Plant Order Got Stuck In Customs!

[Bmeasure]

*****Thought about it after posting in General Freshwater, and this may be a good place to post it. *****

I ordered some plants on Aquabid.com and found some great prices on 4 different auctions from the same vendor in Singapore (Aquaspot_World). I ordereed Express Air which they suggested so I would get the plants in 2-4 days. To make a long, irritating story short, let's just say that he promised to ship two different dates, but lied and shipped later. Finally I get a tracking number and watch as my plant order (92 plants) gets "held in customs at destination". Finally today (3 weeks from when I paid) I receive the box, which is EMPTY, except for the seller's invoice and a notice from customs that the plants were thrown away due to the "material is prohibited and not authorized entry".

Now how have other people ordered and received shipments from this guy, while mine is stuck in customs? Do you have to get import permits to order plants outside the country? Why did other people receive their orders? And why wouldn't he warn me if I do need permits? If we are not required permits, what could have happened to get them stuck in customs? Rotting?

Any input would be great! Just to let you all know, DO NOT ORDER PLANTS FROM THIS VENDOR. Even before the plants were stuck in customs, he was a jerk and would not give me a break on the expensive express air shipping I paid for even though he shipped more than a week later than originally promised. I was using these plants in a clients tank I am setting up. It's tough to tell them you will be adding plants on a certain date, then I call the seller on that date and he "forgot" to notify me that they have been busy and would ship them the following week (which again, he lied and shipped after that!). He was rude, unprofessional, and now he won't even respond to emails. He hasn't responded to any emails after the plants were stuck in customs! I've filed claims with Aquabid.com and Paypal.com to see if that will motivate some action on his part.

[Aquabum]

Bmeasure,

I'm sorry to hear about your dilemma. But it seems that you're not the only one that got jipped.

Check this thread out. I had just finished reading it when I saw your post.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lounge/32010-didnt-get-my-hc-today.html


I hope that you can get it sorted out.


Lissette

[phanmc]

Anytime you order plants from out of the country, they usually will not have the proper paperwork to get it past customs. The certification process is expensive so many dealers don't bother with it. As to why customs chose your shipment while others got through, customs doesn't inspect every single box that gets shipped so it pretty much comes down to luck.

I've ordered successfully from Singapore several times (not from the same dealer that you went through). To minimize the risk, I order in small amounts in case customs gets their hands on it. The cost of multiple shipping is a pain but for me it's justified.

[Mgamer20o0]

from dealing with paypal i dont think they will do anything about it. all they have to do is give paypal the tracking number and they wont do anything. if you paid with a credit card i would get ahold of them also. your more likly to get something done with the credit card. i havent bought anything off aquabid yet but the only thing they could do would be kick the guy off. just like ebay they could just sign back up. for me its worth the extra money to buy from people in the states vs the chance of a major loss for out of the states.

[Bmeasure]

Great info guys....Man, these guys have a terrible reputation I'm starting to find! That other forum thread looks EXACTLY like my situation, at least the customs part. That is pretty much what my customs form said.

As far as Paypal goes, I've had excellent results and extreme satisfaction in all of my dealings with them so far. When you make a claim, you get to list one of two options: 1) Never received package, or the second says somethng like 2) Received something much different than agreed to. They list examples under #2 like: "quantities are different (ordered 12, received 6)" or "different part arrived rather than what was ordered". These are considered valid claims and can definately warrant at least partial refunds. In the case of getting less than ordered, or getting some dead plants, I'd go for a partial, but I received an EMPTY BOX! I believe they will lean at least predominantly in my favor on this one. Let's all pray! :thm:

[djlen]

What plants did you order?

Len

[Toirtis]

Do be careful...as importer, the legal burden is on you, so should the agricultural department choose to fine someone for lack of permits, illegal species, and no phytosanitary certificates, it will be you receiving the fines...some of which can be very hefty.

[Bmeasure]

Do be careful...as importer, the legal burden is on you, so should the agricultural department choose to fine someone for lack of permits, illegal species, and no phytosanitary certificates, it will be you receiving the fines...some of which can be very hefty.

This is EXACTLY what I'm so pissed about (don't like losing money either), is that they didn't even give me a head's up. They have proven that they are aware of this law, but neglected to inform me or EVEN ASK ME if I wanted to permit my shipment. It's one thing if they don't mind passing the risk on to you if you decide to forgo the permits, but entirely another thing to be so unprofessional as to not even bother bringing up the option to me. To me this is the equivalent of throwing all the plants in a dry cardboard box and letting them dry out and die during shipping, only to state "look you never asked for them to be placed in bags with water...I met my end of the bargain by shipping you the plants you wanted". Now that is just silly. They know the average buyer on aquabid, or ebay has no clue about agricultural permits. It sucks that it's so hard to find out what laws pertain to things until you generally get screwed by them or busted! I had no clue there would be any liability on my part if customs decided to bring up charges. That is SHADY business on Aquaspot_World's part.

Think of it this way, doing business with them, even for a couple of plant stems, could possibly cost you all the money you paid them and ALSO hundreds or THOUSANDS of dollars in import fines! Is it worth it to give them business? :rant2:

[Toirtis]

could possibly cost you all the money you paid them and ALSO hundreds or THOUSANDS of dollars in import fines!

Even hundreds of thousands. I suppose the argument is that since it is your responsibility, you should find out beforehand, but it is quite unfair to novice importers....and its easy to be indifferent when you, as the exporter, face no fines.

[Bmeasure]

I hear ya! So far good news.....I emailed him a copy of the customs form, at his request, and shortly thereafter he said they would refund my money! I couldn't get him to respond to emails since last Thursday, but now all of a sudden he's really eager to help me out. He's sweating this because I put their balls in the vice today by leaving feedback about the transaction with several forums as well as Aquabid and Paypal. Also since I had won several auctions by him in Aquabid, I was able to leave feedback on each one. Needless to say, his rating is less than desirable! He mentioned that because I've left all this feedback it's crippling their business! Thank God for the power of one man's voice! This is the most submissive email he's sent since we started doing business 3 weeks ago.

Lesson for the day, when someone's done wrong, take the time to report it if you cannot resolve it with the seller. Keep all emails and contact info until completely satisfied with each order. Remember that the customs problem was only the icing on the cake with this transaction. It was a huge problem from the start! I'm not being a jerk and nailing this guy for a "simple customs mistake"....but instead he was uninterested in me as a customer until I started turning the vice!

[Aquaspot World]

I hear ya! So far good news.....I emailed him a copy of the customs form, at his request, and shortly thereafter he said they would refund my money! I couldn't get him to respond to emails since last Thursday, but now all of a sudden he's really eager to help me out. He's sweating this because I put their balls in the vice today by leaving feedback about the transaction with several forums as well as Aquabid and Paypal. Also since I had won several auctions by him in Aquabid, I was able to leave feedback on each one. Needless to say, his rating is less than desirable! He mentioned that because I've left all this feedback it's crippling their business! Thank God for the power of one man's voice! This is the most submissive email he's sent since we started doing business 3 weeks ago.

Lesson for the day, when someone's done wrong, take the time to report it if you cannot resolve it with the seller. Keep all emails and contact info until completely satisfied with each order. Remember that the customs problem was only the icing on the cake with this transaction. It was a huge problem from the start! I'm not being a jerk and nailing this guy for a "simple customs mistake"....but instead he was uninterested in me as a customer until I started turning the vice!

We made a mistake with this order and we will send you the refund as promised. We were not able to respond to your emails as fast as we used to because we were dealing with a few, large international orders.

We have not had customs problem until recently. We have already resolved things with our trans-shipper in America, and things are now back to normal.

All our orders to the USA are shipped with phytosanitary certifications. The reason you do not see them is because they are with our trans-shipper.

[Aquaspot World]

Anytime you order plants from out of the country, they usually will not have the proper paperwork to get it past customs. The certification process is expensive so many dealers don't bother with it. As to why customs chose your shipment while others got through, customs doesn't inspect every single box that gets shipped so it pretty much comes down to luck.

I've ordered successfully from Singapore several times (not from the same dealer that you went through). To minimize the risk, I order in small amounts in case customs gets their hands on it. The cost of multiple shipping is a pain but for me it's justified.

We do ship with all the necessary papers and documents. Expensive or not, we know we have to do it.
This particular order was an internal fault and we have resolved this issue.

[Bmeasure]

Well at least you fessed up and will be refunding the money. That is the right thing to do, and you will have much more business in the future if you don't argue with people about it and then ignore them as you did with me for a while. I have stopped leaving any more remarks and feedback anywhere at this time, and I'm awaiting your refund via Paypal. Remember there is a time limit on this claim and I cannot be "too patient" in getting this resolved.

As for other buyers of oversees plants and fish, in the future I would cover yourself with one simple action.....ask for an email stating that they are sending all appropriate permits and documentation with the shipment. Then if it does come down to customs issues, at least you won't get slapped with a huge fine! You can simply say that you did everything possible and were insured legality of shipment, and then send them a copy of the email. It will also be a useful form to have when dealing with the payment agency such as Paypal or a Credit Card Co.

[Bmeasure]

Also, how do you pay for these permits without charging the customer? Your plant prices were dirt cheap on Aquabid.com, so I just can't see all the appropriate forms and proceedure being paid for with these minimal prices.

My order was for 92 plants (shipped in 6 smaller boxes) which costed a total of $68.91 and $35 of that was for Express Air shipping! How does that work out to a profit with all the "red-tape" fees?

[LunchBox]

maybe there is a large volume of sales and that makes up for any permit costs?

[Star_Rider]

I wonder if they need to get permits for each shipment..
I was under the impression that importers/exporters has licenses and "open' permits.
and needed to get declarations for the shipments.
but I am still learning this..I am working with a local breeder who is getting the license to import exotic fish..mainly Discus.
so the book is stil out on this

[Aquaspot World]

Also, how do you pay for these permits without charging the customer? Your plant prices were dirt cheap on Aquabid.com, so I just can't see all the appropriate forms and proceedure being paid for with these minimal prices.

My order was for 92 plants (shipped in 6 smaller boxes) which costed a total of $68.91 and $35 of that was for Express Air shipping! How does that work out to a profit with all the "red-tape" fees?

We deal with thousands of plants each week, so we know the procedures.

We will get our team to review the information on the auctions and they will be re-written and reposted, with all the necessary information this time.

Again, this was an internal error and we will resolve all issues with our affected customers asap. We will process your refund this week, but do give us some time as we will process all claims together.

[Bmeasure]

OK, but I send Vino to bust your kneecaps on Monday, 6/26/06, so don't wait too late and expect to negotiate with him. He's hard of hearing and benches 450 in his sleep! :)