Relocation Rip-off?

vicshere says on Dec 17, 2007, 09:30:

what was the value of the goods on the way bill....I believe although you will not pay duties you are still on the hook for 16% sales tax
also sound like a jerk off shipping company

listo

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dwmte7 says on Dec 17, 2007, 09:52:

britabroad...welcome to the real world....do i know that one by heart. we received the same b.s. info from the consulate in los angeles and miami. when our belongings finally arrived in cartegena, we received a bill for a little over 7,000.00 u.s. like that? it gets better. i contacted dian and went through the whole rigamole and with the help of dr. fanny kurtzman, the bulldog of bogata, those fees were reduced...BUT for the month i spent fighting this issue, i was billed a severe dimurage in the port which brought us back to somewhere around the original figure. you figure! we've sent our belongings back and forth from colombia 3 times and this was the first time we took it so deeply in the shorts. you might as well argue with the devil. now this represented 8.5 tons of antiques. many of which were of colombian origin. the final note was.....those seven thousand plus dollars, were of u.s. origin. so consider yourself lucky if you didn't get it that deep.

dwmte

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expatriate says on Dec 17, 2007, 10:03:

Fire the crooks and find a different import broker. There are good ones and bad ones.

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britabroad says on Dec 17, 2007, 10:19:

Vic,
Value for ´new for old´type insurance was about 20,000GBP.
However, there was no new stuff and I believe that the DIAN inspector places a value on the items himself. Dodgy or what? Then he charges you half a million pesos for the privelige
dw,
$7,000US?? Sounds like I got off lightly. I´d be tempted to slit my wrists.
gib,
feels like extortion too! With no governing bodies, no ´watchdog´committees, and no recourse.
But shouldn´t the company send me copies of the DIAN invoices etc as proof of the payment? It feels like they´re makiing up some figure and pocketing the money themselves. They´re probably not, having read the above comments, but...

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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vicshere says on Dec 17, 2007, 10:28:

when I brought my "menije " sorry spelling I was charge only sales taxes on the paper value of the goods
well if your value was 40,000 us 16% = 6,400 plus fees.....the secret to bringing menije into Colombia is to put the lowest possible value on your items so to avoid the sales tax

for 14,000,000 you could have bought a lot of new furniture here instead of shipping....for future only bring the most important non replaceable items

listo

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britabroad says on Dec 17, 2007, 10:42:

Thanks vic. IF I ever have to go through this again I´ll do that...or leave everything behind. Hope to be permanently here so I don´t envisage it.
As far as I know, the insurance company, UK based, did not release the stated value for insurance purposes to the Colombian removal company. I think that´s determined by DIAN
( or so I was told). We only really brought personal stuff like clothing, books, CD´s, some furniture etc. The wife´s shoes and handbags took up most of the container :-)

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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wendell13 says on Dec 17, 2007, 10:58:

You made the mistake of thinking that colombians are honest

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Lowell says on Dec 17, 2007, 13:29:

I flew our stuff from Panama to Pireira for $.50 a pound on Avianca Deprisa. They opened every box and inspected the items very well. The only tax I paid was for my skillsaw and othger electric tools. Less than 300 mil pesos. Most was just household goods, computer and equip, home theater, vcr.... With all the other horror stories, I don't know how we got off so easy. At, 50 cents a pound, I even shipped my prized nut and bolt collection. Some of the plastic boxes were damaged in transit. But nothing was missing. I had a very complete inventory of everthing.

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

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aztec says on Dec 17, 2007, 14:25:

dwmte7 has much experience with this problem. He can advise.

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Chelesupercono says on Dec 17, 2007, 14:33:

Like GIB said, just leave your stuff and buy new or......bend over and pick-up the soap!!!!

never go to bed with someone crazier then you are, you will do it and you will regret it.......

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dwmte7 says on Dec 17, 2007, 15:29:

i've shipped so much stuff in and out of colombia...first of all i don't need 'good' or 'better' agents, nor shippers. just a govt that has a law and follows it. you don't have to pay anyone off. crap, i've moved many, many 20 and 40 ft containters from bv, cartegena, to and from miami and long beach. it's not a shortage of experience, it's just that the colombian end, on goods going in, needs some serious rectification. they steal...right in front of you...and break mdse...and levy tariffs that seem to fall out of the sky. plus tell folks at their consulates a lot of pure horse shit that is truly valueless.

as for what i ship....i know all about what's made in furnishings in colombia...that's what we did, manufacture furnishings and export them to the u.s. we just have a large collection of fine antiques that unfortunately follow us back and forth. and brokers? i know brokers for near 20 years, shippers as well. i can remember when the only line outta colombia was gran colombiana...there were no other ships hauling freight outta the country. well, finally, that changed. but the fucked system of 'no system' is still in place. dw

dwmte

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britabroad says on Dec 17, 2007, 17:57:

Very true. The deceit starts at the consulado who tell you one thing and charge you for the ´necessary documents´, then you find they´ve made absolutely no difference and you get stiffed by DIAN anyway, or by the removal/import company who hide behind the "..these are normal charges for immigrants" veil.
Until I see the official documentation from DIAN telling me that the duties/tax have been received by them I won´t know if it´s them charging me, or just the removal company adding a little extra to the gringos bill to pay for their Xmas party.
It´s a complete clusterfuck that makes ´gringos´ think the worst of the country.
I´m personally not so naive as to think all Colombians are dishonest, or that the country is as corrupt etc as the UK press/media would have you believe. My own experience tells me otherwise. But there definitely appears to be an element of Gringo=Money=Fair Game, which isn´t always the case and which doesn´t do anything for the reputation of the country - especially when it´s official bodies or bona-fide businesses which are operatiing this type of policy.
Oh well. At least it´s not just me who got smothered in lubricant. Seems to be the norm. I´ll have to whip the wife again.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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tigredelnorte2 says on Dec 18, 2007, 08:32:

They make up rules as they go along. Best to not have to deal with government officials if you can avoid it. Colombia is not Europe, or the US. Not even close.

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tigredelnorte2 says on Dec 18, 2007, 08:33:

Wait till you start enjoying the banking system. .....heavy sarcasm

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britabroad says on Dec 18, 2007, 10:50:

Don´t start me on the banking system!
I´m starting to realise the benefits of yogic breathing and shoulder shrugging here. And whipping the wife of course. :-) (I wish)
I do try to fly under the radar whenever possible, but there are times when you´ve no choice but to TRY to do things up front. We live and learn. Still prefer Colombia to London, so no harm done.
Many thanks for the comments.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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britabroad says on Dec 18, 2007, 15:58:

Or, "De esta manera es ques se hacen las cosas aqui", which can also be translated as "Si no le gusta, vajase a la mierda!"

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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dwmte7 says on Dec 18, 2007, 15:59:

the only and i mean ONLY smart fuckin thing i ever did in colombia was not to register for residency. i have enough pain with the u.s. lookin into my shit--don't know why they do, i aint got no money any more--but to have the fricken colombians lookin around alongside the irs and the who ever else would just kill me. i've always gone by the rules in colombia. when i had a shit load of employees and money, i paid all their taxes, (dues) medical, liquidation, etc. and just plain kept my nose clean....i really don't know why, now, as no body else did. so what do i have to show for it? someone please tell me.

dwmte

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britabroad says on Dec 18, 2007, 17:36:

Your integrity. No doubt I´ll be grilled by the British taxman come April, but I don´t want to give them, the Colombians, or anyone an excuse to look at me through a magnifying glass.

Leave the big stick at home...carry a cannon!

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dwmte7 says on Dec 19, 2007, 07:19:

thanks, b.b. i needed that. it's the holidays and since the grinch stole christmas, that's about the only treat i'll be getting. that is, aside from the health and loveliness of my wife and daughter.

dwmte

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azunoman says on Feb 21, 2008, 10:50:

wow..so much to learn...we are using Omega shipping out of NYC...my wife has been out of the country for 15 years. I am expecting to pay a 15% CF duty on a large four bedroom house of belongings.

I am used to a world where the rule of law or at least as best interrupted by our now world famous Sheriff Joe Arpaio is how it goes. ?

Really!...given that I am probably going to get pissed off when our household goes through this process...what can one do before? Get letters of promise from the government, take someone to bloody dinner, donate to a cause.



I am going to get really pissed off....I mean not just I am just going to take it in the rear pissed off, but make it my cause celeb.

Ready, Fire, Aim

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aztec says on Feb 21, 2008, 10:55:

You are going to lose the argument. As dwmte7 says, the system is messed up.

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azunoman says on Feb 21, 2008, 12:05:

I guess I would rather bribe an official on high like is done here in the form of a political contribution. :)

Don't think I won't find out who that person is...plumbers rule, shat runs down hill.

Ready, Fire, Aim

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azunoman says on Feb 21, 2008, 14:36:

yea...I am sure he is right, pretty sage advice anytime he poke his head out...

probably going to take it in the shorts....

Ready, Fire, Aim

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