Your lies cost me time and money

[hmmmmm]

I had to wait an extra week and pay $15 because of the lies on the content declaration.

Why were there lies on the package about it's content and no one was informed about it?

The phone obviously isn't $25 and most definitely isn't a gift.

[LinAdmin]

I had to wait an extra week and pay $15 because of the lies on the content declaration.

I doubt that you had to pay an extra $15 for lies on the content declaration.
Please elaborate and indicate what country you live in.

[hmmmmm]

I had to wait an extra week and pay $15 because of the lies on the content declaration.

I doubt that you had to pay an extra $15 for lies on the content declaration.
Please elaborate and indicate what country you live in.

There are 3 positions on the bill:
Tax
Tariff
Value checking and storage

Value checking and storage is only necessary because the declaration was obviously wrong. I never had this on a properly done package.

I don't see why my country would be relevant. The declaration as gift and the value of $25 is wrong for any country.

[Kareema]

There are some points to think about here: For most people, the declaration of a lower price and declaring it as a gift seems to go well and they don't have to pay VAT. These are the lucky ones. But for all others it can lead to the following problems:

• Longer delivery time, because it's held back by customs
  
• More detailed checks for non compliance
  
• Additional costs for checks and storage
  

My opinion about that: A wrong declaration is quite a bad idea!

Everybody buying a device coming from other countries should be prepared to pay the extra money required. A wrong declaration can lead to spending extra money and waiting longer.

Not having been informed about how the phone will be declared may be good in case of legal problems for the recipient (deniability), but is aditionally annoying if you are among the unfortunate ones being checked by customs and you didn't have a choice there.

And in the end, a wrong declaration may damage the reputation of the pinephone and that's the worst that can happen in my opinion.

But well, just my two cents about this topic...

[M@yeulC]

And in the end, a wrong declaration may damage the reputation of the pinephone and that's the worst that can happen in my opinion.

I get what you are saying, but it's very standard practice if you order anything from china... So the reputation doesn't have a lot to do with it.

Though "gift" and $25 isn't really that much of a bad fit for a prototype/development platform.

And finally, you might have paid more than $15 had the order value been written on the invoice. I remember my order of the first Raspberry Pis: 20% VAT on (device cost + shipping cost) + $30 in fees handling. In the end, that cost me as much as the devices, as a student... But well, you have to be prepared to deal with that kind of setbacks if your product has to go trough custom.

[someGermanGuy]

> you might have paid more than $15 had the order value been written on the invoice
thats wrong. If they suspect something fishy goes on (what they do if there is something labeled gift with 25$), then YOU HAVE TO SHOW THEM what you actually paid.
And it will cost much more. I guess i know the country. I live in the same country. My shipping has been changed from one country to another now because i can not pick it up in germany anymore. They will re-send it now to my living country. I told them to NOT try to betray the customs here. Otherwise the package will go back.

This is fraud. Nothing else. And if some fishy chinese dealers do that, thats fine for me. But i guess Pine does not want to get into that pool of dealers.

They could also offer something like a checkbox:
"should we try to betray the customs?"
"should we label the package correctly?"

There is a big sense of justice missing here... at least thats how it feels.

[bunburya]

The customs declaration should state the correct value. I think understating the value is a common practice in China so this may not be Pine64's doing but even if it is not I think they should talk to their suppliers to sort it out.

Undoubtedly having a $25 "gift" declaration can lead to products being investigated by customs upon import, which can lead to extra costs and delays for consumers. But there is no telling if that is the worst that could happen. There was a case in my country of a guy who was importing garlic bulbs but having them labelled as apples, which attracted a lower VAT rate. He was caught, prosecuted and sentenced to six years in jail, reduced to two on appeal. Of course, the scale of his activities was much larger (the value of the "scam" was reported by the papers as being about €1.6 million) but ultimately what he was doing was not all that different to what is happening here.

[Foxchild]

My phone is still at the austrian customs office. Two weeks now. They need the correct customs declaration by Asendia or they'll have it sent back to Hongkong. But Asendia isn't responding. Support doesn't respond to this problem either. Local postal service really tries to help me but they cannot give me any contact to the customs office.

Great idea with the tax fraud! That's the way not to make a fuzz...

---

And regarding "understating the value is commong practice"... Well, why have a never experienced a problem with an order from china before, then? It usually takes two weeks at most and I can pay customs via bank transfer in advance.

[someGermanGuy]

They need the correct customs declaration by Asendia or they'll have it sent back to Hongkong. 

Who is paying the shipping costs when they send it back?

[Foxchild]

They need the correct customs declaration by Asendia or they'll have it sent back to Hongkong. 

Who is paying the shipping costs when they send it back?

If I could contact and ask the customs office one thing about the package, this wouldn't be the thing. Nevertheless, good question!