Thousands of parcels without tax identification numbers are stuck at Russian customs. What to do if parcel delivery has stopped

Anyone who has once placed an order on Aliexpress knows how difficult it is shipping route from China to the buyer. Especially if it is an international parcel.

But the reasons for all kinds of delays and problems when moving a parcel with goods can be different. This is an incorrectly specified recipient address, an incorrectly registered track number, as well as delays in the work of delivery and postal services.

I would like to draw your attention to the most common problems that arise when delivering orders from Aliexpress, so that shipping route from China turned out to be not so difficult.

Firstly, it is important to focus on how to correctly fill out the recipient's address. In his personal account On the Aliexpress website you will find this section with the appropriate fields to fill out.
Fields are filled in with Latin letters. In strict sequence: first name, last name; country, region; address; city; state, province, district; postcode; recipient's contact phone number.
Then you need to confirm the entered data by pressing the button. Moreover, the details of the parcel recipient can be edited, deleted, or added an additional postal address at any time. Very simple and convenient.
Secondly, after placing your order, contact the seller and confirm with him the track number that he indicated to you. Sometimes it happens that the seller, for one reason or another, indicates the wrong tracking number, which results in problems in the future.
Thirdly, the buyer must take into account the date of placing his order. If it matches holidays in China, as well as in Russia, you need to be prepared that delivery times will be extended in accordance with the number of days off.

The parcel path from China: probable problems

I will list a number of other points that you need to know about when ordering online.

Delivery service: China post Air Mail, Hongkong Post, Singapore Post (for free shipping); EMS,DHL,Fedex (paid Express delivery) and some other services offered with individual orders - ITELLA, TNT and others.
Free services, as a rule, deliver parcels later than courier ones (from 1 to 2 months) and always to the post office at your specified place of residence.
Paid services deliver your package directly to your home address and, depending on the region, the waiting time ranges from 4 to 20 days. When placing an order with free shipping, you will receive a notice at your home address with which you need to come to your post office, not forgetting to take your passport.
If the parcel is delivered by a courier, you must also present your passport and sign for delivery of the parcel.
Russian Post deserves special attention. On its official website, you can also use the tracking system in Russia. The system tracks both parcels and small packages up to 2 kg. Despite all the efforts of workers to optimize internal work services, cases of delays of parcels are not uncommon, regardless of the status indicated in the tracking system.
The grandson decided to send his grandfather a 5-year-old cognac to the village, so he bought a 3-year-old one and sent it by Russian Post.
Customs Service. It is known that imported goods are cleared through customs differently depending on the category: catalog goods, international shipment, express delivery goods. If you meet the duty-free standard (let me remind you, weighing up to 31 kg per month and an amount not exceeding 1,000 Euros), then there will be no problems.
To declare, you now need to present: a copy of your passport with registration, an order form and a photo of the product, an original bank account statement indicating the online store as the recipient of the payment, a copy of a bank card.
Documentation. Each parcel must be accompanied by a waybill indicating the names, addresses and telephone numbers of the sender and recipient, listing the contents and indicating the declared value.
Return of parcels. Theoretically, there are the following options for your actions if you want to return the parcel: paid (at your expense) shipment with a new tracking number and registration of refusal of the parcel and its return by specified address Chinese sender with the same tracking number.
In practice, everything is completely individual and is resolved through opening a dispute and negotiating with the seller. Sometimes it is easier to demand partial compensation without sending the goods. The main thing is to open a dispute and correctly indicate the reason, claims, and necessary requirements. After all, the return of the parcel is paid by the buyer, and this cost may exceed the cost of the product itself. You can read about how to open a dispute correctly in my next article.

The Chinese site “AliExpress” is the most popular online store in Russia. Its Russian audience is more than 20 million people, who regularly order a variety of goods from Ali - from women's handbags to widescreen LCD TVs. On their way to the buyer, purchased goods go through several transit stages, one of which is domestic customs, where parcels may get stuck long time. Below we will look at why a parcel from Aliexpress may be delayed at customs, and what to do in this situation.

In the process of tracking our parcel, we may find that the status of our parcel has changed to “Parcel detained at customs” or similar, which indicates problems in passing customs control.

The reasons for the delay of delivery in Aliexpress may be the following:

The presence in the parcel of a number of similar goods (a dozen identical phones, dresses, jackets, etc.), which may be a sign of commercial cargo;
Intentional underestimation of the value of goods contained in the parcel;
The difference in the declared gross and net of the goods;
The total value of the goods contained in the parcel exceeds 1000 euros, and customs duties have not been paid on this parcel;
The total weight of the parcel is more than 31 kg. If the weight is exceeded, a duty is also paid;
The presence of goods prohibited for import in the parcel (drugs, weapons, plants and animals, alcohol, art, jewelry, spy gadgets, etc.). In this case, the goods will be seized and an appropriate investigation will be carried out;
Products that violate copyright (as happened most recently with Xiaomi phones);
The desire of customs to clarify the sender's information.

The recipient may be notified about the delay of the parcel at customs by the delivery system (letter from the logistics service). But you shouldn’t rely too much on this, so it would be better to track the delivery of your goods yourself on the website of the Russian Post and Chinese postal companies.

We also previously discussed what to do if the message “” appears on the Aliexpress website.

What to do if customs detained a parcel from China

If your parcel from Aliexpress has received the status “Parcel detained at customs”, do not rush to panic. Some shipments may take 3-5 days to clear customs, after which the package is sent onward.

If, after the specified 5 days, the parcel still has the status “Parcel detained at customs” (when checked on the Russian Post website), then you need to contact customs and try to find out the reason for the delay.

If the seller is to blame for the delay (the accompanying documentation was filled out incorrectly, the necessary duties were not paid, etc.), you must open a dispute with the seller for a refund of the funds you paid. When opening a dispute, the AliExpress administration will ask you to provide documents within 7 days confirming the seller’s guilt in the customs delay of the goods.

These documents can be obtained from the customs service, and their receipt may take from 3 to 30 days (which clearly does not fit into the 7 days proposed by Ali). To speed up the process, you will need to go to the postal distribution point yourself, where you will be required to provide the following documents:

Invoice from the store where the purchase was made;
A document confirming payment for the goods (usually an account statement);
Passport (original and photocopy). If there are many similar goods in the parcel, they may also request copies of relatives’ passports in order to make sure that the specified goods are purchased for them;
Photos of the goods in the parcel;
Form explanatory note, which will list the names of the goods in the parcel and their purpose.

If necessary, you will be required to pay a duty on your parcel, for which you will need a passport and identification code.

If specified documents If you manage to receive them, you will need to send them to the seller and wait for the dispute to be resolved. You can expect to receive a refund of the full cost of the previously paid item, minus transportation costs, although there have been cases where customers were returned 50% or less of the cost of the item.

Typically, the parcel is held at customs for no more than 14 days after the recipient of the parcel is notified of the delay, after which it will be sent back. Moreover, in some cases (air mail), the period of its stay at customs can be 30 days.

You may also be interested in the delivery of goods from Ali.

Conclusion

If your parcel is detained at customs, do not rush to panic. Perhaps in 3-5 days it will safely pass customs control and go to the recipient. If the parcel is at customs for a longer time (more than 5 days), then I recommend contacting customs and finding out the reasons for the delay. If the seller is directly at fault, feel free to open a dispute on Ali, and it is quite possible that you will be refunded the amount previously paid.

In contact with

Every year before New Year holidays Russian Post is collapsing. Parcels from foreign online stores stop moving and can remain in the same status for 3-4 weeks. Many begin to worry about the fate of their purchases; standard questions arise in such cases: “Where is the parcel?”, “What should I do?”, “Who is to blame?”. I will answer all these questions.

Where is the parcel now?

I will consider the most common option - the parcel is sent by China Post. If your parcel is sent by another post office, almost everything will be exactly the same; I will write about some of the nuances of other postal services below.

Parcel statuses with decryption

1. Accepted at the post office: the very first status of any parcel. It means that your order was sent by the online store, and the parcel is now traveling to the country of departure. Usually this status changes to the next one within 1-3 days.

2. Awaiting shipment from China (or other country): the second and often the “longest” status. Despite what Russian Post writes, in fact the parcel has already left the country of departure, arrived in Russia and is gathering dust in the Russian Post warehouse. At the very " high season"The parcel may remain in this status for several weeks. But the whole point is that Russian Post employees do not have time to process a large number of parcels from other countries.

3. Arrived on the territory of Russia, Arrived in sorting center, Registration completed: These statuses quickly replace each other and mean that slow postal employees have finally reached your parcel, registered it and sent it to customs.

4. Reception at customs, Released by customs: Most parcels are of no interest to customs and leave it very quickly. However, the status “Released by customs” can hang for a very long time, up to 2-3 weeks. This means that the parcel has safely left customs, but Russian Post employees cannot cope and cannot send it for delivery within Russia.

5. Delivered for delivery throughout Russia: this is a key status, it means that your parcel has successfully overcome all the “circles of hell” of the Russian Post and is on its way to your post office. Depending on your region, this may take 2-10 days (2-3 for Moscow, up to 10 days for, for example, Norilsk).

Who is to blame and what to do?

Post office - state organization and, unfortunately, the authorities are not yet going to restore order there. One manager replaces another, steals, leaves, a new one comes... vicious circle. Labor organization and level wages this organization does not allow you to stay there for a long time normal people, ready to work well and efficiently. And only those who have nowhere else to go stay and “work.” Those who do not want, cannot or do not know how to work normally.

This situation will only get worse in the coming years and we must take this into account. If you place an order in a foreign online store after November 1 and before the 20th of February, be prepared to wait a very long time.

What else do you need to know?

When making online purchases abroad, you must understand that parcels from Aliexpress are checked by customs. In some cases, it may be necessary to provide passport data and TIN.
There are other problems with customs. In this article we will look at what to do if customs does not allow your parcel to pass through.

Fans of foreign online shopping should better study in advance the algorithm for how to act in the event of a delay in customs clearance of an order from Aliexpress.

There are a number of reasons why goods from Aliexpress may get stuck at the customs clearance stage:

Employees suspected the shipment was a commercial shipment (for example, the order contains a number of identical items).
The cost of goods sent is deliberately underestimated.
The weight of the parcel does not correspond to that stated in the accompanying documentation.
The seller did not include Required documents or they contain errors.
Customs needs to clarify information about the sender.
The product is included in the list of prohibited imports ( narcotic drugs, weapons, spy equipment, valuable art objects, etc.). In this case, the parcel is seized and an investigation is carried out.
Counterfeit products that violate copyrights, such as counterfeit mobile phones, are being moved.
The weight of the parcel exceeds the permitted limit of 31 kg and duty payment is required from the buyer.
The total value of the goods is 1000 euros or more. Or, orders to the same buyer for an amount exceeding 1,000 euros have already passed through customs within a month. In this case, the recipient is also required to pay a fee.

Note! To control duty-free limits, customs uses the TIN and passport data that the buyer indicates when placing an order on Aliexpress.

And if you become aware of the fact of the delay quite soon - through the mail tracking service, or from the delivery service, then no one will tell you the reason for the problems with customs. To find out, you will have to contact the customs office directly.

What to do if your order is stuck at customs

The customs clearance period is not constant. It happens that parcels “skip” the stage in just a few hours, but sometimes the procedure drags on for 3–5 days, and this is also considered normal. In any case, until this period has passed, there is no need to panic. Just check the status of your parcel periodically through the tracking system, and be patient. The delay may be due to technical problems or high customs workload, and your order will be released safely and sent to your post office shortly.

Be careful! When opening a dispute due to a delay in goods at customs, be prepared to prove that it is not your fault. Otherwise, there is a high risk that the decision will not be made in your favor.

How and when to open a dispute on Aliexpress

The standard period for a delayed Aliexpress parcel to remain at customs is 14 – 30 days from the date of notification of the recipient, depending on the type postal item. After this time, the order is sent back to China. It is at the moment when the track shows that the goods are being returned that you can begin negotiations with the seller. Perhaps he will not bargain when he sees that the package is already on its way, and will agree to return you the full cost of the goods.

If you yourself are to blame for problems with customs, a good compromise would be to agree on a refund, minus shipping costs. Agree to this option, because if you decide to escalate the dispute, Aliexpress may take the seller’s side, and you will lose not only the goods, but also the entire amount paid for the order.

Postal rules state that until the package is delivered to the buyer, responsibility for it lies with the seller. He is obliged to look for the loss himself, resolve issues with documents, and if the client does not receive it, compensate him for the cost of the goods.

However, in the case of customs returns, everything is not so simple. If a product ordered from Aliexpress is detained at customs, the site places the burden of proof on the buyer and gives him only 7 days to do so. Moreover, a screenshot from the order is, as a rule, not enough, and when opening a dispute they are required to provide “live” documents with stamps and signatures.
At the same time, a request to the customs service to receive the necessary papers can be processed up to 30 days.
Therefore, before opening a dispute, visit the postal distribution point.

Be sure to take with you:

Passport (original and copy), TIN, parcel track number.
Copies of documents of relatives, if the order contains the same type of goods, so that customs has no doubt that the items were purchased for their personal use.
As much as possible full information about products: their list, photographs, links, descriptions, purpose, etc.
Bank statement confirming payment for goods, invoices, and other financial documents.

Try to resolve all issues with customs, if necessary, pay the duty.
Based on the submitted request, the government service will issue you with official papers containing the justification for the refusal of customs clearance.

As soon as you have the documents in your hands, feel free and be sure to attach the scans within a week.

Don’t despair if you don’t have a customs office nearby to quickly collect your documents. When you open a dispute, write to the mediators that you live in remote place, and are unable to receive a response within the allotted time frame. Attach a screenshot from the order with your address and Google Maps, where you indicate the distance to the nearest customs office. In the parcel tracking service, take a screenshot of the information about returning the parcel to the seller. Be sure to refer to the postal convention, which obliges the sender to be responsible for the parcel until it is delivered to the buyer.

There is no need to be afraid of difficulties with customs and orders with Aliexpress.
If you do everything honestly, provide the correct information and do not try to buy in bulk without paying customs duties, any problems that arise can be resolved.

In addition, China Post and Hong-Kong Post have stopped sending electronics with lithium batteries altogether. It is not known how long this ban will remain in effect. HK Post has become the second major national postal operator to ban the shipment of lithium batteries. The American postal operator USPS introduced a ban on sending lithium batteries in June this year. So, if you urgently need a battery, then check where the seller is located to avoid problems with delivery from China. If you order any electronics, ask the seller to send it without a battery. Perfume and lighters are also prohibited.

Guangzhou. A huge number of items in the largest delivery service (神通快递) are waiting to be delivered to Taobao customers.

The website http://www.hongkongpost.hk states the following:

IN Lately There are concerns about new perfumes, lighters and lithium batteries being sent through our mail. In addition, there are already many known cases related to the indication in customs declaration false or inaccurate data downloaded from the contents of the parcel. IN this moment Due to increased compliance controls, packages may be delayed or returned to sender. Senders, in some cases, may be subject to criminal liability. They should note the following:

In accordance with the requirements of the Universal Postal Union, International organization civil aviation And International Association air transport, all dangerous items, such as perfumes, lighters and lithium batteries are prohibited air transport. (including SpeedPost service).
Senders must provide detailed and truthful descriptions (i.e. description of parts, quantity and weight or volume of goods, etc.) to the Post Office on the customs declaration form. General terms such as food, samples, cosmetics, accessories and electronic toys are unacceptable. For cosmetics and liquids, the species name and quantity/volume must be detailed.

Guangzhou - delay of parcels from China

In general, as the Chinese report postal services, in the period from mid-October to the end of January there will be delay of parcels from China, which can reach 60 days or more. Track numbers may not be tracked for 15-25 days! Keep in mind that the post does not accept wanted applications earlier than 60 days from the date of export of the parcel from China.

Inside view

Summoned delay of parcels from China not only with new restrictions, but also with a sharply increased load on postal services. The photo shows local (district) warehouses of one of the most popular express parcel delivery companies - (神通快递). This company brings more than half of all parcels from Taobao to our warehouse. As you can see, the parcels simply do not fit in the warehouse. This is despite the fact that they are distributed almost immediately, they do not accumulate. But the situation is such that they simply don’t have time to deliver. On November 11, during the sale, Taobao set a world record for daily sales volume, which was approximately $3.2 billion in one day. And in these photos there is an echo of this record.

STO Express sorting center in Ningxia.

Calendar of Chinese holidays and weekends for 2012:

1) New Year(新年, January 1), an official holiday in China in 2012 as throughout the world, from January 1-3.

2) Spring Festival(春节 (chūnjié), aka Spring Festival or "Chinese New Year")
Celebrated according to lunar calendar on the last day of the last lunar month and the first two days of the first lunar month. In 2012 Chinese New Year will come on January 23rd. State holidays announced from January 22 to 28, but in fact Chinese suppliers will not work approximately one week BEFORE and two weeks AFTER the start of Chinese New Year. Because the celebration usually ends after the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the new year. More exact dates Weekends must be checked with the supplier, because they are installed at each enterprise individually.

3)Day of Honoring Departed Ancestors(清明节 (qīng míng jié) or Qingming Festival)
Celebrated according to the solar calendar, on the 104th day after winter solstice(15th day after spring equinox), 5th of April.
In 2012 days from 5 to 7 April declared official holidays.

4)Labor Day (May 1), official holidays from 1 – 3 May 2012, but due to the transfer of working days they can celebrate a whole week.

5) Dragon Boat Festival(端午节 (Duānwǔ jié) or Dragon Boat Festival)
celebrated on the 5th day of the 5th lunar month (double fives), celebrated for 1 day.
In 2012 it falls on June 23, official holidays are announced from 22 to 24 June.

6)Mid-Autumn Festival(中秋 (Zhongqiu), Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival), celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month Chinese calendar. Usually occurs at the end of September - beginning of October. Mid-Autumn Festival will arrive in 2012 September 30th, the same day has been declared an official holiday.

7) National Day, also known as Education Day of the People's Republic of China(October 1, 1949) (国庆节 guóqìngjié). This is the second most important holiday after Chinese New Year. Official holidays are 3 days (October 1-3), but usually declared a non-working day whole week. In 2012, official holidays in China week from 1 to 7 October

And this is in Beijing

Sorting Center in Hefei City

Sorting center in Nanchang city

During all these holidays, their post office does not send anything, which also causes a delay in parcels from China.

http://site/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2.jpghttp://site/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/2-290x290.jpg 2013-05-20T23:53:29+00:00 Semyon BurakevichImport to Israeldelivery to Israel, Meches, Useful informationThe delay of parcels from China is due to the fact that at the moment, since December 11, Chinese Post has suspended the sending of China Post and SAL parcels. Delivery is carried out only by EMS. In addition, China Post and Hong-Kong Post have stopped sending electronics with lithium batteries altogether. It is not known how long this ban will remain in effect. HK Post became the second largest...Semyon Burakevich Semyon Burakevich [email protected] Administrator Born in a country that does not exist. I live in a country whose existence is in question. I do graphic design and website creation. I write articles for my own pleasure and on completely different topics. No disputes