Aduana issues & hidden DHL fees..

[notebook.fix]

Hi, I recently had a not so good experience while ordering a parcel that I bought through eBay from Hong Kong via DHL couriers... My parcel Left HK on the 15th & arrived early in the morning at Ezeiza on Saturday the 17th of July but sat at the Aduana depot for 9 days before DHL notified me with some official envelope/papers..I could not do anything to avoid the Aduana storage fees until I received this DHL notification/papers...to top it off I was also informed by DHL that I would have to pay an extra US$60 for these papers that allowed me to retrieve my parcel....this is not including the US$59 dollars that I had already paid for the supposed 'Expedited Delivery Service' from Hong Kong. Forget about trying to claim anything for the fact that the delivery took more than 9 days to get to me!

Not only did I truthfully declare the exact value of my ebay purchase to the Aduana but had to waste a whole day travelling to Ezeiza to collect my parcel.

It took from 1pm till 5pm for me to be allowed to have my parcel, & to top it off I was forced to pay AR$520 pesos for the import tax...I was already expecting this more or less, but it was still AR$120 more than what I expected...and finally, on top of all this the Aduana forced me to pay AR$160 pesos for the storage fees too.

Luckily I argued with DHL about the hidden extra US$60 dollars that they tried to charge me, telling them that I was not going to pay the extra US$60 especially as I was not happy about the fact that I had to pay the extra AR$160 storage fees after their late late delivery of the notification/papers, forcing me to wait a whole (9) days before I was allowed to go to pick it up.

Only after I informed DHL that I was going to conduct an investigation as to the exact circumstances around my delayed & very costly delivery and the fact that I was going to report to the international head office overseas that they finally backed off from their insistence that I pay the hidden US$60 fee. I received a call 10am the next day informing me that the extra US$60 fee had been waived/cancelled & that I could go & retrieve my DHL/Aduana papers.

I'm now starting to hear about a lot of other weird cases surrounding deliveries through DHL & the Aduana in Buenos Aires.

So, if anyone has a story to share, I'd like to hear about it.
I am very angry about this experience & I am not going to let it pass, something has to be done about this.

Thanks for your time reading this.

 

[French jurist]

Well, I have been buying a lot on ebay too.

DHL, FEDEX and so on always work the way you describe. It's a true nightmare.

I have received about 100 packages from abroad since 2003 and I have come to the conclusion that a registered airmail package (through USPS, Correo Argentino, etc ...) is the best way to go.
If sent unregistered, expect a "loss" rate of about 40 to 50% but from my personal experience, if sent registered (with this XX1234567AR number) a package always arrives.
In this case you just need to lose an afternoon, not going to EZE, but to Retiro instead, and the Customs agents are more "flexible".

Your story is very common, unfortunately

 

[mikaela]

I had the same thing happen to me. I called the USA DHL, and told them I thought the DHL here were completely out of line to try to charge me $60 for some paperwork that was mine anyway. And I had no interest in going to Eze to pick up anything so I had the shop in the US recall the product. But then DHL walked it back to the US as it took about 1 month to there, then sat in the depo for another month. I for one will never use DHL again.
I buy a lot from abroad, and have not come across this issue anywhere else - nor have I ever needed to pick up anything at EZE. Possible theory is that DHL here is in sharing profit with a customs officer at EZE and vice versa...

 

[nikad]

I believe the US embassy uses DHL for a lot of their paper/passport/visa stuff I recall seeing their logo inside the embassy

 

[notebook.fix]

Well, I have been buying a lot on ebay too.

DHL, FEDEX and so on always work the way you describe. It's a true nightmare.

I have received about 100 packages from abroad since 2003 and I have come to the conclusion that a registered airmail package (through USPS, Correo Argentino, etc ...) is the best way to go.
If sent unregistered, expect a "loss" rate of about 40 to 50% but from my personal experience, if sent registered (with this XX1234567AR number) a package always arrives.
In this case you just need to lose an afternoon, not going to EZE, but to Retiro instead, and the Customs agents are more "flexible".

Your story is very common, unfortunately

Thanks so much for sharing your long experience with this subject..very valuable & informative..thanks again.

Ricardo.

 

[SaraSara]

I've had nothing but bad experiences with DHL. Their "guaranteed" two day-service took seven days to get a letter to Virginia. When I complained, they refused to adjust the charges to a lower cost service. Said it was not their fault the letter took so long, and blamed the Blockbuster employee who received the letter at Bl, or the Virginia truck drivers' fault. Of course, they were both DHL employees or subcontractors. Had similar problems twice here and three times in Uruguay - letters were never delivered in under five days.

I have had no trouble with FedEx - delivers when promised, or a few hours earlier. They do home pickups, too.

I don't understand why the US embassy uses DHL to deliver passports - perhaps FedEx does not have services within Argentina.

 

[nikad]

There is actually Fedex, DHL and UPS in Arg.

 

[dennisr]

Quite sure DHL shutdown domestic operation in the US about two years ago. They use a 3rd party vendor for delivery in the US. This has nothing to do with the BS experienced, but thought I would pass it along.

 

[SaraSara]

Quite sure DHL shutdown domestic operation in the US about two years ago. They use a 3rd party vendor for delivery in the US. This has nothing to do with the BS experienced, but thought I would pass it along.

Even though DHL uses subcontractors in the US, they are still responsible for their performance. If they can't guarantee reliable service, they should shut down completely.

 

[BKK to BA]

for what its worth I received some extremely important documents sent from a small island in Thailand via DHL to here w/ no problem whatsoever