Customs Tax Hold

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Dynamite_Kid19
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Customs Tax Hold

Post by Dynamite_Kid19 »

Currently eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Blue LE. It's slated to arrive Tuesday. I got a notice today it has a customs hold for potential fees. I have no issue with that. Just wondering if anybody Stateside had a similar situation and how long the delay was if any?

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jkbarnes
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by jkbarnes »

This has come up on numerous threads with varied experiences, and not always consistent fees paid. In short, anything over $800 requires you to pay a duty. I’m assuming DHL is the carrier? Hopefully others with experience will weigh in here to share some info. You can also search under “customs duties US” or something similar to find some relevant threads.

Sorry I don’t have anything more specific to offer.
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by Dynamite_Kid19 »

jkbarnes wrote:This has come up on numerous threads with varied experiences, and not always consistent fees paid. In short, anything over $800 requires you to pay a duty. I’m assuming DHL is the carrier? Hopefully others with experience will weigh in here to share some info. You can also search under “customs duties US” or something similar to find some relevant threads.

Sorry I don’t have anything more specific to offer.
Thanks I appreciate it. Yeah I'm fine with the fees it's just the waiting for them to sort it out and bill me. It is DHL. I had to pay some tax on a couple of William L 1985 chronographs I Kickstarted via FedEx and they were a dumpster fire to deal with.

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jkbarnes
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by jkbarnes »

Dynamite_Kid19 wrote: Mon Feb 15, 2021 2:46 am
jkbarnes wrote:This has come up on numerous threads with varied experiences, and not always consistent fees paid. In short, anything over $800 requires you to pay a duty. I’m assuming DHL is the carrier? Hopefully others with experience will weigh in here to share some info. You can also search under “customs duties US” or something similar to find some relevant threads.

Sorry I don’t have anything more specific to offer.
Thanks I appreciate it. Yeah I'm fine with the fees it's just the waiting for them to sort it out and bill me. It is DHL. I had to pay some tax on a couple of William L 1985 chronographs I Kickstarted via FedEx and they were a dumpster fire to deal with.

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Hate to say it, but you’ll hear some dreadful things about people’s experiences with DHL. Mine were not positive, but thankfully there were no fees involved because the watch was under $800.
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by albionphoto »

Importing a CW to the US via DHL can be difficult. On a good day DHL will send you a request to pay duty and handling fees. This should be about $80 for the C60 BLUE.

On a bad day you will receive a form saying you have to provide your SSN and a breakdown of the parts of the watch (Case, movement and bracelet/strap). You have two choices if you're having a bad DHL day.
Choice 1. Fill out the form to the best of your ability making sure that the cost of the three listed parts match up with the total value of the invoice. You will then receive an invoice from DHL. Pay this and your watch will arrive. You may end up paying more if you don't guess the value of each part correctly.
Choice 2. Contact CW CS by phone and say you have received this form. They will pass this to CW Logistics who will deal with DHL for you. The risk is timing. If you receive the DHL notice after CW CS has closed and a weekend gets in the way you may end up paying bonded warehouse fees.
CW will do their best to repair DHL's screw ups and it is DHL NOT CW who are messing up.
Message me if you want more information.
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by rkovars »

You should have gotten an email from DHL with a link for customs due and a way to process the payment. Check your SPAM to be sure it isn't there. If you can't find it get with CW customer service with all of the information. If you contact DHL they will ask you to complete the customs worksheet which you shouldn't have to do. Hopefully the link to pay duty just got misfiled. When it works it runs very smooth. Also it takes a while for tracking to catch up with a customs hold.
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by albionphoto »

If you have dealt with DHL before you may also receive a text with the payment information. This has caught me by surprise before as I was expecting an email.
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by Dynamite_Kid19 »

Nothing in spam. When I track it has this message: Your shipment may have import duty/tax assessed, requiring payment. If payment is required DHL will notify you with the amount due. Please pay promptly to avoid any delivery delay. For more information contact Customer Service at 1-800-225-5345.

Looks like I should call to see what the deal is. Holiday today probably doesn't help.

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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by MichaelMD »

Don't wait long to get the fee done and paid. If you let it slide a few days DHL will charge you storage fees which can be more than the taxes due. Call DHL directly and work it out with them.


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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by jkbarnes »

DHL on the phone can be a terrible experience. My wife had to call them to track down a missing package and kept getting put off with non-specific answers. If you call, give them the full court press!
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by Dynamite_Kid19 »

Made the call. Rep emailed me that it is awaiting customs clearance can take 1-2 days and he will update my by 5pm tomorrow. Fingers crossed all goes smooth. Hopefully the giant winter storm doesn't impact delivery.

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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by brash47 »

I've had customs on a few watches through DHL. Besides the irritation of the fee I had to pay, it went pretty quick.

As stated, pay promptly. Also, realize weather is an issue right now. As hard as it is to say, try not to get bent out of shape over it. Put yourself in their shoes and you'll understand.

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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by Dynamite_Kid19 »

Just paid the $90.13. Let's hope it still arrives today!

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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by MiniMpi »

That's not bad really, fingers cross you get it soon.
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Re: Customs Tax Hold

Post by ajax87 »

Dynamite_Kid19 wrote: Tue Feb 16, 2021 12:17 pm Just paid the $90.13. Let's hope it still arrives today!
That’s about what I paid in duty for my Abyss, which is pretty much the same price point. DHL has always delivered it 1-2 days after paying the duty fee for me, so you should be getting it soon depending on where you are in the US and how many feet of snow or inches of ice you got last night :lol:
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