I’m not suffering a high stress level. You’re projecting way too much into this. I’m just conveying annoying facts about the situation. I’m not laying in bed at night unable to sleep over this.
In the past, DHL and UPS screwed me over with customs fees. For example, I have a shipment with a value of about $250 USD and I’d be paying $70 on top of that. Meanwhile, I’ve used AVIA small parcel and ECMS with 100% success (no loss, no damage) and no customs fees. And the shipping costs are much lower. I’d rather pay $15~$20 USD for a week or two delivery time than $40~$50 USD for 3~5 day delivery. What can I say–I’m frugal and hate paying more money than necessary. I am not presently employed, which is part of what drives that.
It’s interesting the differences in shipping services that are generally considered decent depending on where you are in the country.
I would never again trust USPS with anything of that much value if I have the choice.
UniUni delivered to me at the back of my building and the package was blown into the grass when I found it two days later.
UPS is disgusting on fees and if I don’t have the normal driver then it’s over 50% chance they will deliver my package to someone else.
FedEx is pretty steady but they also have more fees but not as much as UPS.
DHL is at the same time, every day, same driver, same fees, very predictable.
I can better appreciate where you’re coming from now.
On the websites of some shipping companies (mostly intermediaries using large companies such as DHL, Fedex, etc.) it is stated that if the recipient in the USA refuses the package, the sender will pay the customs duty… WTF?
Is this stated in any regulations in the US?
Thank you!
I have had very good luck with USPS in the past. There have been some recent slipups, but I’m hoping it doesn’t become the norm. If they do persist… then yeah, I’ll also veer away from them.
I live in a doorman building with a mail room, so my UniUni package got sorted via the normal process and was very fast. That’s so weird about your package… was it light and small? Was it unable to fit into the normal slot, or package locker? In a previous building that I lived in, there was a locked mailbox unit with individual apartment slots and then a shared package bin that the mail carrier could open with a special key, then leave a key in the receiver’s mailbox.
Thanks for sharing your carrier homework–DHL is back on my list and will keep in mind.
ZenMarket says that if you prepay duties (the “DDP”) and somehow the package is rejected, they will refund the fees paid. But of course, that means having to ship once more.
Technically, if customs refuses a package, they are not legally allowed to collect any fees. But this whole tariff imposition is such a fiasco… and I’m sure the slipshod idiots who have tried to implement it from this administration have made numerous errors and left a multitude of ambiguity, leaving US Customs to run their own interpretations. And the thing is, there are a multitude of US Customs ports. Who even knows if they’re all in sync on policies.