Dream of Doll (DOD) bad expirience

that's strange... 2 years ago when I ordered my DOC Zen, DOD marked the package as "gift" without me asking at all... @__@; It didn't even get tangle up in customs, nor was I charged any fees. I was really surprised!

Prehaps it was a different person/staff handling your order? There seem to be many unsatisfied customers with that company recently... I know how disappointed you must feel having to pay a large sum of $ for it and all... I'm sorry I can't be much help, but I hope you get your Ean soon... T__T;

 

I was waiting 8 weeks for my kirill(he comes home tomorrow)and i must pay duty....why don`t they write:Gift on the packet?!!!!
No...if i want to buy a Dod doll,i´m surching in Yahoo Japan...no more there!

 

@Aerthis in germany it helps a lot if there is a Gift on the packet!They look at it(thats normal)but don`t want the money for it!

And i know a person from Japan,she make auctions for me!^^

 

I'm sorry but here in Brazil we pay 60% of taxes...

But I agee with you on disapointments about DOD. My Tender Yen came in full priced, but luckly I didn't pay any taxes for him... But there was another bad experiences after him >>'
I really don't plan buying anything from DOD ever again.

 

Yeah, "gift" has a limitation, so you'd still need to mark the package down...

 

Yikes~! Well I knew customs charges could get outrageous but I never knew they could get that high! I understand your unhappiness. Well I'll definitely have to research it more for future orders I do with Korea in general. I got lucky the first time I ordered dolls from Luts and DoD cause I went on vacation in Korea right as the dolls were ready for pick up and they shipped it to where I was staying in Seoul for free and refunded me on the shipping charges I would have had to pay if I had them shipped to the US. The next time I decide to order, I won't be flying there anytime soon so I'll have to brace up for customs fees.

 

It is not the responsibility for them to mark the value lower, it is against federal laws in all countries for that. As far as the "gift" marking goes, i know that here in the US that only goes so far. I know a lot of you probably hate me for making comment on this since I am in US and don't have this problem, but frankly by even asking them to mark it down and trying to cheat your way out of paying taxes is you making a federal offence against the country you live in.
Now we all might mark things at lower value as individuals on occasion, I personally will admit I've done so for someone who requested it but I have never lied more than $10 worth, but DOD is a company, they send dolls out to many. It would be bad for their business record and if they did it not just at request they could get in larger trouble if something happens and the package is damaged. Even if you say you would take responsibility, working a job where customer service is key for 5 years now, it does not mean that you will always keep up your end of the bargain to them, and you could go ranting and trying to make them look bad in the end. I personally think they look worse for even telling you they would mark it down

Sorry if any offence is taken by my two cents worth, but it is purely my opinion on the matter.

 

No, you won't, there's no fees in US for importing toys That's where my big point is coming from, that many times it's harder for people in US to be sympathetic in this situation darkangelxix is coming through. Because you need to experience it or at least to live for 6 weeks in fear of the package getting stuck forever in customs and getting slammed with huge tax to see what is it about.

We all know the part about legal and illegal. I spoke about that too. And about double taxing too, which is also illegal, but governments get away with it perfectly, because they are the law and they can play the card in their favor every time.

 

I agree with bunnyboo.Maybe people in the US dont know how worrying it is.Also about governments being greedy.
That is why we in europe can only hope that more doll companies will come over here to sell.
I could rant on for hours about this matter,but I dont see the point.It will just make me angry. Customs fees suck.

 

I read awhile ago on the forum about Canadian customs blacklisting Luts and holding someone's package hostage. Luts eventually had to send them both the dolls again, and I am not sure if they ever got the original ones back. This would be a huge loss for the company, so I think DoD is just trying to save themselves. Even if they tell you they will mark it down, I would not expect them to. Even though I live in the US, I might be hurt if they did mark it down, as well. Under US law, the recipient is guilty of mail fraud if the sender marks the package value as lower than it was.

 

I think people who have to worry about customs understands what darkangelxix is upset about. DoD said they would mark the parcel down and then didn't hence a lot of extra money spent and I've no idea what the exchange rate for greek currency to US is but I'm betting it's a huge amount to have to pay. If any doll I bring in gets hit by customs, I'm up for a minimum of $150 fee. As Australia has a $1000 AUD limit, so far I've been ok. I bought a Soom Sabik that could have gone over the limit, but I got Soom to split up the order into 2 lots and luckily customs didn't hit me for any fees. Even though the order was split, I still could have been charged as our customs is computerised and technically if you order from the same place within a month, they can hit you with fees for going over the $1000 limit. I've just ordered an Elf Chiwoo and Nanuri head. I could be facing customs fees for that order. I'll just have to wait and see. I figure I've saved a huge amount on fees in the past so if I get hit with them, I'll just have to wear the cost. DoD probably meant to mark down the package, but this is a small company usually 4/5 workers maximum in a little flat trying to get out a huge number of dolls. Mistakes get made unfortunately. I agree it's frustrating and I'd be kicking walls and muttering as well, but you're going to get a fantastic doll (I love E-an) so don't let the fees spoil your enjoyment of her. I have a friend in Spain who gets dolls and has the same problem with customs. Everytime I send her something, I'm putting personal notes etc so it looks more like a gift. She has endless trouble importing dolls.

I forgot to add, I can see everyone saying DoD didn't have to markdown the doll was getting you upset. I think you'll find that most people regard customs fees as an unfortunate part of the hobby. You try to avoid or minimise where possible but there's always a risk of getting hit. I don't think anyone agrees with them, but there's not much you can do once you've been landed with them. It's upsetting that you got charged, but let's face it, DoD is never going to refund you custom fees. It's one of those times when it can be really annoying to be dealing with BJDs.

 

Hopefully you'll get your money back....

 

Totally for and against this. I do believe though it is VERY unfair in a lot of countries people have to pay an arm and a leg just to receive a package though. I talked to a postal worker the other day and he was telling me in some (not all, just a few he mentioned not a good idea to visit) countries some customs people go through the packages and even take stuff out of them. Here in the US we don't have that. I totally feel bad for people who have to go through being charged!

BUT I put a disclaimer on my pages when I sell anything. I think a lot of these companies should do the same to warn customers ahead of time if they won't mark anything as a gift before someone buys something and is stuck with high customs charges.

Customs sucks, but true it is the law, at least here in the US. I sell a lot of items international and never mark anything as a gift. When you ship anything out to another country you have to sign your name on it. And it could cause a lot of problems for anyone who is shipping something not to be responsible and put the right information down on the item. Especially when you sign your name, you are saying you have read the fine print and everything on that customs slip is true. If not, you could get fined or worse, jail time. Both parties should not do it under any circumstances. I see it done left and right on ebay and everywhere else, and It might seem like nothing, but when it comes down to it, its still breaking the law.

I think the more its done, the more the USPS and other facilities who ship items will start to crack down on people who don't write the correct info down on the forms. Its only a matter of time.

Still think customs charges are sucky tho >_<

 

Why would a company need to warn customers that they won't lie on customs forums? This should be a given.

 

Like others have said it is law. Most countries charge a sales tax of some form within the country so charge it for imported goods. It is one way for countries to ensure that they keep a certain segment of market share within their own borders. yes it sucks to have to pay more but it's a legality issue, and customs seems to be picking up on how much these dolls are really worth. Now if the package is only insured for the whole $80 that was written on the box it can be easier but then if anything happens you could be out a fair amount if a company declares it a shipping issue and not a manufacturing issue. Someone pointed out about the luts canadian issue - they were holding a lot of luts packages (even my clothes were held up an extra two weeks at customs until I could provide proof of value) because they were marked down. So customs went through the process of getting proof of value for a lot of packages coming in (might have only been at that time but I don't order from Luts too often). I believe the company may have been fined and until those sorts of things are cleared customs can choose to refuse a lot of packages from a particular company if it decides it wants to go after it.

I pay about 13.5&#37; in customs here so yes it can hurt (I think the most I've paid in customs fees is about $300). I keep the receipts though because if I choose to sell the doll outside of the country I can file for a refund. You may be able to appeal with your customs however it's tricky because you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.

For the most part though companies are not obligated to mark packages down, and I think for some they're starting to be more wary about it as the popularity of the hobby grows and more packages start coming through.

Unfortunately customs fees and taxes are a part of doing business so it's better to have the money saved up just in case you get caught with them rather than having the companies mark packages down as that just opens a whole can of worms.

 

My words may not mean anything because I live in the US, but I agree that DoD aren't obligated to lie for their customers. I'm sure that they have been requested by others to the very same thing and each worker took different paths on how to approach them. Some look out for the customers, some look out for the company. People have different set of beliefs on how it should all work and sometimes, it's conflicting. It's more efficient to keep everything simple and similar in a systematic manner.

I understand the custom fees in your country and other places in the world come across this. It's like this over in Vietnam when my parents need to sent things to family members back home. It's not easy nor it makes life any better. However, it should not be ignored. It's best to be prepared for anything in case things don't go right. That's how life is.

 

It is possible that DOD agreed at Valentines day and then realized what big trouble they could get into. I believe Luts ended up paying a large sum of money in penalty fees. You better believe that all of the doll companies read this forum and were aware of the problems other companies have had. The fact that you asked them to commit fraud and that you have posted that fact could potentially get you into trouble. Be careful. It would seem much easier to pay the fee than do the time.

 

Hi, just to help darkangelxix reiterate because I see a few new posts saying it's not DoD's responsiblity to mark down prices for her so that she can avoid paying customs.

darkangelxix is unhappy because she asked DoD to mark down the package and sent it as a gift when she paid and she got a reply from DoD saying they WILL do as she asked.

So yeah, sure it's DoD's perogative not to commit customs fraud but I think they should have at least informed her upfront that they won't mark down the price for her. And she reminded them two other times which is more than ample notice for them to tell her, sorry we can't do it.

It's freakin' annoying when doll companies make mistakes and buyers have to pay for them. When I got my Soo Ri from Iplehouse, I didn't ask them to mark down the price BUT I was asked by my local customs to pay around US$350 in custom fees because whoever sent my package from IH had illegible handwriting and the amount they wrote ended up looking like US$7117 thereabouts.

I was like 'WTF?! NO! This doll didn't cost me US$7117!'. Luckily, I paid by Paypal credit card so I had the actual amount stated on my bank statement which I used to prove how much I really paid and I ended up paying US$30 in customs intead.

But still, I shudder to think what if customs hadn't accepted my bank statement =_="