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)