Customs United States - what happens to dolls stuck in Customs?

1. Usually it will take about a week before they contact you again. (I am not sure, but my friend experienced this two times now)
2. In some cases yes, but I don't think it's likely. Unless the person was really nosey.
3. I'm not sure. They would only check him out to see if there is like.. a bomb or something illegal inside.

I've never experienced customes myself, but from my friends experience and what she has told me..that's all I know.

But, I could be very wrong. So excuse my if I am..

 

I'm sorry, I haven't realy ordered anything before, and so I don't really know much about customs.
What exactly happens when your doll gets "stuck in customs"?
Sorry for being so ignorant... XP.

 

Hm..I've had a doll come from Japan and be held in customs for a few days, maybe two or three. Nothing happened to her. The box came in perfect condition, and she hadn't been opened at all, from what I could tell.

US Customs is a lot better than most other countries about dolls. We don't have to pay a customs fee, and they generally don't check them too heavily, unless you've had a lot of suspicious shipments (but I doubt that). I wouldn't worry about it! ^^

 

Don't worry! A delay in Customs probably only means that there's a larger-than-usual number of packages arriving at once at that Customs entry point. Or there are more customs agents out sick than usual--this is a BAD year for the flu in the US. Plus, Easter weekend is just ended, and I wouldn't be surprised if more customs agents than usual took a day or two off to be with their families. For any or all of these reasons, plus a bunch of other human reasons, sometimes it can take longer than usual for the agents to work through all the packages they have to examine. There's nothing ominous about this.

*Earthbound_Angel*, I've had some packages spend about fifteen minutes in Customs. Other packages sat in Customs for a few hours. Now and then it will take three or four days. There's quite a range, and I'm sure three or four days isn't the upper limit--for all the reasons I mentioned above. I can imagine plenty of scenarios where a pile of innocent doll packages gets set aside for quite some time while Customs agents deal with something more urgent!

One other point: sometimes EMS tracking doesn't update as soon as a package leaves Customs. A few times, I've had a package get all the way from the port of entry to the sorting station 50 miles from my town before I saw any change in the tracking information.

BTW, here is one of several threads about the time packages spend in US Customs: http://www.denofangels.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151496

Lar-Ki, I'm sorry to contradict you--and maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean, in which case I apologize again--but US Customs does not contact people directly about routine package shipments. I know that happens in other countries, but it isn't US Customs' practice in any kind of normal situation. (I suspect that, if someone were importing illegal or dangerous stuff, they wouldn't hear from a Customs agent first, anyway. )

And to reinforce what Quilibet said . . . I've been buying BJD stuff from Asia since August of 2004. I have bought a LOT of BJD stuff from companies and from individuals. I have never had a package opened by US Customs. Never.

While I'm sure US Customs does occasionally open a doll package because of some bizarrely unusual circumstance . . . the possibility is really, REALLY remote. It's not worth getting scared or nervous or upset or angry about, honest.

Hope this helps!

 

Seconding Cynthia, the only time I was ever contacted by US Customs was when someone left off my zipcode. The Customs Officer went out of her way to call me until she actually got me on my phone (She didn't just leave a message for me to call, but called twice more after that,) and made sure that she verified my address.

My parcel arrived the next day with different handwriting/ink in the zipcode field and a quick little 'thank you!' and a smiley in the same ink.

In over 30 parcels, that's the only time they have contacted me.

 

Don't worry, customs is kind of scary. I had a pair of eyes held for... a really long time. I don't know why, since my doll flew through customs, but those eyes must have been in customs for about a week. I am starting to wonder if that was because the package was marked as a gift... Either way though, customs doesn't charge you for doll purchases here so I doubt they care about those packages in the least. Good Luck, and hope your doll gets here soon!

 

Hey, *Earthbound_Angel*, let us know in this thread when your boy arrives, okay? It will be wonderful to hear that everything is good and you have him in your hands!

 

Well this most likely explains why my boy coming from New Zealand has also not arrived yet. . .ah well, I'm sure he'll show up sometime soon!

 

Ah, your boy shipped out like a day before mine! So maybe my boy will arrive tomorrow if I'm lucky!

 

I have the same problem. I always use Canada Expedited but because they are held in customs ( Canadian or USA ) it takes longer than expected and I paid for a 5-6 days service -_-" Anyways They held some EYES I sold to someone for an extra week that was quite a horrible thing that happened to me :/

Anyways hope you get him soon

 

Ohhhhh . . . I'm so glad he's safe at your house, but I wish you could have him with you right now!

Thanks for updating us--I knew everything would be okay, but it's always nice to know for sure.

 

Well still waiting for my boy, he's coming from New Zealand. . .through US Airmail. . .*sighs* I hate the wait. . .

 

Well I now know my boy is at the post office. . .unfortunately. . .I'm in Rochester, MN with my mom. . .so my dad is going to have to pick him up in the morning. . .