Got my package today, but I’m still not sure what caused it to be stopped. The box wasn’t even opened, and I wasn’t charged duties.
I ended up needing to send DHL a copy of my ARC and the power of attorney form, and I had to translate the contents of the package into Chinese. I’m not sure which item they were unsure about, but I guess they were satisfied when they knew what everything was. Seems a bit strange that they would trust someone to identify the contents instead of doing it themselves, especially since I didn’t know what some of the items would be called in Chinese and put general names instead (like 麵食 for a box of macaroni and cheese, for example).
Update: OK, so the tests didn’t take 4-5 days, but rather about three weeks. And apparently they’re confiscating the dried black beans and the quinoa because they germinated (dried beans can do that?!). And we get to pay NTD1200 for the privilege.
Hmm. So anyone know where I can get dried black beans in this country, not including the bags that have been in Wellman’s for who knows how many years?
[quote=“Icon”]Have you tried Trinity, the Indian store? They havhe kidney beans, lentils, garbanzo. Cheap I think.
New location is close to Taipei City Hall, check address. You’ll love the spice rack, too.[/quote]
Did they move again?! I went to the old City Hall location quite a few times, and I’ve been to the newer Zhongxiao Fuxing(ish) location, the one where you’re walking into an apartment building, but I haven’t been so often recently because of, well, iHerb! I’ll have a look there for black beans - I haven’t noticed them there before, and I don’t think those beans are that common in Indian cuisine, but it’s worth a shot.
I was wondering if anyone else had experienced this new Iherb hassle! I use them all the time, and had no problem up to the beginning of December (all grocery order, no holdups). I did notice the increase in shipping fees, but still placed an order at the end of December. It was about $2700NT, 10 lbs, and included fish oil supplements, skincare, and some grocery (cocoa powder, crackers). I got the call/email asking for some Chinese form and POA, managed to get them to get me an English version (which made little sense) and the package made it through about five days late. No duty or extra charge.
Is it mostly orders including vitamins and such that are getting flagged for a check or ALL Iherb henceforth? What a bummer! Anyone know if using the slower international airmail option is less likely for a check? The weight restriction is 4 lbs though.
We finally received the package that was flagged for inspection. The quinoa and and black beans were confiscated, I guess because they germinated in whatever their tests were. The chocolate chips, canned organic crushed tomatoes, garam masala, and bulgur appeared untouched. The ground coriander had obviously been opened. We’ve been billed NTD1200 for the privilege of being tested, but for reasons that I don’t quite understand that payment is happening after the box is shipped to us.
My wife has done all the negotiations, and according to whomever she’s talking to at DHL or customs (I’m not sure which), this will now be normal for all iHerb DHL shipments - they recommended shipping by other options. Apparently it’s something to do with DHL having reached an agreement with the government to ensure that tariffs/taxes are properly collected - but really, who knows.
I now have an international airmail shipment on its way (theoretically!), shipped about 12 days ago. I’ll post here when something happens with it. I’ll probably also try a “processed food order” DHL order sometime soon, because those products don’t seem to have any problems - the problems seem to be with anything vitamin-like plus anything that could conceivably grow, such as seeds, beans, and grains. Unfortunately, I’ve been using iHerb a lot for dried beans and grains!
First 2015 shipment also impounded by DHL. Oats, berries, protein powder.
The reasons they’ve given my wife were that they wanted to:
a) ensure that in the wake of the recent food scandals, no medicinal or herbal supplement contained anything untoward.
[I pointed out the irony of this, as those scandals all originated on this fair island]
b) to check that the contents of the package are as described.
It’s now in the process of being cleared, I’ll update later if any extra fees arise.
I wonder if the issue here is not iHerb but the use of DHL and other express carriers? One of my orders (purchased through ebay–and to my chagrin, shipped using UPS) was held up by customs–for the first time since I moved to Taiwan, I needed to pay duty to get my package. Clearly something is afoot…
No idea if this is related, but the other day my latest Amazon order (only books) arrived at my door, DHL van (I don’t know if that’s who normally delivers), and I had to come down to the front gate and pay NTD299 for duty. I don’t believe I’ve ever had to pay duty on book-only shipments before. The total value was over $100, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had orders like that before.
EDIT: Still waiting for the air mail iHerb delivery mentioned above, but it’s still inside the “estimated delivery” window.
[quote=“Nuit”]First 2015 shipment also impounded by DHL. Oats, berries, protein powder.
It’s now in the process of being cleared, I’ll update later if any extra fees arise.[/quote]
Package received today, 2 days after sending in the 2 forms. It had been opened & resealed, but no extra charges / taxes ( :bravo: ).
I can live with that, although it’s extra hassle printing off the form, signing & stamping, then scanning it.
And then there’s the translation of the goods, but as I mostly order the same stuff, I can just cut’n’paste most items after a while.
I just received an iHerb order sent by international airmail, rather than by DHL. Delivery took four weeks; there was no paperwork at all, no odd letters from customs, no translations or anything, and the package doesn’t seem to have been opened. For what it’s worth, the package contained dried black beans (plus other stuff), a product that was flagged, tested, and then confiscated from my earlier DHL package.
So perhaps if you’re trying to order “suspect” (how absurd!) items from iHerb, international airmail shipping may be a way to avoid the customs hassles that now seem routine with DHL shipping.
And on buying dried black (turtle) beans, common in Mexican cooking: to my surprise, bags are also available for sale at Kook’s, in Danshui. I have no idea how or why they have shown up there!
I’ve done the int’l shipping option before a few times before, and the goods always got here. It’s very cheap, but you have to be prepared to forget about what you’ve ordered for a month. So when it does finally arrive, it’s a pleasant surprise!
Certainly seems the way to go to order beans or seeds. I’ve not tried nuts or nut butters yet - would they be up for confiscation?
I suppose here in the Wan, anything could happen.
Well that’s weird, I ordered via DHL a few days ago expecting to have to fax in something, went right through. I just ordered some vitamin/herbal supplements, no food.
I just had a package returned to iHerb with no explanation. Taiwan customs, I don’t even want the package back, or even a refund, just tell me what happened.
When my Taiwanese friend sent a package to Australia which got confiscated by Australian customs, they sent a letter to the recipient underlining which rule was broken, and exactly why they confiscated it.
This is Taiwanese unsystematic law enforcement at its finest.
[quote=“andyj”]I just had a package returned to iHerb with no explanation. Taiwan customs, I don’t even want the package back, or even a refund, just tell me what happened.
When my Taiwanese friend sent a package to Australia which got confiscated by Australian customs, they sent a letter to the recipient underlining which rule was broken, and exactly why they confiscated it.
This is Taiwanese unsystematic law enforcement at its finest.[/quote]
DSL or airmail?
Maybe the letter is still being processed and will come in due course.
Maybe the letter is still being processed and will come in due course.[/quote]
International Airmail. I placed the order 7 months ago, and the returned package only just hit iHerb now.
Has anybody else had their packages blocked by Taiwan customs, and did those people receive a letter?
