mikeypas Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Ahhh, sorry just have to vent..My order from H-S got intercepted by canadian customs.. they tacked on $140 in dutiesI ordered a mya pipe and the coconara/tangiers combo.. so thats 750g (plus the 3 free roman, so a total of 900g)Its so frustrating! My last order from H-S was close to 2kg, and they tacked on $750 (yes u read correctly). of course i refused and returned to sender. i even sent it back for re-evaluation at customs, but they wouldnt change it. they consider it pipe tobacco, because it goes in a waterpipe.. and yes explained that the weight is mostly molasses,etc.. they won't budgeso now i'm left with 3 choicesa) refuse and return to sender - lose my shipping money and no shisha and no mya suck it up and pay it c) send it to customs for a review.. experience has shown that it doesnt really do much good, and itll take probably close to 2-3 months for it to happen.any thoughts/comments??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 give it up.....send it back,,find a us friend who will do it up for you as a gift. I run a legit business so I can't get involved, but ill bet there are members who might help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny_D Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 SEARCH!Someone on here challenged canadian customs and they let it go.Search Search Search my friend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeypas Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 oh I have searched!! the excuses those people gave was that it was a) cultural molasses and not really tobacco.i dont think those excuses work anymore, because a) i tried em hookah/shisha is too popular now. they know all about itsigh... i think the problem is it was all in one big box.. so they open it up and find the tobacco.. otherwise, i think H-S might be red flagged at customs, so anything coming from their address gets opened.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushrat Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 QUOTE (mikeypas @ Jun 25 2008, 10:34 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>oh I have searched!! the excuses those people gave was that it was a) cultural molasses and not really tobacco.i dont think those excuses work anymore, because a) i tried em hookah/shisha is too popular now. they know all about itsigh... i think the problem is it was all in one big box.. so they open it up and find the tobacco.. otherwise, i think H-S might be red flagged at customs, so anything coming from their address gets opened..you can BET they are red flagged at this point...thats why you need a friend.. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny_D Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 QUOTE (mikeypas @ Jun 25 2008, 04:34 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>oh I have searched!! the excuses those people gave was that it was a) cultural molasses and not really tobacco.i dont think those excuses work anymore, because a) i tried em hookah/shisha is too popular now. they know all about itsigh... i think the problem is it was all in one big box.. so they open it up and find the tobacco.. otherwise, i think H-S might be red flagged at customs, so anything coming from their address gets opened..Not sure how/if Red Flagging actually happens. But it's plausable. You couild argue that the tobacco content is less than the actuall tobacco weight. It's a lot of liquid... Might be worth a shot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snoopy1966 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I already removed the one post my the OP because he had 2 posts. and now he has none. Too many Mods at once to fix it..lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaredm Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) Doesn't Pipe Tobacco have to be set alight and burn? Shisha tobacco is not set alight and doesn't burn; the flavoured glycerine (a liquid) is released as a vapour. Therefore it shouldn't fall under smoking tobacco or pipe tobacco. Edited June 25, 2008 by jaredm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoop Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 tobacco is tobacco. id definitely find someone willing to receive the package and ship it to you. it will cost extra but much higher chance of passing the guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Boss Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 What is the whole deal with Canadian customs anyway? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeypas Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 I realize that having someone re-ship it would be more ideal, but i think no matter what, a 40" hookah pipe will draw attention no matter what. its a big box!for the future, i think ill only order tobacco by itself.. keep the box size small.. ill try my luck with MNH next.. otherwise maybe a member here will be willing to be a re-shipper!? i think ill bite the bullet and take this.. its $140 extra.. i figure its the price of 3 250g AF here in Montreal, so if i look at it this way, it could be worse.. (last time they charged $750 for 2kg of shisha!)thanks to all who have replied! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voski Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 whoever reships it can put the pipe in a different box so even if they open it there won't be any tobacco in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuie Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 That is so ....absurd.... i can't believe it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balthazar Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) QUOTE (Big Boss @ Jun 25 2008, 06:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What is the whole deal with Canadian customs anyway?Indeed ...Also: do H-S send it from a private adress and write everything by hand? That has helped me a lot, as long as the vendor follow those steps (and don't label the package as "tobacco" or anything similar) it always gets through. Might be harder for Canadians than us Norwegians, though ... Hookah hardly exist up here, so they usually believe that the description of the "food samples" tells the truth. Edited June 25, 2008 by Balthazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Boss Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 QUOTE (Balthazar @ Jun 25 2008, 11:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>QUOTE (Big Boss @ Jun 25 2008, 06:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>What is the whole deal with Canadian customs anyway?Indeed ...I was asking why they do the things they do. Like what their rules and regulations are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melanko Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Wow that's terrible. I thought Canadian customs weren't so bad, but I guess they are.I send a lot of international shipments at my job and Canada is one of the easier countries to ship to. Granted I'm selling computer parts and not hookah stuff so they might have a restriction on those types of items. You can see it all here (USPS international shipping). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balthazar Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) QUOTE I was asking why they do the things they do. Like what their rules and regulations are.Lol, sorry.Dunno about USA, but tobacco-taxes are pretty common when importing, are they not?I would have to pay just about 38$ for every 100g of tobacco (doesn't matter how much % of the shisha that actually is tobacco) I recieve from a non-Norwegian page (should it be discovered, this has not happened yet). I don't think the canadian tax is that high, but I guess it's not very low either. But I'm sure mikeypas can offer a better answer.Speaking of canadians, where on earth is Gaia hiding? Havn't seen him post in ages ... Edited June 25, 2008 by Balthazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeypas Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 Woah! Check this out, to top things off. I called Canada Post so I can pay the duties so that the driver can just drop off the parcel. They informed me, they do not take credit card payments for the duties (even though I know 100% i did this before), and the driver only accepts cash, and they won't tell me how much exactly I should have ready, and they will only make 1 delivery attempt.So i'm like , I have to have an unspecified amount of cash on hand, and hope to god not to miss this delivery!Pretty luck you guys in the US, with a really good mail system. You have such variety of products and dont need to worry about shipping between states. Here we are taxed to hell!!Oh, and I specifically explained what shisha is, and they said it doesnt matter what the % of tobacco, they use the whole weight (exactly like balthazar stated above)..For shits and giggles, I attached a excel sheet they (customs) use to calculate it. (i actually got them to email me).. i'm not really a numbers kind of guy, but i dont understand a thing !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Click Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 QUOTE (mikeypas @ Jun 25 2008, 09:42 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>i think ill bite the bullet and take this.. its $140 extra.. i figure its the price of 3 250g AF here in Montreal,Gotta love the US Postal Service. It sucks that they tax you that much on tobacco.And damn! 750g of AF is $140 in Montreal?! Is that in US dollars or Canadian? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikeypas Posted June 25, 2008 Author Share Posted June 25, 2008 >>And damn! 750g of AF is $140 in Montreal?! Is that in US dollars or Canadian?No, for AF I can usually find it locally for about $30.. Nakhla $20-25 depending on how the guy is feeling It's expensive true, and limited flavors, but at least no dealing with shipping, duties, customs etc..The $140 is the duties assessed on my order from H-S, which included 3x250g of tangiers and 2x50g of romman which came free with the hookah(thats actually not bad, should be more according to their formula)the tax laws here are crazy. there will never be a distributor for nakhla or AF or tangiers or whoever here because they will never turn a profit! i think there are bigger fish to fry in the world than taxing shisha.. (like terrorism maybe??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheezerman Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) That is the most confusing document I've ever read. And I regularly read Supreme Court Briefs.It's a good thing for us Americans (U.S.) to remember, our liquor and tobacco taxes are NOTHING compared to Canada and many other countries. So enjoy it while it lasts!The first time I visited Canada, I brought a case of good wine for the friends we were staying with. Border Customs wanted me to pay hundreds of dollars in taxes just to bring the wine into the country! I ended up paying the taxes, because the wine was irreplaceable, but I was so mad. Edited June 25, 2008 by cheezerman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brownman18 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 (edited) wowI ordered 3 tangiers, two hoses, two boxes of al waha from H-S and i only got $11 in customs.I ordered about 9 boxes last time and i got 0$ in customs.Weird how they selectively tax.A year ago i used to pay alot of duties, like $140 on 14 boxes. Edited June 25, 2008 by Brownman18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rani Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Guys, you're talking about the government..... Really think they're going to give up money by anyone being logical? Mush was exactly right. Get a friend to reship, then ship all your orders to their address and reimburse them the additional shipping and repackaging.'Rani Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TexasHookah Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 The customs system is pretty crazy and random. Most of the time it depends on the labeling on the package contents and the shipper service used. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilikemyusername Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 i know you're in canada, but how far away are you from the US? might work out well to get a PObox have everything shipped to it and then take a road trip.OR get in touch with mnh, and see if you can just meet up with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now