My Bass Is Stuck In Customs

[Turnaround]

Buying/selling internationally is rife with the unexpected. For a start there's shipping. These days it's a big deal because the costs have escalated dramatically in the past few years. Then there are taxes. And sometimes duty to be paid. Then you might get whacked with brokerage fees. A purchase from the USA that I made a few years back looked like a good deal on something that was almost impossible to find in Canada. Shipping cost almost as much as the item. Then there was duty. We supposedly have a Free Trade agreement with the USA, but I was hit with duty since some of the components were manufactured somewhere in Asia. The item was manufactured in America, but some parts were manufactured in Asia. Then I had to pay brokerage fees. Since the seller was in USA I had to pay the exchange rate (about 25% at the time). The item ended up costing 3 times what the seller was asking.

 

[Five or Six]

Lot's of this kind of junk happens on international shipping. A company I worked with had three basses coming from USA to Canada and they were held in customs requiring the same kind of paperwork. Trouble is that the sender did include the documentation, but US Customs kept the original documents and substituted photocopies. When the basses arrived at Canada Customs they were held because they require originals of the documentation and don't accept photocopies. They even said that if the original documents were not received they would have no choice but to destroy the basses! It took weeks to get that sorted out.

I went through this same exact thing only in reverse. Bought out of Canada and was held up in Customs. They wanted to know what kind of wood the bass was made of? Seller had to verify wood type in writing. It finally cleared but was a week late getting here. All over wood type.

 

[g4string]

I’ve had this exact same thing happen, but with FedEx. I had a $4k bass sit in Anchorage for the same documentation issue, and once it was cleared it just sat. No movement. All in all, I think I it sat in Anchorage for almost two weeks. I feel your pain

 

[lala]

Beautiful! The funny thing is I own a shorty Mullarkey already…but I wanted a medium scale.
View attachment 5395254

.....AND I HAVE THE 34" scale version. Equally as rare.

 

[Minimalist]

Retailers NEVER ride the ass of their preferred shipping "partner" because many of them have an undisclosed discount/rebate deal that they don't want to jeopardize.

Every retailer that has some sort of volume has a shipping discount. You can get a deal with a any small package company. Retailers absolutely complain to their partner if they don't perform.

 

[Lava]

Advise your CC about the situation, get a case# and touch base with them until something happens either way

 

[pingvuiini]

Years ago I remember selling a MacBook to a guy in Greece and it got stuck in customs for weeks! I kept tight track of it online and at first kept updating the guy on the status. After a while he said 'it's normal. Don't worry about it.' He received the laptop eventually, but still I was amazed and thankful how patient and understanding he was. So as others have said, these intl shipments can take time which is hard to deal with in the age of Amazon Prime. As long as the item is not damaged, just hang in there.

 

[RevOgre]

I had this happen a few months ago. I just copied the original doc but put in the correct species info for the wood and all was fine. Mine was with FedEx and they literally said if I knew the woodd then google the correct names and copy the original doc but change that. I did and it was released that day.

Wish I recalled it all better but I think it was the Lacey Act stuff? Like sugar rock maple is Acer saccharum etc...

 

[red_rhino]

I had the very same thing happen with an MTD I purchased from Music Force in S. Korea. FedEx International handled the shipment, and the first broker agent to contact me made me jump thru the Plants & Plant Products form hoop as well as other tax duty classification schedules. Fortunately the case was turned over to another agent who had experience bringing guitars thru the process and got it cleared.

As I recall, it too was held up for a day or so before being delivered. Is UPS possibly waiting for you to pay a broker fee before sending it?

 

[Indiana Mike]

Customs is not in a hurry.
They have eternity to get their job done.
Government at its best.

 

[Thumpin6string]

Who is TBC? If it is The Bass Gallery, it would be TBG.

 

[KenD]

Every retailer that has some sort of volume has a shipping discount. You can get a deal with a any small package company. Retailers absolutely complain to their partner if they don't perform.

Not my experience - at all.

 

[g4string]

I had the very same thing happen with an MTD I purchased from Music Force in S. Korea. FedEx International handled the shipment, and the first broker agent to contact me made me jump thru the Plants & Plant Products form hoop as well as other tax duty classification schedules. Fortunately the case was turned over to another agent who had experience bringing guitars thru the process and got it cleared.

As I recall, it too was held up for a day or so before being delivered. Is UPS possibly waiting for you to pay a broker fee before sending it?

My snafu was also with Music Force Global. I don’t think they fill out the correct forms.

 

[DaveParker39]

This would be a good title for a Stax records-era Albert King single.

"My bass is stuck in customs, and I don't know what to do
Oh, my bass is stuck in customs, and I don't know what to do
I'm headin down to Kentucky, singin' the no bass customs blues"

(Just meant for a chuckle in a time of frustration. In seriousness I hope you get your bass!)

 

[lowdownbp5]

Good reason to not do international business. I learned a long time ago

 

[Lugan]

Same happened to me getting a bass from the UK to the US. I also thought the shop should have done a better job helping with customs. After all, they offer to ship business to a set of countries, and with that, I thought they should make an effort to close the loop on shipping. Then again, I wondered how an English speaking shop run by, guessing, a couple blokes (dudes) would be able to navigate import processes if it were a non-English speaking destination like France or Brazil or Japan or China, etc. Through that lens, I sort of thought maybe the recipient should handle it since they are linguistically and otherwise arguably better able to navigate it. I don't know. In any case, that and a recent wristwatch import hassle has made me very shy about buyuing outside the US. It's a PITA and seems sketchy as hell. I feel your angst, @MingusBass

 

[red_rhino]

Good reason to not do international business. I learned a long time ago

Yeah, but sometimes the bass you want lives in another country. And when you really want something, you gotta suck it up and do what you gotta do. (If everything in life went smoothly, we'd all be living in version 1 of the Matrix, and our collective contentedness would be making us miserable. OP, the broker agent you're dealing with isn't named "Smith", by chance? )

 

[Delsan]

This is precisely what keeps me from buying and selling between countries. I once bought a bass from an English store specializing in Japanese imports. It was stopped in customs and subsequently liquidated. Naturally I was refunded what I paid, but the whole ordeal really soured my trust in long distance business. I hope things pan out okay for you and your bass.

 

[Rickplaysbass]

Beautiful! The funny thing is I own a shorty Mullarkey already…but I wanted a medium scale.
View attachment 5395254

That PT though.....

 

[g4string]

The best part of this kick in the cherries is when you get your bill from customs. Gotta love Govt.