Dream of Doll (DOD) bad expirience

Well here in Finland they charge 27% of the price. And they are too well aware in the customs of these dolls already that they almost always get caught even if the package is marked down.

I guess the reason why the doll companies don't like to mark down the packages anymore is because they can get into real trouble if someone would look into it. Wasn't Luts having some big trouble with the Canadian customs about this?

 

I wouldn't blame DoD for that fully. Its a bad experience but I wouldn't automatically be on it like you are. You knew the taxes/fees where high and still ordered from them. Its not your fault you live where you are or how expensive the stuff is or how things are run, BUT You should have prepared yourself just incase, having the money at hand. Yes it was possibly a slip of mind with DoD to mark the package a lower value, but then again its cheating as well, isn't it?

 

Some customs places DENY packages from senders who repeatedly mark the values down. I believe a major company had this happen to them before due to values.

I think the simplest thing I can say on the matter is, either accept your stupidly high fees like everyone else, or don't order a new doll from a company so far away, cuz internal "adopted" dolls wil evade that tax and customs charge.

 

I can honestly say, if I were DOD, I would not agree to lie about the doll's value to save you money. Not to be harsh but why should a business risk their good name to save a customer money that their country requires them to pay??? There is usually a reason for taxes and custom charges and a country has the right to charge them. It sucks but I don't think you can blame DOD for respecting your country's right to make tax and custom decisions for their citizens.

 

It's too bad you get hit with such awfull customs fees, but it's not really DOD's fault. When a company marks down packages there are risks involved--if something were to happen to the package, the insurance would only pay the amount that the company listed. It's also illegal, and they can get caught. I remember a thread awhile back where someone ordered a doll from Luts and it got trapped in customs, because the customs people caught on to what Luts was doing. No company is obligated to mark down the cost of a package.

 

I don't know about Greek or Korean laws, but in the US it's kinda illegal to lie on a customs form. It sucks to pay extra fees, especially fees that high... but blaming DoD for not being able to cheat the system isn't all together fair either :/.

 

Everyone else pretty much summed it up. DOD can get into some huge trouble. I'm guessing a lot of the doll companies understand this now, and won't mark their prices down.

I certainly wouldn't mark it down just to spare a customer some stupid taxes, especially if it meant losing my buisness.

Sorry you got hit with fees though. We all think it's stupid but there's nothing we can do about it.

 

We get hit with customs fees if it goes above a certain amount as well. The problem is that as these dolls get more popular and more people order them, customs become aware of how much they cost. Marking your packages down could get them hit with huge fines and ensure every package entering Greece gets stopped and checked. This isn't fair to their other buyers. Most companies state that they won't mark down packages. I've sold a couple of dolls and posted them overseas. I have to insure them for their actual value as should they go missing, I'm sure the buyer won't say "hey, so it got lost, no problem, I guess I should have insured it". If your package had got lost, would you have been prepared to take an $80 settlement?

 

To be honest they gave you a service before that you were in no way entitled too. It was never their mistake and indifference...there is no way they must do it. As you said it was a request , it was never a service or a right you had. Yes naturally they should have informed you I agree on that.

You buy something that expensive? than you know you have to pay customs.. That is a part of the deal. There may be few BJD owners.. but a lot of people in other hobbies try to pull the same stunt. And trust me, customs will start to notice that and will take longer to process things as they will have to second guess everything that comes in.
I pay a very high custom value as well and I am fully prepared to do so.. that's the bad thing about being in the EU.

And good luck as there are more and more companies who will refuse to mark down the value. After all why should they get the trouble and the huge fines just so you can pay less? And yes I know it is illegal in greece to lie on forms..

Even if marked it down and they had checked the package you would have gotten the Fees.

 

Ok, without going into the whole discussion about VAT, importing taxes and additional postal fees (that would get me into writing very long essays about how the whole thing is unfair, sucks and many time is ILLEGAL on the side of government)... did DOD agree to mark it low? You say you asked them 3 times. Did they reply to you telling that they WILL do it?

Because I got Valentine's day event couple from them this year and not only did I need lower value, but also needed to have an invoice inside the box with lower value (here we have 21% of VAT, plus 5% importing tax, plus about 10€ on handling fees on top AND every package require to have a printed invoice inside, otherwise - oh boy, you don't wanna know!). And they did both! They included the invoice stating that dolls were valued $100 plus $50 shipping and they declared the package for $150 as well. But we exchanged several emails while discussing it, and they confirmed they'd do it.

Where am I going with this? If they did agree to do it and didn't commit to the promise, then I truly understand why you're angry. I knew they usually mark in full, and I was prepared to pay the tax in case they'd say NO. The V-Day event was such great deal, I wouldn't have minded to pay full tax. But would it be some other company and some other order and I knew marking low was not an option - indeed, I would have thought twice if it was worth buying it directly, or would it be easier to find one in EU some time later.

 

I'm sorry; When did you say that before?

Also, maybe you should have told them (just in case) that if they weren't going to mark down, could they please inform you of that?

I understand your frustration, as I have had to pay over 90 pounds, which is about the same you had to pay (plus my country's parcel service gave the the run around and endless stress), in customs before, but as others have said: Illegal. That's basically the end of the argument.

 

I don't know about other countries but in the UK by law the recipiant is the one who is responsible for any fraudulant declaration of how much a parcel's worth not the sender so if the laws same over there then it's not actually any skin off DoD's nose to mark it down.

I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just pointing it out.

 

Well, that sucks then! I usually get prepared to pay the tax anyway in every case, even if I get solid YES from the company (when the DOD V-Day package came, I was opening the door with a wallet in hand containing 150€ - that would be the tax if they put an invoice for full value inside). Well, mostly because marking low and gifting thing only works in like 10% of cases here, usually they ask you to send them the actual invoice. And I would recommend it to everyone to be ready for taxes in any case.

But I see your point. The fact that we pay 1/3 of the price in customs fees is really ridiculous when the dolls are already that expensive. And if the company agrees to help out, setting one's mind in peace and then doesn't do it - it's not a nice feeling, especially when you didn't see that sudden expense falling on your head.

It's harder for people outside of EU (and other countries with strict customs, like Canada and Brazil, for example) to understand your (and mine) position though. One really needs to experience giving 150€ to postman in exchange for your package when you already paid $600 for it a month ago to realize how does that feel Yes, everyone can say "Well, that's how your government is and you need to obey the law and be prepared. If I lived in EU, I'd just save for both the price of the doll and the tax." But when it comes to reality, it's REALLY hard to accept that stupid VAT (ok, can't help it - the VAT that we're being charged ILLEGALY, because it's supposed to be deducted by sellers when they ship abroad. It's called double taxing and it's against the law. Only the customs would always pick the law that suits them better as far as I know only Volks is deducting the tax from the cost of their dolls, turning it into a handling fee) and the enormous customs delays.

 

I'm not saying they didn't, and it makes sense that you woud expect them to if they had done it for you before, but I don't remember you saying they agreed to it. When I was reading the first post, it sounded more like you were repeatedly reminding them mostly because they hadn't said anything about it.

 

The same thing was happen to me for my DoT Camine! I wrote to DoD to declare a lowered price on the package a lot of time, but they don't do that. And I've payed a lot for fees and taxes! I was sad, because they tell me that they wrote all the things I had request on the package... But was a lie! ;__;
I love their dolls (and my Caliel!) , but my experience with their company was bad! :-(

Sorry my english isn't great, I know...