It's been a long time since I've bought a broad.
Back when I did, it was pretty much hassle free.
Back when I did, it was pretty much hassle free.
The New Tariffs and Buying Abroad
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You should tell UPS to resend the bill to France for payment. They obviously don’t listen to what Trump says.
@bluegrassbrian thats just wrong. Contact ups. It should be about 15 percent plus a 20 or 25 dollar processing fee.
Hard to imagine how it could be right.
I thought perhaps it was due to it being shipped express- but that doesn’t “make sense” either.
Unfortunately, mostly due to it being shipped express (which I didn’t expect [and otherwise would have been a pleasant surprise]) I was under a bit of duress regarding timing.
You get the “please pay this amount to avoid further COD charges”.
Anyone know if UPS phone contact is based stateside?
If it’s anything like PayPal’s phone service, they can just keep my damn money.
I had to refute a crazy bill from FedEx that made no sense -- I did it over email. They responded that they had a backlog of 6+ months, so I would hear back eventually.
Stories like yours is why I'm weary of even trying to order stuff abroad right now. Hoping this all ends at some point...
As a Canadian who frequently buys from the US, I unfortunately have a lot of experience with this.
I once bought an item at 50% off, only to be shocked by the duty charged. I asked some questions and realized that the retailer had the shipping company fill out the customs form... and they used the full retail price of the item, not the discounted price. The difference was a couple of hundred in duty. Stuff like this slips through. Most people pay without thinking. Make sure you ask questions and understand the calculation.
UPS is a disaster. Had a bad experience with them. They were so screwed up they ended up destroying packages. DHL was smooth.
I bought 2 pipes yesterday from SmokingPipes.eu to the US - a Savinelli Vigna Smooth Brown 670 KS and a Rattray Devil's Cut 'G' Sandblasted Brown 130, both with 9mm filters. Even with the exchange rate and expecting about this same amount of tariffs as above, it's still going to be about 30% cheaper and the variety of Savinellis, Vauens, and higher end Rattrays with 9mm filters is much higher. Plus, a purchase from the US website would have charged me US state sales tax to Florida, and the EU site doesn't charge any VAT, so it might be closer to 40% on these pipes). I hope it works out and I'll let you know.
Today, I finally received a pipe I ordered from LePipe.it. The pipe was shipped via UPS. I placed the order on Nov.29th. Both myself and the vendor had to send multiple copies of the invoice to them. I also had to pay $90 in fees: $74 for the tariff and $16 in brokerage fees. The purchase price of the pipe was $550 USD.
I wonder if the extreme tariff posted earlier had stacked tariffs for the steel, country, etc.
I wonder if the extreme tariff posted earlier had stacked tariffs for the steel, country, etc.
Yes, they shipped it out this morning via AnPost from Dublin. It was free shipping for purchases over 250 Euro and I spend 251 Euro (only 16 Euro flat rate otherwise for the US). I recommend checking them out for 9mm Savinellis especially. I felt limited to a fairly basic finish in the US stores, but they had a dozen different finishes on the EU site. So, crossing my fingers that the charge goes smoothly and I receive in a reasonable time. I'll let you know.
Thanks. Yesterday I started looking into the fact that almost all Sav's start out as 9mm's. Meaning a 6mm sleeve is simply glued into the 9mm tenon at the factory. If you look closely at a 6mm tenon, you'll most likely see the end of the glued sleeve sticking out. I have not found the best way to remove the sleeve yet. I tried heating the tenon with a Bic with little success. Some YT vids point to a 8mm or 9mm drill reamer. I have a handful of 6mm's I'd like to convert now that there are issues with speu and obviously if you could find a way to easily remove the sleeve, you could, in theory, buy any Sav. and convert it back.
Thanks for the info. While DHL was a couple dollars more, the hassle was relatively low, and went relatively quickly compared to your account of dealing with UPS.
I do also wonder how the different national postal services compare as well. Just bought something (not pipe/tobacco related) from Canada a few weeks ago that was shipped Canada Post. The tariff was paid for by the vendor and was included in the purchase price. It was held up in customs a little over a week for reasons unknown, though.
I’ve still not had any problems buying from Germany, England or Canada.
All have been very smooth and the charges have been paid upfront or in DHL’s case, I get a text to pay the fee. Easy peasy.
Of UPS, DHL, or FedEx, the latter (FedEx) was the biggest problem.
A few years ago I purchased an iPad that was “delivered” to my house with proof of delivery. It was not. It was delivered to a bar (although my house kinda resembles a bar, but that’s another story). I used Google Earth Street View to prove how distinctive my front door is. I received a full refund.
All have been very smooth and the charges have been paid upfront or in DHL’s case, I get a text to pay the fee. Easy peasy.
Of UPS, DHL, or FedEx, the latter (FedEx) was the biggest problem.
A few years ago I purchased an iPad that was “delivered” to my house with proof of delivery. It was not. It was delivered to a bar (although my house kinda resembles a bar, but that’s another story). I used Google Earth Street View to prove how distinctive my front door is. I received a full refund.