Space Monkey
- 2013-11-11
I had to wait all weekend for a response from parcel2go because despite claiming to be a global courier they only operate a customer service function from 9am-5pm (UK time) Mon-Fri. Added to this is the fact they don't have a customer service department that you can call. Instead they have an online live chat team who will cut you off once you start to ask too many questions. These people are complete cowboys. In the ESL world they would be akin to a flashy private language school like EF or Wall Street. They are fantastic at marketing, promising you the world and taking your money but when it comes time to deliver on those promises they can't do it, what's more you'd better not make a complaint because at best they couldn't give a t#ss and at worst they are going to abuse you for daring to do so - AVOID!
Dear Space Monkey
I cannot stress enough that I really do understand your frustration and I can assure you that I am by no means passing the buck, as you say.
You ordered a service with Parcel2go.com using UPS to arrange delivery but it was not ours or UPS’s decision to stop this parcel from being delivered to you.
Delivery to international addresses are subject to customs and we nor UPS have any control over what is stopped and what they charge. In an ideal world we would love to be able to pre advise customers of issues that may arise and where we can, we do. Unfortunately, the rules and regulations change so much it is difficult for us to know what will be subject to customs at any given time.
Please refer to our terms and conditions of carriage, we cannot be held responsible for any charges incurred by Customs and Excise.
7.3 We shall not be responsible for any local customs charges, import taxes or duties or any similar charge(s) incurred through our carriage and/or delivery of any Consignment and you must satisfy yourself as to whether any of these charges will become due, and if so in what amounts, before completing an order with us. If any such charges become due as a result of our carriage and/or delivery of a Consignment on your behalf and are charged to us by any competent authority you agree to reimburse us fully in respect of the same within 7 days of our demand.
I can see that you have requested this order to be returned to sender, in the circumstances we will send the required documentation through to UPS.
I am really sorry that I have not been able to help release this parcel but once UPS have confirmed the parcel is being returned I will let you know.
Kindest regards
Customer Service Manager
Dear Customer Service Manager
It may not have been P2G or UPS that stopped the parcel in customs but in my opinion neither company has done anything of use to help it reach its final destination either
Both me and my family have been willing to cooperate in regards getting the parcel released. We have asked for invoices and/or payment links to be provided so we can pay the tax. However, neither yourself nor UPS has been able to provide us with any of these. Instead you quote me part of your terms and conditions of the contract that suggests we are at fault for not paying or not wanting to pay the applicable sum. After nearly a month of complaints do you and UPS still not understand what the issue is or are you deliberately wasting my time?
We have also requested that you send us a list of any documentation that is required for the release of the package. You suggested that Chinese customs require a CCC to import toys. From your own definition and the research I have done we do not need one. Have you or UPS been back to Chinese customs to challenge them in regards this? You also state in your last email that rules and regulations change a lot. Does that mean the rules and regulations have changed? If so what are the changes and does that mean that you have fed us erroneous information in the past? If you don't know why the parcel is being held or if there has been a change to regulations do you not feel any responsibility to find out on the part of the customer? I would have thought as a 'global courier' (your company's words not mine) keeping abreast of such things would be a priority.
In regards not being able to pre-advise customers on potential problems, the fact still remains that UPS did contact us while the parcel was in transit (prior to it's arrival in Shanghai customs) stating that the package would have problems (refer to my original email to Fil Mercer, CEO that you picked up in his absence). Someone, somewhere did know and better organization by yourselves and UPS could have prevented the issue in the first place. Is it cynical to state that the only benefactors from this issue are P2G and UPS who will now be able to claim another, highly inflated fee for the package to be sent back to the UK?
In regards the re-delivery fee to the UK perhaps you could explain the large increase in price we are now required to pay to have the package sent back to the UK? I spoke with UPS in shanghai who told me the cost of delivery at their end was in the region of £60-70, yet P2G are demanding nearly 4 times as much. Why?
Furthermore, why after the parcel was claimed by Chinese customs did P2G email the sender (my parents) to claim we only had 7 days to have the the parcel shipped back to the UK or it would be permanently confiscated at the Chinese border? This deadline was clearly false (it's already been there far longer than 7 days!). I contacted Shanghai myself and they told me our package would be held for 3months. Instead of trying to help us, P2Gs attitude has been to try and resolve the problem in a way that makes as much short term profit for themselves. That claim of 7 days 'or else' was a clear attempt to get more money from us!
Regards
Space Monkey
Space Monkey
- 2013-11-10
Over the past few weeks I have been in contact with parcel2go and UPS staff both in the UK and in China via the phone, email and twitter. None of them have been able to help me with the problem i described. Instead they have used delaying tactics and continually tried to pass the buck onto someone else. Below is one such example of an email thread between myself and the customer service manager in the UK (names and places have been deleted for privacy reasons).
Dear customer service manager
It is the best part of a week since I last heard from you and now several weeks that this problem and string of complaints has been left without a resolution.
As a result, if I do not have a concrete proposition from yourselves of how you plan to resolve this issue by the end of the working week (8th November) then I will be taking steps to publicly expose the gross lack of customer service shown by yourselves and your distribution partners UPS (I'm sure a few tabloid newspapers might be interested in the initial threats made to steal my 1 year old sons Christmas presents, not to mention the influence that social media can have on a companies reputation). As well as this, should you allow the aforementioned deadline to lapse I will be seeking legal counsel in regards compensation for the loss of the contents in the package, the breach of your contract to deliver and transgressions under the ASA.
By a concrete proposition I mean one of the following things
1. That you assist us in releasing the package from the UPS depot in Shanghai for delivery to the address
Or
2. That at your own expense you have the package shipped back to the sender in the UK (the fee of nearly £250 that you quoted us to have this done is ridiculous and effectively extortion)
I look forward to your response
Regards
Space Monkey
Dear Mr Space Monkey
I am really sorry for the delay in getting back to you.
I passed all the details through to UPS and asked them to investigate and get back to me with the outcome.
They send their apologies for the way that the team in Shanghai has dealt with the consignee however, they confirm that they require tax and duties to be paid before they can release the goods, either to deliver or return back to you.
They advise us that tax and duties are in the region of £103.00 pounds and that they will also require import documentation.
Once the tax and duties have been paid then the parcel will be released. If you wish this item to be returned then the return charges must be paid. One of the reasons we do not offer import services is because of the cost, we are unable to negotiate competitive rates for our customers .
I have requested confirmation of the full returns charges and will let you know.
UPS advise me that the only reason this parcel has been held is because the tax and duties have not been paid. These rules are not set by Parcel2go.com or UPS, Customs and Excise is different for each country and the charges made them. To release the parcel for delivery a payment must be made.
Parcel2go.com cannot be held responsible for the parcel being held and will do whatever they can to try and help release the goods. It can however, be a timely thing as the third party we have to go through the courier.
In order to release the goods we require payment of the tax and duties, if preferred we can take the payment from you and pass through to the authorities.
Please let me know what you decide and I will make the necessary arrangements.
Kindest regards
Customer Service Manager
Dear Customer Service Manager
As Myself and my family in the UK have said within every communication with yourself, your colleagues at P2G and your distribution partner UPS, I have no problems with paying the relevant tax to import the parcel. However, as I have consistently told P2G, the Shanghai UPS office with whom I have been in touch with almost daily for the past few weeks have stated and continue to state that it is not a question of paying tax. They say the parcel is not permitted to enter china due to the fact that it is over 1000rmb (approx £100) in value. Please refer to my original email.
For the final time and to make myself quite clear on the subject
I will pay the relevant tax
Therefore, I suggest you get the official invoices for the payment of import taxes to me immediately and I will pay them promptly. I would prefer the invoice for import tax came from you (P2G) as opposed to UPS as it would appear you have managed to find the right person to talk to within the UPS organization- incidentally this is all we ever wanted P2Gs assistance with!
As far as I'm concerned the deadline i set for this debacle to be solved by Friday is still in play.
P2G and UPS may not be responsible for setting customs and import laws within any given country but you were happy to take our money and for that we expect you to fulfill the service that you promised to provide. By claiming that you are 'a global courier' and using companies like UPS who dub themselves 'experts in logistics' me and my family assumed that you would be in a position to deliver 1 relatively small package consisting mainly gifts for my 1 year old son without a delay of over 3 weeks and without the need for us to complain to multiple people, in multiple languages, across two different countries on many, many occasions just to get the package released from customs. I think most reasonable people would agree with my sense of entitlement in this situation!
I look forward to receiving the invoice for import tax in the very near future
Regards
Space Monkey
Hi Space Monkey
Further to my last e mail.
I will arrange for the payment link to be sent so the taxes and duties can be paid. However, unless your son sends them the import documentation they require they will not release the goods.
I am really sorry I asked if we could have the details and arrange for the information from this end but it can only be done from Shanghai.
Kindest regards
Customer Service Manager
Dear Customer Service Manager
What import documentation is required?
Regards
Space Monkey
HI Space Monkey
I really have no idea and they will not advise us. They will have contacted the consignee directly for the details required.
I hoped they would let us know and we could complete them and send them on but it was a no go.
I will keep trying.
Kindest regards
Customer Service Manager
Dear Customer Service Manager
If it is a case of them being unwilling to discuss details with you (the 3rd party) then by all means pass my contact details onto them and at the same time let me have the direct email and telephone number of the person you and your team have been liaising with.
You can however understand that I'm slightly confused given that you stated only this morning that
"UPS advise me that the only reason this parcel has been held is because the tax and duties have not been paid."
Now it seems there are other factors but they are unwilling to share these with us. I would hope as well as your customer service team you have passed this issue onto your relevant UPS account manager(s) as UPS's conduct in this matter has now gone beyond unprofessional and into the realms of being farcical.
Regards
Space Monkey
Dear Customer Service Manager
It's now been 3 days since I asked for the details of the paperwork you say is required to get our package released by Chinese customs.
I find it hard to imagine what could be making this such a complex case. We are not looking to import anything exotic or of any great value so what is it exactly that is causing the delay in getting the relevant information to us?
As I have maintained throughout this long and painful process of dealing with your customer service team, I am more than happy to comply with any rules and regulations that are necessary to get the parcel to its final destination.
Regards
Space Monkey
Hi Space Monkey
I am sorry for the delay but the issue that we have is by the time China get back to UPS in England they have left for work and it takes us into the next day.
I am advised that Shanghai customers are in contact with someone and they are liaising with them regarding the information below.
Please see the details below, are you able to provide the information as illustrated.
As discussed the notes in Chinese seem to indicate that the customer either has not provided or in unable to provide a CCC document.
The information about why CCC documents are required is as follows
“China Inspection and Quarantine (CIQ) require the importer to provide China Compulsory Certification (CCC) & shipments are subject to compulsory quarantine inspection. Shipments consigned to individuals for personal use are exempted except for Shanghai. For Shanghai (postal range 200000-247282, 310000-325811), this requirement is further extended to personal items. The individual is required to obtain the CCC from the supplier or the manufacturer of the goods. Otherwise the goods will have to be returned to origin or seized at destination.”
a long list of items requiring a CCC was also included in this email
Kindest regards
Customer Service Manager
Dear Customer Service Manager
Not only do I not live within the Shanghai zone (##### is about 500miles from Shanghai), i am not trying to import any of the items on the list provided and it should seem obvious from our previous correspondence that these items are for personal use not for resale. Therefore, by your own definition I am not required to provide a CCC.
There is no excuse for my package to have been detained! Please ensure its immediate release!
Regards
Space Monkey
Good afternoon Space Monkey
I really do understand your frustration and I am truly trying to sort this out however, the details below are required by Customs before the parcel will be released. It is not a document that Parcel2go.com or UPS have created, this has been presented to us by customs.
My understanding is that this refers to the toys, in the same way the UK has a kite mark or CE mark to prove it is safe for its use. The list below is only an abbreviated list and if you follow the link below you will be given more details.
I nor UPS have the authority to release your parcel, it is being held by Customs and Excise who require you to complete the document below.
Kindest regards
Customer Service Manager
Dear Customer Service Manager
From the definition you give below the fact that I don't live in shanghai and that the items within are solely for personal use should be enough for me not to require a CCC!
I am fed up with your attitude of passing the buck onto others. As I have expressed to you,on multiple occasions, we paid you for a service! That service was to deliver a package and you have failed to do this. Your company and your distribution partners are a disgrace! At every opportunity you have dragged this problem out and when you have bothered to communicate with us it has only been to provide us with irrelevant excuses for your own incompetence.
I could write far more hostile sentiments about the way I feel at this point in time but what's the point we both know it's not going to get my son his Christmas presents.
Please provide me and the sender the details of how to ship the products back to the UK. I assume we will have to pay for the privilege but rest assured I will be seeking full compensation in the very near future.
Regards
Space Monkey
Space Monkey
- 2013-11-10
Thank you for pointing out that subtle but important difference
Robbery is more serious than theft
- 2013-11-10
Threat to impound your property and divide it amongst the looters is a threat of robbery (albeit not necessarily armed). Theft is done clandestinely. Robbery is taking away your property with your full knowledge, without you having recourse to any legal rigths.
Dear fellow teachers and expats the following should serve as a warning in regards using Parcel2go and UPS to import packages into China. These companies can best be described as charlatans and fraudsters. Over the past few weeks me and my family have had the misfortune of trying to deal with dozens of people across both companies in order to try and receive delivery of 1 relatively small package containing mainly warm clothes and Christmas presents for my 1year old son. Below is an email I sent to the CEO of Parcel2go that gives an overview of the initial situation. Further emails between me and the customer service manager at Parcel2go will follow later. I have lived in China since 2008 and during that time have sent and had sent to me me many parcels containing gifts and personal effects without any problems. This is the first and last time I will be entrusting either company with my families possessions.
Dear Fil Mercer (CEO Parcel2go)
My package was sent from the UK to China. On the 17th October (prior to the parcel arriving in china) I was contacted by the UPS office in Shanghai and told that I would have to pay in excess of 1000RMB (over 100GBP) in customs fees to get the package. The young lady who called me couldn't actually specify how much I should pay only that it would be over 1000RMB and that if I wanted to know exactly I should call the Chinese Customs office myself and find out. She also told me that if I didn't pay then the package would be opened and the contents would be shared out amongst the staff within the office. On the 18th October this call was followed up by an email which also detailed the above as well as stating that packages with a total value in excess of 1000RMB are not permitted to enter China whatsoever. Her suggested solution was that we decide which items we want that come in under a total less than 1000RMB and they will send them to us. The remaining items would be shared out amongst staff.
I am deeply unsatisfied by the conduct of the UPS staff in shanghai on the following counts
1. If there is a customs fee to be paid then we will pay it but we will not send them any money without them providing us with official documentation from the relevant authorities that states precisely how much we should pay. Furthermore, I feel it is their duty to find out if such a fee exists and how much it is as opposed to passing us off to the Chinese customs office.
2. The Claim that any unclaimed items will be distributed amongst staff that was made before we had even had a chance to respond to the situation is in my opinion tantamount to a threat of theft! The items in the package are predominately warm clothing and Christmas presents sent from my family in the uk to my 1 year old son who lives with me in China, therefore you can understand how distraught both me, my wife and my family in the uk feel at the thought of them being taken in this way.
3. The overall professional conduct of the UPS office in Shanghai has been awful! I believe their claim that items with a combined total of over 1000RMB can not be sent into China to be completely false (I have lived here for 5 years and have had many packages sent to me that have been of a greater value). Such claims make it very difficult for me to place any trust in the people employed by your distribution partners.
I have the email that was sent to me. It is in Chinese but I would be happy to translate it for you (I am a proficient Chinese speaker and my wife is a native Chinese speaker and professional Chinese-English translator).
Since the 18th October we have contacted the Parcel2go customer service team with our concerns and were assured they would deal with the problem within 24hrs. It has already been 5 days and the only response we have had from Parcel2go is an email saying that if we don't pay the duty then our parcel will either be lost in customs or we will need to pay £250 to have it shipped back to the UK. However this does not address the problems that we raised. Namely that the UPS at Shanghai customs continues to tell us our package will be broken up. Furthermore, they have never provided us with a definitive figure on duty to pay!
I look forward to hearing from you ASAP in regards how you plan to deal with the above problems caused by your distribution partner UPS and their Shanghai office. I can be contacted via the email that is linked to my p2g reference number #####
Mr (Space Monkey)