Aduana vs Couriers. Again?

[Expat-in-Cabarete]

I'm surprised with all the delays reported on this thread.

I've been ordering with EncargoPaq (not electronics). So far no problems. A package from Amazon that arrived in their Miami offices last Tuesday was sent to Sto Dgo on Wednesday, and to Cabarete yesterday morning.

EncargoPaq has worked a lot better for me than EPS. Not only they deliver to my house but also contact me to upload a bill if it is not in the box, and they charge a meager $158 pesos per pound (rounding up only the first pound) -- no separate ITBIS on service, no gas bill and all those strange charges that appear on EPS invoices.

 

[jojo2130]

We are one of those "caught in Miami " families. A well planned Xmas , And Most is stuck in Aduanas there even though almost all arrived around 25th of November. I frankly don't care about the taxes but find it silly that earlier this year they tried to over tax to appease "big business" and lost.

Actually a few things that I find silly:

1/. Why would aduanas try to reduce imports which would reduce the need for Aduanas agents in favor of producing profits for big business? Without a doubt there is more work to clearing and processing 3000 Imports through the couriers as oposed to 1 container ! ? A fee is always charged. Isn't that sort of shooting themselves in the foot?

2/. Most of the items , no, ALL of the items I buy on Amazon et al. are items I cannot buy here. The garbage quality they offer in stores like La Sirena and the Mom and Pop places are the no name Chinese made junk that doesn't last until the package is even opened in most cases. I for one would GLADLY buy here if I could find it here. We are on the North Coast and its near impossible to find the current trends . And I am not big on travelling to "La Capitale" every time I need to buy something that works 2 times in a row !

3/. Why wouldn't they just put a reasonable import tax on all goods and reap the benefits and allow the market to correct the big retailers?

I suppose it all comes down to a few people getting full pockets from a few other people.

Like Mr Spockia (Dominican Spock) Said ! The Needs of the few outweigh the needs of the many ! Dame Dame Dame

I Have Noted that More parcels that arrived have breezed through as normal in the last couple of days while 4 Shipments are Still "stuck" since the 25th of November. I spoke to them at BM Cargo and they say that they believe all will be "released" from Customs this week.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

I was advised by EPS yesterday that my amazon pkg was on its way to Sousa. I should receive an email today to go pick it up. 3 working days to here is about the norm.

 

[donP]

'Retenido' in Customs

Yesterday at 1:34 p.m. I received this email message:

"Hola
Factura y valor urgente antes de la 4pm, de lo contrario sus paquetes seran
retenidos y demorados por aduanas.
Gracias
1 REPUESTO PARA BICICLETA
CPS Las Terrenas-Saman?"
__________________________________

Value is 51.96 USD
I had asked the seller to include an invoice, but do not know whether this was done.

So far we have 3 undelivered parcels, one has been 'retenido' in customs since 11th, Nov.
I had sent them screenshots of all Ebay and PayPal transactions.
All purchases were below 200 USD.

donP

 

[donP]

Screwed

Everything has to have an invoice, regardless of the cost.

Yes, but one cannot force the sellers to include one.
{And could customs not make an invoice disappear also? }

So, if customs do not accept screenshots of Ebay and PayPal transaction we are screwed?

donP

 

[donP]

PDF Problem

When you look at the order details on EBAY, there is a "printer friendly" button at the top right of the order.
Select that, and use the "save as a pdf" option. (I use the tracking number as the file name)

Yes, I had tried that before.
However, my FF browser does not let me save it as PDF (only as .htm and that then is an empty page).

donP

Update:
I just found a htm > pdf converter tool. So, I can now file it as .pdf but it is not much different from the screenshot.
Anyway I shall see which or what customs accepts.

 

[windeguy]

My Firefox browser allows me to "print to a file" an Ebay invoice as a PDF file. Then I just email that to Encargopaq (or upload it on their web site for the appropriate shipment) and things have always gone smoothly to this day.

 

[amp]

When you select something to print you have different options than just sending it to a printer. You can save as PDF instead of having to convert it:

If you're still having trouble I can make a video explaining it.

 

[amp]

This I can confirm:


Amazon items sold by Amazon will ship with a receipt.

Amazon items sold by others but shipped by Amazon will ship with a receipt.

Amazon items sold by others and shipped by others may ship without a receipt.

 

[Buzzard]

My shipments from Amazon do contain a receipt not an invoice. The difference being that there is no price on the receipt. In contrast, I just received an item from Best Buy which contained an invoice.

 

[Gringo Starr]

I had about 20 packages from RockAuto via EPS during last two weeks. All of them were without any invoice, since they only include packing list on domestic orders. I think EPS did not ask me for invoices because all parts were small switches, weatherstrip, rubber grommets or hoses, obviously less than $200. Anyway, I was not asked for invoices, all packages came with 2 or 3 days in Aerolinea and 1 or 2 days in Aduana. So it's not that fast as before, but still acceptable.

 

[Mauricio]

I ordered a baby monitor and a book in one shipment from Amazon. Arrived at Eps in Miami yesterday morning and I can pick it up tomorrow morning at the eps office in Bella vista. Even faster than before!

 

[Celt202]

I bought a OnePlus One smart phone that was delivered to BMCargo in Florida on Monday December 1. I uploaded a factura with BMCargo's online Pre Alerta option.

The phone was posted as processed in Doral at 11 AM yesterday. It was posted as packed at 4 PM indicating BMCargo opened it to check for an invoice. It was posted as shipped at 8 PM.
...

Shipped on December 10 from Doral, Florida, processed by Aduanas and available for pick up December 12.

The belt that was delivered in Doral on December 9 still hasn't been processed.

 

[amp]

Shipped on December 10 from Doral, Florida, processed by Aduanas and available for pick up December 12.

The belt that was delivered in Doral on December 9 still hasn't been processed.

How much did customs charge you in taxes?

 

[jimmythegreek]

Shipped on December 10 from Doral, Florida, processed by Aduanas and available for pick up December 12.

The belt that was delivered in Doral on December 9 still hasn't been processed.

So here's my report. 24" monitor from Amazon shipped to EPS-Doral-arrived 12PM Tuesday.

Received an email from EPS at 1PM today (Thursday) that it is ready to pick up in the Almacen.

So that is two days from Miami to pickup in SD.

Also, I sent the invoice by email to the office in SD days before the package arrived in Doral.

About the payment: The item was $139.09 with FL tax-I am paying RD$1,975 on 10.30 pounds with EPS-

I calculated it and there is no tax in there-just the shipping weight charge($37), fuel surcharge ($6) and small additional aduana tax of $2.

All in all, I am very pleased with the service and the time from Doral to pickup in SD.

 

[SKY]

Just picked up 2 packages from EPS, both under 200. Got to Miami Friday and Bavaro Tuesday for one and Wed. for the other. Used to be one day faster but I can live with this. EPS has been very good for me for many years, and not only in one city.

 

[Jaime809]

I may have to switch to EPS; JetPack is letting me down lately. Took a month for a bottle of lotion, and a plastic garbage can is in Miami for a week at this point.

 

[rubio_higuey]

And the story continues... a huge grand theft (inside job) in Deposit 5 of DGA at Las Americas airport, where the goods that have to pay taxes are being stored (plasma TVs, laptops, expensive phones and tablets, etc.). No security cameras working, no locks were broken (keys used) trucks moving on the midnight when there should be no traffic, nobody has seen anything, DGA initially refused to initiate the investigation, etc, etc.

I would not be surprised if this was a job ordered by the King of Customs, in silence, to p|ss off the courier users

 

[Pavel De La Rosa]

So i have an strange situation, i won a skullcandy headphones though auction on ebay, for us 97, the retail price of these are 170 us, so in any case product no near 200 us, they got to miami in 3 days and they went through the airlines just fine, but it was retained in aduana here, i send the receipt and it says is on discussion with aduana, it's been like that for 3 days so far, should i get worried? is there anythign i can do other than just waiting? any suggestions?

 

[Pavel De La Rosa]

If you do get worried, what will that resolve? Try not to think about them, and wait another day or two. Couriers are really being held up a lot by customs, but don't assume there's a problem.

We just went through the Christmas season and now the 3 Kings holiday, so there's still a lot of stuff trying to get through the bottleneck.

Relax, don't worry.

i see, thanks for the response, i'll do just that.