong.
Mr İşteal could you please copy Molly Ellis on the reply.
Mr İşteal / Molly, if the case**** is that personal items are taxed so much and so many different charges are levied could you please arrange for the package to be returned as inexpensively as possible to the sender because as I stated before I am unwilling to pay such dispraportionate cost compared to the original value of the item , that excludes notary/translation fees.
Also Ace Photo Digital informed me that UPS quoted $200 to return the package back to the sender.
Also as a side issue Mr İşteal do you know where I can locate the email for the minister of trade for turkey ?
**** If the customs charges etc are over 100 YTL this would be the case as I would also have to pay 120-170 YTL for notary/translation fees for the Power of Attorney. ****
EF
Thank you for your email but I am extremely sorry that answers nothing for me, it contains no details, no costs, no breakdowns and no real information.
1. What are CIF charges ?
2. What is the percentage tax charge on imported items ? Are they different for electronic items.
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT QUESTION
3. Is my item excempt , it is for educational purposes, it is not a game, a computer etc, it's purposes is to read books loaded on the device. I do not know if this applies but:
Quote: Imports of machinery and equipment for projects introducing new and competitive technology and imports of products utilized in training, education and research, are exempt from customs duty.
This is from the government web site, address:
http://www.turkishembassy.org/
index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=233&Itemid=282
****** I do not know if this law/rule applies to personal use. But then again customs are stating this item is classed as for commerical use then it does not matter, i.e I can argue as it is classed as a commerical import, then I can state it is for commercial educational purposes ******
4. If the low limit is 100 EUR does that mean that tax is not charged on the first 100EUR or is it ?
5. Are you charging me tax on the TOTAL cost (this seemed to be the case when I was told the value of the shipment was some $400 i.e inclusive of carriage) as the actual cost of the shipment is only $279.
6. Will KDV be applied to the total bill i.e am I going to get taxed twice in effect ?
7. Please list all charges to be applied as approximately as possible as %.
8. Can you please show me a goverment web site where these charges are listed so I can verify these for myself or if you have documentation from the ministry of trade outlining these costs can you send me them, I have turkish friends who can translate these , thank you.
9. How is the holding fee calculated ie. by LB per day etc ?
10. "Customs law and regulations , the low value limit is 100EUR
which means the non-commercial shipments declared under this value , can be released by the customs as low value shipments without formal entries. Of course there are also physical inspections on the packages and determined by
the type of commodities , quantities etc, the customs authorities have the right to hold any shipment for a formal entry."
a. This is for personal use only, the item is going to a private individual for personal use you are stating that customs have no other way to differentiate between commerial and private use apart from the 100EUR limit and anything over and beyond this is classed as commercial ?
b. Type of commodities, Point 3, this is for educational purposes, maybe customs thought it was a game, computer or video player ?
Yes I know they are a lot of questions, but I have lived in many countries and do not know of one which wants to charge in excess of 100% fees to import an item into the country, that is why I want a breakdown of the costs and yes it does feel like I am being ripped off, it is all very well stating this is the law but when the law is so skewed there is something wrong.
Mr İşteal could you please copy Molly Ellis on the reply.
Mr İşteal / Molly, if the case**** is that personal items are taxed so much and so many different charges are levied could you please arrange for the package to be returned as inexpensively as possible to the sender because as I stated before I am unwilling to pay such dispraportionate cost compared to the original value of the item , that excludes notary/translation fees.
Also Ace Photo Digital informed me that UPS quoted $200 to return the package back to the sender.
Also as a side issue Mr İşteal do you know where I can locate the email for the minister of trade for turkey ?
**** If the customs charges etc are over 100 YTL this would be the case as I would also have to pay 120-170 YTL for notary/translation fees for the Power of Attorney. ****
EF
Email from United Parcel Service Istanbul
HuseyinIsteal@ups.com.tr
Sent: 11 July 2008 10:42:45
To: ef@hotmail.com
Dear Mr F,
The shipment sent from ACE PHOTO AND DIGITAL under the UPS tracking number 1ZR265V10471499357 was
held as a formal entry due to the high value. As per Turkish Customs law and regulations , the low value limit is 100EUR
which means the non-commercial shipments declared under this value , can be released by the customs as low value
shipments without formal entries. Of course there are also physical inspections on the packages and determined by
the type of commodities , quantities etc, the customs authorities have the right to hold any shipment for a formal entry.
I know that providing a notarized power of attorney has a cost as you will have to pay a fee to the notary ; what is more
if you are not able to speak Turkish , you will need an authorised translator but without a notarized power of attorney we are
not allowed to submit a clearance declaration to the customs on behalf of you. Power of attorney is given once and is valid
untill the expire date ; 1 day to 5 years. Unfortunately there is not an alternate option that will allow us to submit customs a
clearance declaration on behalf of a customer without a power of attorney.
The reason of your being given approximate charges for clearance is that , the total customs charges are certain only on the
day of clearance. Duty is paid on CIF value of the goods and VAT on all expenses and determined by the exchange rates on the
day of clearance, there can be little differences on the duties and taxes also the storage fees may show differences.
You were informed about these charges during your telephone conversation with our customer service staff upon your wanting
to know.It was just to make you have an idea about the approximate costs for clearance. After your giving final decision about
accepting the shipment or giving a power of attorney , the clearance process would start. Even we had your power of attorney , we
would still inform you about the exact charges and get your confirmation in advance (you could either pay by a bank transfer or at delivery)
so you do not have to worry about being charged much more than you were informed.
If we have a power of attorney from a customer in file , we certainly inform the customer about the arrival , get authorisation to
start clearance and then another confirmation for the payment of the customs charges as our having a power of attorney from a customer,
does not mean that the customer has to accept every shipment sent to her/him and pay the charges. Customers have the right
to refuse the shipments or the charges.
I would also like to correct your thought about the Turkish Customs officers' charging what they think and without any official guidelines.
The rates are not flexible ; every item has a customs tariff number (GTIP) and the duty / tax rates , import regulations , additional
documents / permits / approvals if any etc are all according to the the law and regulations the customs tariff numbers refer to.
After determining the harmonized cutoms tariff numbers and providing the required information like payment for the value of the goods
etc , it takes minutes to calculate the exact charges.
Customs has a computerized system ; we first send the declaration to the customs system through EDI system then the paperwork
is sent to the customs office for the approval of the officer , the declaration is then transferred to a line (red,blue,yellow ) and then
by paying the customs charges the shipment is released. Determined by the line, a physical inspection might be needed before release.
For example ; the customs tariff number of the commodity sent to you is 8471.30.00 , subject to 18% VAT , requires CE standards and
the importer needs to provide service warranty and maintenance certificate. ( As it is only one and for personal use , an exemption
letter could be provided )
We have a very new notice (No 2008/65) of Ataturk Airport Customs Directorate about the clearance of the goods sent to private individuals as
gifts or for their/families own use and not having commercial values or not in commercial quantities which will enable us clear such goods exempt
from some regularions like CE and with a fixed tax rate , without VAT. We will still need power of attorneys from the receivers.
I hope the explanation above answers all your questions. I would like to inform you that we are ready to give any assitance on clearance of the shipment
so please do not hesitate to contact me for any questions. But I hope you also understand us and our being liable to follow the clearance process
according to the existing law and regulations. Without a power of attorney , we will not be able to clear the shipment. The sender was also informed about the
reason of shipment's being undeliverable but UPS in US has not received shipper's instructions yet. I would like to speak with you about all these details,the clearance and power of attorney so that we can clear and deliver the shipment instead of its' being seized by the customs but I haven't had a chance to contact you since yestarday morning as the telephone number we have in our files (02526134664) is not being answered. When you receive this e-mail if you let know an
alternate telephone number or give me a call , I hope we can find the optimum solution.
Thanks
Sincerely,
Hüseyin İşteal
Sent: 11 July 2008 10:42:45
To: ef@hotmail.com
Dear Mr F,
The shipment sent from ACE PHOTO AND DIGITAL under the UPS tracking number 1ZR265V10471499357 was
held as a formal entry due to the high value. As per Turkish Customs law and regulations , the low value limit is 100EUR
which means the non-commercial shipments declared under this value , can be released by the customs as low value
shipments without formal entries. Of course there are also physical inspections on the packages and determined by
the type of commodities , quantities etc, the customs authorities have the right to hold any shipment for a formal entry.
I know that providing a notarized power of attorney has a cost as you will have to pay a fee to the notary ; what is more
if you are not able to speak Turkish , you will need an authorised translator but without a notarized power of attorney we are
not allowed to submit a clearance declaration to the customs on behalf of you. Power of attorney is given once and is valid
untill the expire date ; 1 day to 5 years. Unfortunately there is not an alternate option that will allow us to submit customs a
clearance declaration on behalf of a customer without a power of attorney.
The reason of your being given approximate charges for clearance is that , the total customs charges are certain only on the
day of clearance. Duty is paid on CIF value of the goods and VAT on all expenses and determined by the exchange rates on the
day of clearance, there can be little differences on the duties and taxes also the storage fees may show differences.
You were informed about these charges during your telephone conversation with our customer service staff upon your wanting
to know.It was just to make you have an idea about the approximate costs for clearance. After your giving final decision about
accepting the shipment or giving a power of attorney , the clearance process would start. Even we had your power of attorney , we
would still inform you about the exact charges and get your confirmation in advance (you could either pay by a bank transfer or at delivery)
so you do not have to worry about being charged much more than you were informed.
If we have a power of attorney from a customer in file , we certainly inform the customer about the arrival , get authorisation to
start clearance and then another confirmation for the payment of the customs charges as our having a power of attorney from a customer,
does not mean that the customer has to accept every shipment sent to her/him and pay the charges. Customers have the right
to refuse the shipments or the charges.
I would also like to correct your thought about the Turkish Customs officers' charging what they think and without any official guidelines.
The rates are not flexible ; every item has a customs tariff number (GTIP) and the duty / tax rates , import regulations , additional
documents / permits / approvals if any etc are all according to the the law and regulations the customs tariff numbers refer to.
After determining the harmonized cutoms tariff numbers and providing the required information like payment for the value of the goods
etc , it takes minutes to calculate the exact charges.
Customs has a computerized system ; we first send the declaration to the customs system through EDI system then the paperwork
is sent to the customs office for the approval of the officer , the declaration is then transferred to a line (red,blue,yellow ) and then
by paying the customs charges the shipment is released. Determined by the line, a physical inspection might be needed before release.
For example ; the customs tariff number of the commodity sent to you is 8471.30.00 , subject to 18% VAT , requires CE standards and
the importer needs to provide service warranty and maintenance certificate. ( As it is only one and for personal use , an exemption
letter could be provided )
We have a very new notice (No 2008/65) of Ataturk Airport Customs Directorate about the clearance of the goods sent to private individuals as
gifts or for their/families own use and not having commercial values or not in commercial quantities which will enable us clear such goods exempt
from some regularions like CE and with a fixed tax rate , without VAT. We will still need power of attorneys from the receivers.
I hope the explanation above answers all your questions. I would like to inform you that we are ready to give any assitance on clearance of the shipment
so please do not hesitate to contact me for any questions. But I hope you also understand us and our being liable to follow the clearance process
according to the existing law and regulations. Without a power of attorney , we will not be able to clear the shipment. The sender was also informed about the
reason of shipment's being undeliverable but UPS in US has not received shipper's instructions yet. I would like to speak with you about all these details,the clearance and power of attorney so that we can clear and deliver the shipment instead of its' being seized by the customs but I haven't had a chance to contact you since yestarday morning as the telephone number we have in our files (02526134664) is not being answered. When you receive this e-mail if you let know an
alternate telephone number or give me a call , I hope we can find the optimum solution.
Thanks
Sincerely,
Hüseyin İşteal
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