A number of purchases recently from overseas. Now with the advent of GST on all overseas purchases and 'services' including post, there would seem to be a number of issues regarding processing through Australian Customs. Firstly when one pays for expedited post with tracking which is quite hefty, one expects a service which one has paid for. The seller may well be very efficient and in most cases they are, as they understand you have paid big bucks for the postal service. But all that comes to a halt, once the item arrives in Australian Customs. They have no obligation or responsibility when it comes to processing in any timely manner. One has paid GST or is liable to pay GST on the item, including the postal 'service'. That service is expedited shipping with tracking. The trackiing disappears once it hits the black hole known as Australian Customs, where it can sit indefinitely. Seems to me - rather than charging for GST on a postal 'service' - Australian Customs should be compensating buyers for the loss of service. It is a serious loss of service. The tracking is lost or disappeared, the expedited shipping paid for is money down the drain, as the item will not be received in an expedited way more likely in timeframes that you would expect from an item that was shipped by boat. Thats a serious loss of dollars in shipping costs. To add insult to injury, you are then charged GST on the expedited with tracking costs - a service you have defintely not received! So Australian Customs rather than charging GST on shipping should actually be compensating buyers. Australian Customs are not answerable to anyone apart from their own invisible bureaucrats. With advent of the GST on imports, no doubt the workers would be directed to check every single item, but they would not be sufficiently staffed to do this in a timely manner. Australia is still a backwater and will always be - with Government red tape getting more and more into peoples lives and with an isolationist policy, Amazon restrictions etc, I can see there will inevitably be a downward trend in sales through eBay for international sellers, which is what the Government and the Harvey Normans want. A true isolationist approach - Australia still a backwater - and really turns the clock back many decades. Welcome to the 1950's.
Not that is any of your business natureboy but I am out working from as soon as it is light enough to see, and for the next six months I will be working 7 days a week in my business during this busiest time of the year. When I come in for a cuppa I often sit at the computer to check out the threads here while I am having a rest for a few minutes. Try to ease up on the assumptions - though your attempt at insult didn't affect me at all.
I grow vegetables and breed new varieties so I have occasional communication with customs when I have to bring rare seeds into the country. They are always very professional in their attitude and helpful, and I often get my parcels held up for a few days or more while they inspect them. it is part of buying from overseas and something you have to plan for. I actually appreciate their efforts.
__________________________________________________________ . Education is what you get from reading the small print. Experience is what you get from not reading it.
I am not am eBay or government employee. My high number of posts does indicate that I spend a lot of time on these boards, but I like to help people when I can.
When I read posts I try to assign the voice of a well known person (it makes it just that little bit more interesting when reading a miserable person's whine). When I read your post, after the first line, Lawrence Mooney came to mind . . . . . the Lawrence Mooney Malcolm impersonations that is. When I kept reading I was in fits of laughter. My apologies for trivialising your predicament.
Try searching for Lawrence Mooney videos where he impersonates Malcolm . . . . . . . then imagine Lawrence Mooney saying this:
Firstly when one pays for expedited post with tracking which is quite hefty, one expects a service which one has paid for. The seller may well be very efficient and in most cases they are, as they understand you have paid big bucks for the postal service. But all that comes to a halt, once the item arrives in Australian Customs. They have no obligation or responsibility when it comes to processing in any timely manner. One has paid GST or is liable to pay GST on the item, including the postal 'service'.
Again, apologies for trivialising your post.
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Now for a serious response.
With regards to the time items sit in Customs, I have no problems, never have. I would rather have Customs take whatever time they deem necessary to screen incoming items knowing that they owe it to all Australians to keep out contraband like drugs, firearms, weapons etc. I also recognise that the number of items arriving in Australia may vary according to the time of the year, so clearance times will fluctuate.
To say that Australian Customs should be compensating buyers is just a nonsense. You have not paid for Australian Customs to provide an expedited service. In fact, you have not contracted Australian Customs to provide any service. What Australian Customs performs is a statutory obligation. With regards to your ‘perceived’ delays I would say “it takes what it takes” and I am thankful that we do have professional Customs/Borderforce officers working to keep us all safe.
One might have a different perception if one was the victim of just one illegal act perpetrated by someone who obtained an expedited service of their contraband through Customs.
Finally, maranock does not post as often as you would have us think . . . . . but when maranock posts I take notice and I learn from their experiences and advice.
I certainly don’t pick up on one or two words in a post and get all precious over them.
