Some time ago I bought three pieces of jeans and one belt from an online store. Delivery to the store turned out to be only through DHL, so I had to use their services; I paid about $60 for delivery. Keeping in mind our customs code, the purchase amount did not exceed 5,000 rubles (this is the limit for commercial delivery services). Actually, literally within 24 hours after ordering, my parcel was collected, packaged and delivered to DHL. I was given a waybill number and I could track the entire shipment. It was just great! In just a few days the parcel crossed the Atlantic and arrived in my city. It was from this moment that the problems began.
Having arrived in Nizhny Novgorod, the status of the parcel changed to “customs clearance”, I was sure that it would not take much time, because the amount did not exceed the duty-free import limit. The next day, a girl from DHL called me and said that I had to fax them a copy of my passport + registration and an information letter in which I should indicate what I was waiting for and for what purpose I was going to use it. Actually, I sent all this to her by email and began to wait.
And after two weeks (!) I began to become intensely interested in why my cargo was taking so long to clear customs. I submitted a complaint via the form on the DHL website. Quite quickly I received an answer:
Good afternoon, Evgeniy!On behalf of DHL Express, let me express our respects and thank you for your letter regarding the cargo that arrived under DHL Air Waybill 9188473840. First of all, please accept our sincere apologies for having to worry about the fate of your parcel.
Allow me, please, to explain the current situation.
Your cargo was accepted for shipment on July 10 this year. On July 15, the shipment arrived at the DHL customs terminal in Nizhny Novgorod for further organization of the customs clearance process.
According to the customs code of the Russian Federation, an average of 3 working days is allotted for cargo clearance. Unfortunately, due to the restructuring that took place in the Nizhny Novgorod customs office in May of this year, there are now delays in customs clearance of goods, and we cannot in any way influence the work of the customs authorities. Believe me, we are doing everything possible to speed up and regulate the customs clearance process. The cargo will be delivered to you immediately as soon as it is released from customs. Evgeniy, did you provide passport data and an information letter to our customs department?
Actually, I was eager to talk more, but it didn’t work out:
Evgeniy, I cannot read your letter, unfortunately!!! Please send it again.
Well, I’m very upset that our services, as always, can’t do anything. But what was my surprise that after a while they called me again from DHL and said that I should send them a scanned copy of my passport again to a different email. Well, there is nothing to do, I send them a letter, and at the end I asked to confirm its receipt, should I say that I did not receive confirmation? Instead, by calling the Nizhny Novgorod DHL office, I found out that they could not verify receipt of the letter and I needed to call customs brokers. Naturally, I call the number I received and after two or three rings I get a clanging sound and the call is dropped; a second attempt was also unsuccessful. While I was unsuccessfully trying to call the customs brokers at the main office, the working day ended and they simply didn’t pick up the phone.
Next week (on weekends dhl only work on Saturday until 13) that is today, I call dhl and ask to find out if they received my letters, and refuse to call anyone back, instead I give them my phone number and invoice. During the day, no one called the phone, but I received an email:
Good afternoon, Evgeniy.Thank you for sending copies of documents, on the basis of which the application for customs clearance of your cargo was submitted on 07/30/09.
The customs inspector had the following questions: what kind of decorative jewelry is precious or non-precious metal, what kind of stones?? And what kind of jeans came in a quantity of 3 pieces (new or used, husband or wife).
Please, please provide this information in the form of an information letter using the following example:
To Nizhny Novgorod customs
Information mail.
It arrived at my address under invoice 988473840 from the USA,
Signature.
Here you can see that they tried to do something only on the 30th (the cargo was already in the city on the 15th). Actually, here my patience ran out and through a friend who works at customs it was found out that:
1. There was no restructuring of customs (there was only some kind of resolution regarding commercial carriers, but nothing more).
2. Since the parcel contains a belt registered as jewelry without an exact inventory (which should have been issued by DHL upon shipment), an examination may be carried out.
3. Today people from DHL actually came to the customs point, but did not write an application for customs clearance because they simply no money for this(which are actually included in the shipping cost).
And so it turns out that DHL is simply playing for time because they do not have the money to pay customs duties.
646*****05 received in 4 days
I like the DHL-Express company - it has never let me down with fast delivery and correct handling of parcels. But there is one big BUT. The Russian branch of this company does NOT deliver to PRIVATE individuals if the foreign sender is not their client under the contract. I can understand such delivery conditions, and here the second big BUT arises - information about this is not available on the DHL-Express website. The result is that parcels are automatically returned to the sender. For this they receive negative feedback.
735*****14 received in 7 days
The distance from the departure point of Cyprus to the destination Israel is 300 km. The parcel was delivered in SEVEN days..! through THREE intermediate countries in the opposite direction: Greece, Italy, Germany.... Destination - Israel. In the name of DHL express mail, the word EXPRESS seems to be EXTRA ..
230*****60 received in 10 days
Do not order phones or equipment through this office. Customs shakes them harshly. Parcels from Ali reach me by mail within a week. The seller refused to send by mail, only by courier. As a result, out of two parcels with identical goods, one arrived by mail faster than that one that by DHL. But it is not the main problem. For the second they demanded fifty dollars in tax. I don’t know how the post office ignores this, apparently due to the huge flow. But the courier took six days to check with customs (not customs clearance and payment, they presented the payment upon receipt). It turned out that this is also a very slow company. They brought me a parcel and, allegedly not finding me, sent me a notice with an unknown number. When I receive this from Amazon, I call the number, the courier answers and says that he will arrive in about ten minutes. And this happened many times and the courier always delivered it instantly. There was no number here. Just a code for the dhl website. There, these numbers simply loaded the history of the track number. You can request delivery again, but everything is in Japanese, nothing is clear. If you change the language, then for some reason it reloads to the site of the region whose language is used. That is, it is alien to them that I want to use English language on the Japanese site. There is no phone number on the website. Some found in the depths - inactive. As a result, I found one of the numbers on Google maps, called, and the answering machine took about ten minutes. In the end, I say that the package is needed. They're like go to the website and order again. I tell them that I don’t understand Japanese (if anything, the conversation is also in Japanese; unlike Amazon, they don’t know English). In the end they decide to help me. They offer it for another day. Although it's five in the evening. I ask until what time they work. Until ten o'clock in the evening. I say that the parcel is needed today. They refuse. I suggest you go and pick it up from their office - it’s not allowed, only by hand at your place of residence. And this despite the fact that even at the post office I can pick up the parcel 24/7. But this is the most expensive service and there is no adequate office in the capital. We had to make an appointment for another day. They couldn't deliver it in the morning either. Agreed from 4 to 6 pm. Delivered at 9 pm! This is nonsense! There are never delays in Japan. Everything is always accurate. But this service has clearly shown that it is an outcast.
125*****33 received in 2 days
Thank you very much for the fast delivery from Vienna to Astana in 2 days! But please “make” the tariff cheaper than 80€, a bit expensive for 2 pieces of paper)))
642*****43 received in 6 days
For the first time I contacted DHL to send documents. It was necessary to do this urgently, so of course I flew to them. I sent it on Friday before 16.00, so the parcel started traveling on Friday. Reviews were varied. I was worried until the very moment of receipt, because the route was very unique - the package flew in the absolutely opposite direction from what I needed, and saw all of Europe). But thank God it arrived, a day earlier than stated. Thanks to dhl for their promptness.
306*****32 received in 1 day
Yesterday at lunchtime the parcel was transferred to DHL - today the courier called in the morning and delivered the envelope. Fabulous!
108*****12 received in 6 days
I redirected and received the parcel on Malaya Sadovaya on the same day. If the customer does not indicate the delivery time when ordering, as was the case in my case, then the courier will have to wait all day. Therefore, it is better to either indicate the time or order delivery to the company’s office.
916*****00 received in 7 days
The parcel arrived a week earlier than expected, was tracked from the first day until delivery, DHL Express is perhaps the best Post!
Invaluable experience
Before I tell you how to use the services of international courier services with minimal loss of nerves, time and money, I suggest you ask yourself the question: “Do you need it?” And I will give advice: “If there is even the slightest opportunity not to use them, use regular mail or EMS, you will be healthier.”
Although no, the use of courier services is sometimes justified. If the parcel is very valuable or contains many items of goods, then when sent by DHL, FedEX, TNT or UPS, there is less chance that it will be damaged or opened and something will be stolen (yes, yes, they steal at the post office, and how, I myself have encountered this). You really have to fork out the cash and be prepared to run.
Well, first things first. The parcel has been sent to you by courier service. It has happened and nothing can be done about it. You need the parcel and you intend to pick it up (by the way, if you don’t pick up the parcel, the parcel will be held for 60 days and will be sent back at the sender’s expense). First of all, it is important to note that there is only one postal service in Belarus - Belposhta. All the rest, no matter what they call themselves, are CARRIERS with rights approximately like those of Vasya Pupkin, carrying a suitcase of junk across the border. But there is no need to feel sorry for them, their life in Belarus is not burdened with special difficulties and hardships, even moreover, they do nothing at all that they seem to be obliged to do. They don’t clear parcels, don’t deliver them, don’t even try to inform the recipient that he has received correspondence. The only thing is that they hand over the received parcels to the temporary storage warehouse of Belposhta and give you an invoice when you you will come to them yourself(a good courier service for which you have to travel many kilometers).
So, your parcel has arrived and arrived at the temporary storage warehouse (temporary storage warehouse) of the customs clearance point (customs clearance point) at Minsk-2 airport. You don't know it yet, but congratulations, the counter is already on. For the first day of storage of your parcel you will have to pay about 2 euros (not a bad business, right?), then about 0.5 euros for each subsequent day. Then you might get lucky. They may call you from the post office and inform you that the package has been received. They may or may not get through. The sooner you find out that the package has arrived, the less you will have to pay for storage. Then they may send you a notice by mail, which doesn’t really contain anything, only that you have received a hybrid mail and an offer to appear at 10 Nezavisimosti Ave. with a passport.
If you suddenly stupidly arrive there, they won’t give you the parcel, but they will only make you happy that you can pick up the parcel at the airport and give you an invoice number. Therefore, there is no need to go there; it’s easier to call and write down the number of this invoice over the phone. If you don't go and call, they will send you a telegram with this number. But in this situation, you will lose from 2 to 5 days. So it is in your interests to find out the invoice number as quickly as possible and rush to the airport.
The airport is located 40 km from Minsk. From its eastern part. From the West it will be 70 km if you go by car. The Airport can be reached by bus (schedule and numbers) or by train from Minsk-Passazhirsky station (schedule). But expect that the journey there will take you about 2 hours (including waiting for transport). The same amount back. And an hour or two for walking around, issuing passes and the inspection and customs clearance procedure. That is, the day is gone anyway.
If you go by car, keep in mind that parking near the airport is paid (at this moment about $7 at current exchange rates). But you don't need to go there. You need to go around the airport on the left and then decide for yourself where to park. There are paid and free options. You can drive directly into the territory of the temporary storage warehouse (of course, not for free), polite guards immediately happily offer to drive in by car and are very concerned that it will not be difficult for you to drag your parcel. The walk from the checkpoint to the warehouse is about 50 meters, so you can walk. Although, it’s up to you to pay to drive directly to the porch or walk 50 meters.
Now the correct algorithm is:
1. We go to the checkpoint (you definitely need a passport) and get a pass. At the entrance, your bag will be scanned and you will have to go through a metal detector. We pass through the checkpoint. We follow the sign “Belpochta Warehouse”.
2. We enter the building, go left through the turnstile. We are looking for room 51 and, having named the invoice number, we get it.
3. Next, follow the “Customs” sign. It has three windows, No. 1 and No. 2 - for legal entities, No. 3 - for individuals. If there is a queue (depending on the time, there is a queue in the morning, there is no longer a queue after 11). In the hall in front of the office there is a table with entry customs declaration forms and samples on it. The customs declaration can be filled out in advance on the “Portal for preliminary electronic submission of information by individuals to customs authorities”, then printed. I personally don't see much point in this. Filling out the declaration manually according to the sample will take no more than 2-3 minutes. We submit the invoice and declaration to the customs officer.
4. The customs officer issues a pass to the temporary storage warehouse either for inspection or for receipt. If you receive it, go to point 8.
5. If you have been issued a security pass, we go to the warehouse. We give the invoice and pass. Your parcel is delivered to you. You open it, see that everything is in order, customs officers also look, take away weapons and drugs (joke). Marks are made on the invoice and pass.
6. We go back to the office with customs officers at window No. 3. On the way to the helicopter we hand over our pass.
7. Submit the documents again. The declaration also contains a note with permission to issue it and again a pass is issued to the temporary storage warehouse to receive the parcel.
8. Go to room No. 51, pay for the storage of your parcel (you can pay in cash or by credit card).
9. We go to the warehouse, hand over the documents, sign for receipt and pick up the parcel.
10. We go to the turntable and give the pass to the warehouse.
11. We go to the checkpoint and give our pass to the airport.
12. We go home happy, cursing about the strange (to put it mildly) organization of the entire process of customs clearance and receiving parcels through the “courier service”.
It is possible that the sequence of points can be changed and thereby speed up the process of receiving the parcel. For example, after receiving the invoice, you can immediately go to the warehouse and inspect the parcel, thereby reducing the number of approaches to window No. 3 from two to one. But here it depends on your luck and depends on the mood of the customs officer at the warehouse. He may meet you halfway, or he may send you for a mark for inspection. So you can only waste time. By following the points from my description, you can be sure that you are doing everything in the right order.
In total, if you do everything correctly, the process itself takes from 30 minutes to an hour.
If you decide to cooperate with Beltamozhservice, we do this:
- Send by e-mail [email protected]
the following documents:
- passport scans (registration and the last two),
- completed version of the contract (doc file with your data entered) without a signature,
- date and DHL number of the invoice (which were in the letter from customs),
- list of goods (see them in the Order from the store). - We are waiting for a call from a Beltamozhservice employee (it may take several days). He will clarify what is in the parcel and send you information on payments and a scan of the agreement for signature.
- We go to any branch of Belarusbank and pay for the Beltamozhservice service (350,000 service + storage in a temporary storage warehouse (about 100 thousand, taking into account all the days while you correspond and pay). In the purpose of payment, indicate - Payment for customs representative services. Belarusbank will charge you a commission for the transfer (about 10 thousand).
- We scan the payments + signed agreement and send a reply letter again to Beltamozhservice e-mail.
- After your parcel is cleared through customs, it will be sent to you by regular mail...
To be honest, the quality of this service is questionable and not cheap. But since this organization is thriving, it means they have their own clients. Well, as they say, life is bad without a sucker...
I have received DHL and FedEx packages multiple times over the years. I can say that in this process over the past 5-6 years there have been significant changes for the better:
- Although you still have to go to the airport, it is much easier now than 6 years ago. Minibuses and diesel appeared.
- At customs, a division has appeared for legal entities and individuals. Different queues at different windows.
- The customs officers themselves have become more polite and work more professionally.
- There are parking lots and normal walking paths to the entrance (6 years ago you had to walk through a field ankle-deep in mud).
- The non-customs clearance cost of the parcel increased from 5 to 200 euros (the amount of 5 euros was simply ridiculous and often made receiving the parcel pointless, it was easier to refuse it).
- It became possible to pay for customs clearance and storage of the parcel in a warehouse on site (previously you had to go to the airport building, which means going outside the checkpoint and covering about 700 meters of off-road there and then back).
Overall, the trend is positive. But still, receiving parcels sent to Belarus via DHL, FedEX, TNT or UPS courier services is still a dubious pleasure. Expensive, not very fast, no service and a lot of travel and running around the office. Whether you need it or not - decide for yourself.
Many foreign online stores, sellers on eBay (especially European branches) can send a parcel to your address using the DHL Express courier delivery service (not to be confused with DHL - German Post). However, if the cost of such a parcel is more than 200 euros (including delivery), Russian Federation, before it is delivered, it will have to go through customs clearance. We will focus on the algorithm of this procedure.
If you, as an individual, receive a parcel from abroad in the Russian Federation through the DHL courier delivery service, then you need to know the following:
- The DHL delivery service does not currently work with individuals in the Russian Federation, but an exception has been made for some foreign online stores, such as, for example Shopbop.com , Gilt.com , Amazon.com , MYHABIT.com.
- The duty-free limit for citizens of the Russian Federation does not change depending on the delivery service and is 1000 euros.
- If the customs value of a parcel received via DHL is less than 200 euros, then it is usually immediately handed over to the recipient without completing any additional documents. However, especially in the regions, they require registration of parcels with a value of up to 200 euros.
- If the customs value of the postal item, minus delivery, exceeds 200 euros, it will require customs clearance. It can be done either independently or for a fee, with the help of a customs broker (in Moscow this service will cost approximately 600 rubles. If you decide to use the services of a broker, then upon receipt it is enough to transfer the required amount to the courier; no additional documents are required.).
Below, we have compiled a short algorithm of actions that you will have to take if the cost of the parcel received via DHL is more than 200 euros and you want to carry out customs clearance yourself.
- As soon as the parcel arrives at your regional office DHL and its cost is more than 200 euros, an agent of the company contacts you (usually by phone), reports this fact and that it is necessary to carry out customs clearance either independently or through a broker (usually the latter is recommended).
- If you have indicated that you will resolve the issue yourself, he will offer to send you an application form by fax or e-mail, which must be filled out.
- In addition to the fully completed application (2 copies, sample, for Moscow) You may need the following documents:
- Original and copy of civil passport (all pages with photos and registration address).
- An official statement of payment card transactions from the bank with a stamp where you can identify the payment confirming the cost of the parcel. Sometimes it is enough to independently print out online banking pages or transactions in Paypal (where this operation is available). Please note that in the card statement, the funds for the required transaction should not be blocked, but withdrawn.
- A copy of the front side of the payment card (it is advisable to have the original with you).
- A copy of the order confirmation. This may be a letter (printout), which usually arrives by email when the order is made (or sent). If these letters are not available, print a screenshot of the online store page where there is information about the order. At this point it is better to collect everything that is available.
- Having previously called the DHL agent and clarified his work schedule (usually weekdays from 9 to 16 plus a lunch break), you yourself take the completed application and copies of documents to the DHL office (in Moscow, this is usually 8 March str., building 14, addresses and telephone numbers other branches available on the DHL website).
- The registration procedure takes different times, depending on the agent: from 20 minutes to an hour.
- After everything necessary documents are issued (the fee, if necessary, paid), you agree with the agent on the date of delivery of the parcel (usually the next day the courier delivers it to the specified address). In some regions they offer to pick up the parcel immediately, independently.
Now some more useful information:
- As soon as DHL representatives have contacted you, find out the cost of brokerage services and if you intend to carry out customs clearance yourself, clearly and unambiguously inform us about this. Brokerage services are often imposed, and quite persistently.
- Remember that DHL stores the parcel for free only for the first three days, then for another week (531 rubles for the entire time). Weekends and holidays are also taken into account. After this time, the parcel may be sent back.
- In different regions of the Russian Federation, the amounts charged for processing and storing a parcel vary, as does the entire procedure. In some places they just ask you to come to the office to sign documents, in some places they make you sweat.
List of companies and stores with which DHL works when sending orders to the Russian Federation:
- NET-A-PORTER.COM UK/US
- OUTNET UK/US
- AMAZON US/CA
- Jimmy Choo UK
- ACCESS USA
- DSNR (Fulfillment Center) IL
- Global Fine Arts/Fulfillment center US
- ESCADA (only for Vladivostok)
- ShopBop.com US
- Fred Perry UK
- MR PORTER UK
- BROWNS UK
- FiftyOne US
- Mountoberon BE
- MYHABIT
- Matchesfashion UK
- Loropiana IT
- Schoolwear International UK
- Herring Shoes UK
- CreateSpace US
- G&BNEGOZIOnline IT
- Luisaviaroma IT
- Fashionis IT
- Antonioli IT
- Getwear.com IN
- Braccialini.it IT
- Three Floor Fashion UK
