I had to send three letters to four different DHL agents trying to convince them that I am a private individual and not a company (they somehow got the idea that I am, e.g. John Smith Inc. rather than simply John Smith).
They asked for an alcohol waiver twice, even though there's no alcohol in the shipment.
They asked for a tobacco license twice, even though I explained over and over that I am neither a manufacturer nor a distributor, and therefore neither US Customs, nor U.S. Department of Treasury's Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau, nor the FDA prohibit importation of tobacco for personal use.
At this stage I have approximately two pages worth of U.S. law with references that I quoted to make my case.
I also quoted DHL Express's own service manual for the USA 2022 which states that only tobacco above EURO500 is restricted.
Yesterday there was a notice on my tracking number saying that my package would be sent back.
Today, however, they replaced the notice with a request for more information.
I've just submitted a DHL power of attorney form.
I'm going to call back (naturally) in an hour to confirm, since each and every single time I've called I've gotten a different story from a different individual.
But what I'd like to get to the bottom of is: what form, what letter, what customs declaration do I need to use/write/make to ensure this doesn't happen again? I hope to clear this up when I call back.
My current opinion is that it boils down to having a DHL Express account (which is free) and submitting a DHL power of attorney. But I also have the feeling that nobody at DHL knows anything about anything, really.
