Wednesday, March 08, 2017

Post Services, Customs and... A Ruined Birthday!

(Dark Elf)

To my great disappointment, my birthday gifts had been returned to sender. What exactly happened is:

a. An incompetent office employee that mistook the gift for a merchandise.

b. A greedy commie govt. in Greece that supposedly "cares for the poor" and yet taxes a CD with $150 and make citizens run at 100 offices just to receive a birthday gift from a friend.

Even if it was really a merchandise, it would make no sense to tax a CD with $150.

Breakdown of receipts:
   Card                                                                              -   $4.79
   Great Historical Coincidences (book)                           -   $7.98
   Physical Graffiti Deluxe Edition (Led Zeppelin CD)  -    $21 99
   Celebration Day (Led Zeppelin CD)                            -   $19.99
TOTAL for gifts:                                                                $54.75                                     

"Commie bastard" was a cold war USA - supposed - exaggeration for communists. In this case, I tell ya, it PERFECTLY fits. A $55 value is taxed with $150... almost three times leaving aside that it's a GATT violation (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) ...

(Lady Caer Morganna):

I was told by Mike, the owner of  'Mail n Ship 4 U' (which was the facility that I used and have always used), that with customs you can mail, for example, five packages and never have an issue but the sixth one that you send you could because it depends upon the customs agent and IF they SO choose to put a tax on it or not even if the items have no financial value. I have sent many other packages before to Greece over the past year or so with no problem what-so-ever and, trust me, what this customs agent pulled was EXTORTION pure and simple! Because of this particular brand of a-hole, I had to make a whole lot of phone calls between Fed Ex and "Mail n Ship 4 U" (which I am STILL struggling with!) in order to have the items returned to the States (which should NEVER have been taxed again in the first place by Greek officials), AND all for items which cost me under a total of $60.00 to purchase BEFORE the outrageous shipping cost of $117.00! Dark Elf is indeed correct, these people are blatantly corrupt as all hell (and to think that they actually get away with it)! In my opinion, they are nothing short of disgusting crooks.

UPDATE to this post as of March 10, 2017 ... (Lady Caer Morganna :)
I checked update on Fed Ex website with my tracking number and noticed it said that the package was in transit (“International shipment release – Import”). I immediately contacted Fed Ex again and spoke to a man named Diego who looked into the Fed Ex system notes and said that the package is already being processed for abandonment and will not be shipped back to the States as per my request. He informed me that I (via Mike) may or may not receive an invoice for the 50 euros Greece would charge to KEEP the package! 

(Dark Elf): They can keep wanting. We aren't going to pay... :)

8 comments:

  1. I am sorry this happened to you. But I believe you were really unlucky. I am well obviously Greek, hence the screen name and for my work I constantly receive packages from other countries and this has never happened to me. I have had once an insane delay (4 months or something), but that's about it..

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    1. Well, wait a little longer then... This specific govt. - that even i made the mistake to vote for - is really a piece of work... You 'll see...

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    2. Thank you Greekwitch; however, I believe it has MUCH LESS to do with LUCK and A LOT MORE to do with greed and incompetence! Livid does NOT even begin to describe how I feel right now about those assholes.

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    3. Hey, I never said anything about the government! Only about the post office with which I happen to use a lot for my work. Nor did I say that this wasn't a corrupted post office worker. I only said, that it hasn't happened to me ever... But I just shared my experience, never meant to step on anyone' toes...

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    4. I really hope you will NEVER experience anything alike. But since they are doing it systematically - according to Mike - i am afraid it's a matter of time...

      The problem is NOT in the post office. It 's in the Customs Service. The Customs Service is a govt. responsibility. That 's why it is their fault. They know it and they approve it because so far they get away with it...

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    5. Greekwitch, no worries! You certainly did not step on anyone's toes. I apologize if it sounded that way, it most definitely was never meant to offend you. To be honest, there is simply too much going on right now in my personal life and THIS was just the last thing I needed to deal with. Because of this experience, I will never send anything to Greece ever again. Something which was a caring, heart-felt gesture turned into a nightmare and did NOT need to be!

      Anyway, I am glad you never had to deal with a situation such as this - may you never have to either. :)

      Brightest Blessings to you always!

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  2. I am so sorry about all of this!!!

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    1. Thanks Stacy! Thankfully, I NEVER had a problem shipping anything to Canada except for the time your bottle had gotten broken BUT I truly believe that happened here in the States because of how careless the U.S. Postal Service is with our packages.

      I hope all is well with you, my sister ~ Much love to you!

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