Hi,
I had bid, and won a SoundBlaster Audigy 5.1 Sound Card (Item# 6808650425), on October 11th 2005, from a seller in the U.S. I paid him via Paypal, which was very convenient as it charged my credit card in Indian Rupees, and paid him in US$ as per the prevailing exchange rate.
The seller shipped the item soon after, and it apparently reached Bangalore on 24th Oct 2005, as the Customs department sent me a notification via Snail mail stating that they have received the item and asked me to claim it.
Soon after, I went to the customs office with the letter, the official over there told me that this item would attract an import duty of 15% and that I would have to give a written application to claim the item, it would be delivered to my residence via Post. This is a used item that too a single piece for personal use, on making that clear, they said I still would have to pay the duty if I wanted the item. *&*$_@#@!!!. Agreed I wrote a letter claiming the item and attached a printout of the Invoice the seller had sent me. And submitted it to them.
Now the waiting began....15 days...One month....one phone call later...it's still under processing....two months......one visit...Customs superintendent not present today.....three months..And many phone calls later....no concrete response....I had then nearly lost hope of receiving the item. I had paid more than 2300 bucks for the item...and no recourse...the seller was diligent enough to ship the item on time and update me on the status...but the delay was here.
Finally!! Last week, After 4 months. A postman appeared at my doorstep and he had the item with him... I was relieved on seeing the package. Had to pay an additional Rs 672 as duty and processing charges. And finally the item was in my hands. Installed it and its working great!!!!. I'm playing Quake4 with Full OpenAL and EAX Advanced HD support now. Other games are playing great too. Thanks to this card. Many times better than the lowly integrated audio on my motherboard.
The point is:
It took 4+ months for our Customs dept to process the item and our Postal service to deliver it to me. That's ridiculous. The item took less than half a month to reach India from the U.S and then 3.5 months to reach me, within the same city. This is in spite of the seller including appropriate complete customs documentation (U.S Postal service Form 2976-A and
2976-E) along with the item, and me submitting all the proofs/invoices/letters they required.
This is the state of affairs of our customs and postal service, be aware, should anybody plan to purchase an international item.
I am unable to leave feedback for that seller now, as its past 90 days of the transaction.
I see many great items on eBay’s international site. But dare not order them, for god knows how many months, years? It may take till customs deems it fit to release it. and the postal service take pains to deliver it.
Regards,
Vinayak.
