Customs Seizures

[Instead]

Steve,

We would be happy to have you join, however we can not simply appoint you to the board. We will be having elections in the future and you are welcome to join the ECA and run for a board position at that time.

 

[whimzkool]

As a consumer whose personal liberties are at stake, I would be willing to contribute as much as I am able.

 

[Cali]

A suit like this (before we get into legalities no I am not a lawyer so this is not expert legal advice but I do have an extensive legal background) would fall under a class action suit if it were to involve the suppliers. Now personally this puts "small" suppliers in an akward position. The main objective is not only to cease seizures by customs but also to provide a loss of income that you would bring a civil action against the FDA for. This is where attorneys might be interested. naturally they wish to make a profit from representing this case (as well as possibly being involved in a case that will almost undoubtedly hit the supreme court at some points and set a precedent one way or the other because the FDA is almost guaranteed to contest and appeal the verdict) so suppliers would have to show a loss of profit due to the seizures.
Now I have not read the ruling in its entirety and have no idea what the FDA has done to proceed at this point but even with the ruling it is entirely possible that the FDA has filed a motion of some kind to ensure they can still seize the shipments while the verdict is appealed in a higher court. There's a lot of legal loopholes that can be used even after a verdict has been rendered and as I am not privy to all of the information it makes it hard to make an informed decision.
On the notion of a class action suit a single supplier would be able to begin the action while the attorney can send out opt out notices to anyone who falls under the suit. This gives suppliers the option of being included in the class action, opting out completely, or retaining private representation at their own cost.

 

[I B BOB]

yes they did file a motion to stay until feb. 2 while they ponder an appeal. From what I read they did not enter anything new or convincing to support their argument. Don't know if the same judge saw it or what has come of it.

As far as the post earlier about the nicotrol inhaler, it is the exact reason we don't want to see the FDA have jurisdiction over e-cigs as a 'nicotine delivery system'. Look at the reviews of nicorol, not only is it prescription only, the main complaint is that it costs a lot.

 

[Foxy9212]

We have a similar nicotine inhaler (NRT) available over-the-counter at chemist shops here in the UK. The construction quality is rubbish, the looks are worse! The nicotine cartridges are weak and require changing frequently; they leave a disgusting taste in the mouth and give zero satisfaction. I inadvertently picked up a lighter and set fire to mine! Best thing I ever did!

Fox

 

[nycsublimegirl]

I have had over 100K seized, and just received letter that FDA wants to destroy about45k cost. I have been wanting to join and sit on the board, and offered substantial fuding, but, this went nowhere. I guess I am on my own now to hire atty's. I was ready, willing, and able to join lawsuit. Just the facts.

I have defiinately, been harmed, no?

Steve

Steve I believe you were approached several times about joining the ECA after it was finally created.... and I remember you being a part of some of the initial conversations....but we never really heard anything more from you... if you are indeed interested in joining the ECA please send me a pm.

 

[mrmiami]

My partners and I are about to place a relatively large wholesale order with BOGE in Shenzhen China.... the order is for over 15 grand US worth of product to be shipped to Miami Florida.... Since this will be our first international purchase we are very worried about the potential of a customs seizure... and at the very least excessive duty on the shipment... We are planning to use an escrow service, so obviosuly we will have some protection, but what are the chances our merchandise will actually arrive?

Does anyone have experience working with BOGE in Shenzhen?
What should I expect in duty on the shipment?
Will customs allow an order of over 750 kits and a whole bunch of cartridges, etc to make it through the border?

Any advice or information would be highly appreciated...

Thanks,

mrmiami

 

[mwa102464]

My partners and I are about to place a relatively large wholesale order with BOGE in Shenzhen China.... the order is for over 15 grand US worth of product to be shipped to Miami Florida.... Since this will be our first international purchase we are very worried about the potential of a customs seizure... and at the very least excessive duty on the shipment... We are planning to use an escrow service, so obviosuly we will have some protection, but what are the chances our merchandise will actually arrive?

Does anyone have experience working with BOGE in Shenzhen?
What should I expect in duty on the shipment?
Will customs allow an order of over 750 kits and a whole bunch of cartridges, etc to make it through the border?

Any advice or information would be highly appreciated...

Thanks,

mrmiami

Why not have them ship it in installments of three grand or so each instead of one huge order like that, first one gets bye, you have a better chance.!! One large order I would think might be more suspicious. however it makes me wonder what companies like vapor4life do???

 

[mrmiami]

yeah... you gotta point, but I'm not particularly interested in playing a game of roulette with the FDA and Customs.... I'm not importing anything illegal, so I shouldn't have too... can I simply call customs and the FDA, or is that just wishful thinking?

 

[mwa102464]

I would make a call to a bigger supplier first maybe someone like steve over at vapor4life, I know as much as they are supplying he has to be getting in large shippments, he's a decent guy, might not give you trade secrets but might be able to help ya out, or pick what bigger supplyer you want too and contact them, I have not heard of any major siezures lately, and lets face it 15k is a small number really compared to what some of the supplyers are buying for what there retailing today

 

[mrmiami]

well.... if I guess it's worth a try... as long as I use escrow, it's not like I can lose my cash... I guess?

 

[Dwezel272]

It seems to me the FDA has its own interest to protect and big business has the ability to pressure them. Ecig companies seem mostly small. At least ECA provides a place to band together all ecig companies and smokers interest.

 

[Altmed]

well.... if I guess it's worth a try... as long as I use escrow, it's not like I can lose my cash... I guess?

I suppose we can demand net 30 or net 60 terms from date of receipt of the items.

I have an order from e-liquid.cn get held up at the factory b/c their XL cartomizers had a problem, THEN want to charge me extra to have them shipped separately. The company held up me order for weeks & I had to contact them to find out, and their site says will receive from 3-7 days shipping (working days)... They have held this order for weeks!

I suppose any future orders may have to be NET30 or NET60 from time of receipt, NOT from time of shipping, although they haven't even shipped.

No excuse for this... I gave them 72 hours to respond (from yesterday)... no reason for me to pay extra shipping that I didn't create & the items are STILL listed on their site as being available 3-7 days shipping, yet the email I received said they still are not ready/manufactured to ship.

-Altmed

 

[Yankee802]

I ordered from e-liquid.cn 7 days ago and have not recieved any communications from them at all. I've emailed them 3 times asking for shipping status, nothing. So today I emailed them and stated that if I have not received communications from them by this Friday (Sep 3rd) I'll be contacting PayPal to request my payment be returned. We'll see how that goes.

BTW, I thought that PayPal didn't allow fund transfers or payments for anything electronic cigarette related? Clearly this (and I've seen other Chinese companies) uses PayPal as a payment method.

 

[Tampa2]

Yankee802, less said the better when discussing China.