Help with importing a laptop

[EmmaHighlands]

Hello! I am looking for some help. I've got myself into a tricky situation where I have left a work laptop in the UK. I understand it is a. very costly to import electronic goods and b. I need the receipt. Work is not going to make arrangements, give me the receipt or pay any fees for me - it is entirely my own mistake. I am not staying permanently in Argentina, but I am here for a few months (with the intention of extending / renewing my visa) and I will lose my job without it. I had thought I could just get it posted out if I needed it - so, as I say, my mistake. It's still packaged up by my work as they recently sent me a new one, I haven't even opened it (but I could get a family member in the UK to do this if helpful).

Any ideas? Any help much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[lunar]

If it's just a standard laptop, it may be easier to ask your relative to sell it in the UK and buy a similar one here instead.

As for the receipt, I don't think it's the determining factor. If a shop in the UK sells you a MacBook Pro for £1, for whatever reason, that doesn't mean Argentine customs will accept that as its value. They will probably value it based on what it is worth here in Argentina, rather than the price on the receipt.

 

[EmmaHighlands]

Thanks for responding! Unfortunately I think I need that actual laptop for security reasons. I'm so annoyed with myself

 

[elhombresinnombre]

If it's just a standard laptop, it may be easier to ask your relative to sell it in the UK and buy a similar one here instead.

If I understand the OP correctly, the laptop belongs to the employer so is not theirs to sell. It may well have proprietary software on board that ought not be placed at risk.

 

[elhombresinnombre]

Hello! I am looking for some help. I've got myself into a tricky situation where I have left a work laptop in the UK. I understand it is a. very costly to import electronic goods and b. I need the receipt. Work is not going to make arrangements, give me the receipt or pay any fees for me - it is entirely my own mistake. I am not staying permanently in Argentina, but I am here for a few months (with the intention of extending / renewing my visa) and I will lose my job without it. I had thought I could just get it posted out if I needed it - so, as I say, my mistake. It's still packaged up by my work as they recently sent me a new one, I haven't even opened it (but I could get a family member in the UK to do this if helpful).

Any ideas? Any help much appreciated. Thank you!

As I'm sure you've been reading on this site, valuable goods just vanish in transit to Argentina and while if you use a trusted service like DHL it probably will actually arrive, all the costs of doing so will mount up greatly. It might just be easier, safer and not very much more expensive overall, to pop back home and pick it up. A quick check shows seats available out this Friday from Ezeiza, back again on Sunday for around GBP1300. It looks as if a week later the price will drop to about GBP1100. Check for yourself with your favourite flight booking site but if you go to an old-fashioned bricks-and-mortar travel agent (I know Wilkinson's Travel, just opposite Devoto Railway Station (north side) but there are probably several nearby wherever you live) they will probably be able to do much better.

Good luck.

And yes, I have flown long haul just to come back the next day and yes, it was work-related.

 

[carride]

I would buy a round trip ticket for a UK based friend or family, or other trusted acquaintance to deliver it to you.

Or If you leave tonight you can be back in time for the next game with Argentina playing in the World Cup on Saturday night. With the laptop in your hands.

 

[FrankPintor]

My suggestion would be to have the laptop sent to someone (friend, family), or to some place where your laptop can be dropped and it will be held for you, in one of the neighbouring countries, Chile, Paraguay, or Uruguay, and then mule it in from there.

Much cheaper than a transatlantic flight, and you get to see new places too.

You would need a reliable courier service to handle the transportation and take care of any possible customs fees.

I’m having the brake parts I ordered from the UK muled in this weekend.

 

[Yuyo]

Hello! I am looking for some help. I've got myself into a tricky situation where I have left a work laptop in the UK. I understand it is a. very costly to import electronic goods and b. I need the receipt. Work is not going to make arrangements, give me the receipt or pay any fees for me - it is entirely my own mistake. I am not staying permanently in Argentina, but I am here for a few months (with the intention of extending / renewing my visa) and I will lose my job without it. I had thought I could just get it posted out if I needed it - so, as I say, my mistake. It's still packaged up by my work as they recently sent me a new one, I haven't even opened it (but I could get a family member in the UK to do this if helpful).

Any ideas? Any help much appreciated. Thank you!

Fair warning from a couple years back. Shipping here is just awful and I've had a work laptop get stuck at customs despite my employer doing their best to send it. Crummy, but I'd personally get it in person.

Any savings on flights isn't worth the risk or fees customs might demand.

 

[FrankPintor]

Fair warning from a couple years back. Shipping here is just awful and I've had a work laptop get stuck at customs despite my employer doing their best to send it. Crummy, but I'd personally get it in person.

Any savings on flights isn't worth the risk or fees customs might demand.

Same thing happened to me, I got to see the customs area at Ezeiza and that was all.

The problem was that my company had declared the purchase price of the laptop, rather than the depreciated price. They eventually re-sent it with a much lower value declared, and no problem.

I think I might have described the experience here in the forum.