Hello Everyone!
You might remember me from a while back when I was posting a different haiku for Di every day for a week out of thanks for helping me track my package. Well the package got to Costa Rica intact, but the DHL / Customs crime syndicate found a way to essentially keep it for themselves. If you want to know the details, but be warned it's a sad sad story, you can read my whole post from yesterday here:
"Hi Everyone, I hope you're having a better month so far than me. I don't even know if this is the right place to post this or if anything can come of it other than blowing off steam via the written word.
So after months of research and planning, I decided to take the plunge into vaping by ordering some supplies from a great Chinese company. I got a PCC starter kit, a pass through, 5 spare attys and batteries each, and about 320 ml of juice in all spectrum of flavors. I was stoked. Almost as stoked as Christmas during my childhood. I watched the package make it's way from China to Dubai to everywhere in Europe and finally coming to rest here in Costa Rica. The carrier switched from EMS China to DHL in Dubai, and at the time I thought that was a good thing. Three straight days of seeing "Clearance Delay" in the tracking page later, I decided to call DHL and see what the hold up was.
After hearing no less than four different stories from four different reps, I finally got a supervisor on the phone who could speak English. It turns out that because customs opened my package, I had to pay DHL an extra $40 plus whatever import taxes they decided were fair just to have them send it from one town in Costa Rica to another. That's ridiculous, but wait it gets even better! After a long weekend of waiting, I called DHL again and they told me that I had to pay their third party "brokerage firm" for their services in this matter. The total comes to about $180 all together. This is taxes, "nacionalisacion", storage of my package, and the service fee! The order itself was only $240.00. The best part is, if I can't pay it (which I can't), the third party "brokerage firm" gets to keep my stuff. That means no chance of reshipment from the company I ordered from. The agent from the "brokerage firm" even went so far as to say "I think my son would like these" in regards to my package.
I looked online and found that I am not alone in this. DHL (especially in Costa Rica) is famous for doing this version of highway robbery. Go ahead and google DHL and Costa Rica and you will see no end of horror stories about these thieves. I am so angry right now, and I see no way I can fight these people and win. Anybody here from Costa Rica who can vouch for how much the import taxes actually cost? Can anyone here give me any advice on how to proceed? I'd really appreciate any input anyone can give..."
I sent Di and Eastmall a message explaining what had happened and let them know that I knew this wasn't their fault. Any other company here on ECF or anywhere else would have been sympathetic, but not to the extent of what then happened next.
They gave me a refund...
Yeah, you read that correctly. Eastmall refunded my money and I didn't even ask them to do it! These guys actually took a loss of inventory just to make sure I was taken care of! I challenge you to find ANY other company that would do this be it e cigs or anything else.
So now I am looking for someone in the states who can accept a package on my behalf and send it to me via the USPS. There's no way I could ever use another company for my e cigs than Eastmall. I was so impressed by the amount of class and empathy they showed me during this horrible time, they have bought my loyalty for as long as they are in business! If you are new to vaping and are looking around at different companies, stop wasting your time and go with Eastmall. They are bar-none the best in the industry!
Happy Travels,
Doctor Who
You might remember me from a while back when I was posting a different haiku for Di every day for a week out of thanks for helping me track my package. Well the package got to Costa Rica intact, but the DHL / Customs crime syndicate found a way to essentially keep it for themselves. If you want to know the details, but be warned it's a sad sad story, you can read my whole post from yesterday here:
"Hi Everyone, I hope you're having a better month so far than me. I don't even know if this is the right place to post this or if anything can come of it other than blowing off steam via the written word.
So after months of research and planning, I decided to take the plunge into vaping by ordering some supplies from a great Chinese company. I got a PCC starter kit, a pass through, 5 spare attys and batteries each, and about 320 ml of juice in all spectrum of flavors. I was stoked. Almost as stoked as Christmas during my childhood. I watched the package make it's way from China to Dubai to everywhere in Europe and finally coming to rest here in Costa Rica. The carrier switched from EMS China to DHL in Dubai, and at the time I thought that was a good thing. Three straight days of seeing "Clearance Delay" in the tracking page later, I decided to call DHL and see what the hold up was.
After hearing no less than four different stories from four different reps, I finally got a supervisor on the phone who could speak English. It turns out that because customs opened my package, I had to pay DHL an extra $40 plus whatever import taxes they decided were fair just to have them send it from one town in Costa Rica to another. That's ridiculous, but wait it gets even better! After a long weekend of waiting, I called DHL again and they told me that I had to pay their third party "brokerage firm" for their services in this matter. The total comes to about $180 all together. This is taxes, "nacionalisacion", storage of my package, and the service fee! The order itself was only $240.00. The best part is, if I can't pay it (which I can't), the third party "brokerage firm" gets to keep my stuff. That means no chance of reshipment from the company I ordered from. The agent from the "brokerage firm" even went so far as to say "I think my son would like these" in regards to my package.
I looked online and found that I am not alone in this. DHL (especially in Costa Rica) is famous for doing this version of highway robbery. Go ahead and google DHL and Costa Rica and you will see no end of horror stories about these thieves. I am so angry right now, and I see no way I can fight these people and win. Anybody here from Costa Rica who can vouch for how much the import taxes actually cost? Can anyone here give me any advice on how to proceed? I'd really appreciate any input anyone can give..."
I sent Di and Eastmall a message explaining what had happened and let them know that I knew this wasn't their fault. Any other company here on ECF or anywhere else would have been sympathetic, but not to the extent of what then happened next.
They gave me a refund...
Yeah, you read that correctly. Eastmall refunded my money and I didn't even ask them to do it! These guys actually took a loss of inventory just to make sure I was taken care of! I challenge you to find ANY other company that would do this be it e cigs or anything else.
So now I am looking for someone in the states who can accept a package on my behalf and send it to me via the USPS. There's no way I could ever use another company for my e cigs than Eastmall. I was so impressed by the amount of class and empathy they showed me during this horrible time, they have bought my loyalty for as long as they are in business! If you are new to vaping and are looking around at different companies, stop wasting your time and go with Eastmall. They are bar-none the best in the industry!
Happy Travels,
Doctor Who
