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mailing luggage to France via UPS
Submitted by caroln on May 19, 2004 - 12:46pm.
We decided this year to ship our luggage to our vacation rental house because the connection in Paris ( to Montpellier) was too tight for the transfer. We went to UPS and they said no problem - they promised delivery to our doorstep within 4 to 5 business days of our arrival. The charge was $400.00. This turned into a nightmare - it took ten days and endless phone calls before a UPS truck finally arrived bearing ONE of our two bags. But the shocker was--- There was an additional cost of $478.00
which we had to pay to the driver. He would not release the bag until he had the cash.
We have been unable to ascertain how customs arrived at this amount (the second bag arrived the next day and there was no charge). We provided customs with a detailed list of the clothing and personal items which were in the bags - there was nothing of notable value, nothing for resale, and as they repeatedly asked us -- nothing was less than six months old.
Has anyone had an experience like this. Is there any hope of recovering the $478.00???
Nemeroffn@netscape.net
which we had to pay to the driver. He would not release the bag until he had the cash.
We have been unable to ascertain how customs arrived at this amount (the second bag arrived the next day and there was no charge). We provided customs with a detailed list of the clothing and personal items which were in the bags - there was nothing of notable value, nothing for resale, and as they repeatedly asked us -- nothing was less than six months old.
Has anyone had an experience like this. Is there any hope of recovering the $478.00???
Nemeroffn@netscape.net
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We've never flown US Airways either and it's not too difficult to get direct flights from LAX. You'll love Air France. We've flown a lot of different airlines and that is our current favorite. (We recently used Lufthansa from Munich and really liked them too.) I don't know if they go to France.
BTW, how did you find your rental and how long did you rent? We're thinking of doing that in the future. Our worst problem is deciding which region of France to stay in. We love them all!!!!!!!!!!!
Our rental house is fully equipped with linens, kitchen stuff, all necessary household items - even a hammock! It's heaven.
The reason we decided to ship was because of USAirways schedule. We fly Philadelphia - Paris- Montpellier. The arrival time in Paris was 9:40 & the departure to Montpellier was 11:15. Last year they made us change our flight because they said the connection time in Paris would not be long enough to transfer the luggage - and passengers & luggage must travel together. That wasn't too bad because the next flight was around 2pm - but this year the next flight wasn't until 6:30!
Next year we are flying AirFrance !
Thanks for your interest - We get both France & France Today- I'll check them
caroln
Thanks for your reply.
Caroln
For future trips you should check with both the US Post Office. We always ship books 4th class and it's cheap! Check with a couple professional movers as they might be willing to help you. Look in some reputable magazines about France such as France Today or France and see if there are any movers advertising France as a particular specialty. They might be able to give you advice, both on moving things and on getting some of your money back.
Just curious . . . We always thought rental places pretty much had everything you needed in the way of linens, kitchen utensils and household items. Did you need to take these with you? If it was just a couple suitcases, wouldn't it have been easier to let the airline deal with it and either deliver them the next day or have you pick them up?
We only go over for five or six weeks at a time so have never run into your problem, but we've often thought of renting and staying longer so we're curious as to what and why you had to ship.
Thanks.
Talk about a nightmare! I guess when shipping anything overseas, one should always try to ascertain taxes beforehand... Hindsight is 20/20, right?
Anyway, these articles you shipped, do you intend to ship them back home or leave them in France? If taxes were levied as an import, you may be able to get them refunded when you exit the country. I have no idea how you would proceed, except start calling the 'Douanes' right now. It may be doable, but it will be aggravating. No question about that.
Custom taxes should be refunded if the articles were not imported into the country.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
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