got chinese tea in the package instead of S:flo2 (ordered on Mp4 nation)

[MAGNeT]

ARe you sure you ordered it online?

Or you were high and went shopping in chor bazaar mumbai.?

Lolz

Sorry but its a once in a lifetime experience .
Hope you get your headphone back

 

[Vasishta.Sushant]

^^^ Yeah but it should have some insurance. Right?

By having good terms I meant you would have indirect links to Mp4nation as well

From the pics, I can see that the declared value is 25USD. I don't think MP4Nation can claim more than that from the insurance company.

 

[FaH33m]

Even the MP4 Nation guys are finding this claim absurd and not able to believe something like this happened. Here are the mails I and gamingstill got from them. This has turned into a completely horrifying incident .

Hi
I think the guy is pulling your leg, they got the S:Flo2 that’s for sure, whatever claim they are making about the tea is absurd. As for delivery, according to my records the order shipped after 2 working days, left HK on the 9th of August and arrived sometime between now and then.
I can't access that forum link you provided but maybe you can relay out message to readers with the following statement:
If the buyer in question wishes to pursue this absurd claim that we have sent a bag of tea instead of our popular Nationite S:Flo2, then they should be aware that we record parcel weight prior to shipping and Hong Kong Post records the parcel weight when they get it as they charge us based on weight, without a doubt the parcel in question would weigh more than the 100g tea bag that is claimed to have been sent. I also highly doubt that anyone between here to the buyers door swapped the S:Flo2 out of the box for a bag of tea, especially considering the brand on the bag of tea is for a webstore located in USA and not in Hong Kong or India. MP4 Nation takes accusations of bait and switch very seriously and we have no problems proving we sent what was ordered in order to remove any doubt or suspicion on our side and to highlight any fraudulent claims.

Our customer support team personnel has replied to your support request #876865

We have been made aware of this from other TE member Fahim. I am sorry but this is an absurd claim, if you wish to pursue this we will get the recorded weight of the parcel by Hong Kong Post to show that it would have weighed much heavier than that 100g bag of tea, in fact it would show that the weight is exactly what an S:FLo2 with charger and accessories would weigh.

If you genuinely got a tea bag and the S:Flo2 was removed from the back of the box indicated by the large tear, then 1) you should not have signed for the parcel as clearly from the photo you have of the box there is very visible damage, 2) Even the Indian Post office would not have delivered the parcel in such a state, they would have indicated the parcel had been opened during the course of transit. As you have signed for the parcel there is not much we can do to help.

We find this claim a bit ridiculous, is this is an attempt to get some money back, it will not work and i assure you we can show more than ample evidence that your parcel was sent with what you ordered.

We hope this response has sufficiently answered your questions. If not, please do not send another email. Instead login to your account to make a reply and also for a complete archive of all your support request and responses.

I am shit scared right now cause I have a few difference parcels coming in from , US,Hong Kong etc . Each worth about 200$ :|. Guys please make sure you check the contents of package before signing for it .

 

[Ritvik]

This just stopped being funny. Doesn't look like they're going to give him anything. Would raising a paypal dispute help?

 

[Vasishta.Sushant]

I don't think so.

 

[haraakiri]

I think this is turning out to be sad. And a bit frightening. I think the reply was rather impolite.

 

[NAV33N]

That's Sad..

even i ordered a product from HK via ebay.com & paid via Paypal.

the seller said that it takes 32 days max. in the transit but i didn't get it even after 40 days.

i tried contacting seller for a few days but he didn't responded at all,i even warned him that if he'll not look into this matter then i'll leave him a negative feedback.

so,atlast i was forced to open a case on ebay.com , left him a negative feedback & he contacted me within 4 hours & gave me a full refund.

this is a serious matter as courier guyz screw up everything.

 

[Sei]

I guess shipping isn't

*Puts on glasses*

Their cup of tea

YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Would have repped you for this if it wasn't general talk...

@OT: wtf is this nonsense from mp4nation? That stupid reply from them is really quite rude.. Do pursue the case. Let them give record of the exact weight shipped. Was the packet sealed completely when you opened it or was it tampered with in any way?

If the weight records prove otherwise i.e. weigh more than 100-115gms, then it had to be something else right? Or they are bribing people inside the post office, which is quite unlikely :S

 

[Lord Nemesis]

Even the MP4 Nation guys are finding this claim absurd and not able to believe something like this happened. Here are the mails I and gamingstill got from them. This has turned into a completely horrifying incident .

Unfortunately that sounds incredulous to them because most of this of kind of switching parcel contents and lost parcels seems to happen in our country only. Either at the customs side or at the postal service side. The best course of action maybe to get those proof's from them that the parcel was indeed shipped in perfect order. Let the OP inform them that he needs those proofs to pursue the matter with the customs and postal dept in India. I don't think it would help since the parcel was already accepted.

Was the package undervalued by any chance (to avoid customs duty), if that is the case, then there is a 99% chance that your player was pinched by Customs officials. using a non-traceable shipping service (free shipping option for most of these sites), under valuing and using your home address as the shipping address make it easy and confident about pinching a package/replacing contents. The fact that the content was replaced with tea that originated from a US Store is further evidence that the switch has taken in the customs office.

Personally I lost a package from Play-Asia myself, When I did not complained to play-asia, they were able to trace the package to the point that the package reached India within 4 days, but after that it was untraceable. In all probability the customs officials pinched it. However unlike MP4Nation, Play-Asia has a much better customer care and they offered me a store credit for the same value.

@OT: wtf is this nonsense from mp4nation? That stupid reply from them is really quite rude.. Do pursue the case. Let them give record of the exact weight shipped. Was the packet sealed completely when you opened it or was it tampered with in any way?

If the weight records prove otherwise i.e. weigh more than 100-115gms, then it had to be something else right? Or they are bribing people inside the post office, which is quite unlikely :S

I kind of agree about their reply. They may find the entire thing incredulous, but their reply was uber rude and quite unnecessary, jumping the gun and accusing the customer is just not right. In fact they haven't even provided any proof for them to be taken off the hook. After the random poor customer service and bait and switch cases I read about them, who is to say that do they did not go one step further.

 

[Emperor]

I am shit scared right now cause I have a few difference parcels coming in from , US,Hong Kong etc . Each worth about 200$ :|. Guys please make sure you check the contents of package before signing for it .

DOES any courier company hand over the product & allow you to open before you Sign?

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

I think the reply was rather impolite.

+1

Why they are so aggressive when they have AMPLE proof to prove that ONLY ORDERED PRODUCT SHIPPED?

 

[blr_p]

Was the package undervalued by any chance (to avoid customs duty), if that is the case, then there is a 99% chance that your player was pinched by Customs officials. using a non-traceable shipping service (free shipping option for most of these sites), under valuing and using your home address as the shipping address make it easy and confident about pinching a package/replacing contents. The fact that the content was replaced with tea that originated from a US Store is further evidence that the switch has taken in the customs office.

The declared value was $25, so does anyone know how much the S:flo2 is supposed to cost from mp4nation ?

EDIT : here is the link, looks like its is $120+14 (for the leather case) so about $130 in total.

Now if he has declared it to be $25 then all customs have to do is ask for more proof and stick a higher duty on it. If he wants to collect his item he will have to pay the higher duty at a value they assess the S:flo2 or otherwise show he did get it at the price declared.

Switching like this is highly unusual. Does anyone know of instances where the same has occurred ?

From what i've read ppl crib about higher duty but in the end fork out.

UPDATE: You know what i think

If the prices quoted (actual and declared) are correct, his item has not been pinched, one crafty customs guy has decided to teach our friend a good lesson. When he goes to the customs office to file a complaint they will produce his item and ask him to fork out the difference.

 

[Lord Nemesis]

DOES any courier company hand over the product & allow you to open before you Sign?

They should allow you to check. At least I do when I have doubts. When I imported RAM from Mem-Configurator, UK, I package was unnecessarily delayed by DHL local office. I had to go to their office to collect the same. The outer packaging was in pretty bad condition, so I opened the package there and checked that there was no physical damage before I paid out the customs duties and signed for the package.

The declared value was $25, so does anyone know how much the S:flo2 is supposed to cost from mp4nation ?

EDIT : here is the link, looks like its is $120+14 (for the leather case) so about $130 in total.

Now if he has declared it to be $25 then all customs have to do is ask for more proof and stick a higher duty on it. If he wants to collect his item he will have to pay the higher duty at a value they assess the S:flo2 or otherwise show he did get it at the price declared.

Switching like this is highly unusual. Does anyone know of instances where the same has occurred ?

From what i've read ppl crib about higher duty but in the end fork out.

UPDATE: You know what i think

If the prices quoted (actual and declared) are correct, his item has not been pinched, one crafty customs guy has decided to teach our friend a good lesson. When he goes to the customs office to file a complaint they will produce his item and ask him to fork out the difference.

The thing is customs people can always check the package if they have doubts. There is no need for them to go by the declared value. Often times if they see that the declared value does not match, they can value it themselves and charge customs accordingly. There were many people who landed in a soup because of that. There was a case on TE itself where a guy was charged an insane amount in duties (3000 bucks if I remember right) for a Razer Mouse Pad whose original value was less than the duties. I was myself charged customs despite the seller voluntarily undervaluing the item.

If the package is under valued and the customs guys realize that the actual value is higher, then they can also easily pocket the goods and switch it for something else that fits the value. Then you would be in no position to even claim that there was a much more valuable item inside.

There is no doubt that customs people often pinch items, but this is the first time I am hearing about contents being switched if it was indeed done at the customs office. However switching of contents is a pretty common occurrence in postal and courier services in India. I have heard of many cases where contents were replaced with suitable sized rocks/paper and what not. The OP is lucky so far that he at least got something of use even after the switch.

 

[blr_p]

The thing is customs people can always check the package if they have doubts. There is no need for them to go by the declared value. Often times if they see that the declared value does not match, they can value it themselves and charge customs accordingly. There were many people who landed in a soup because of that.

Exactly

There was a case on TE itself where a guy was charged an insane amount in duties (3000 bucks if I remember right) for a Razer Mouse Pad whose original value was less than the duties. I was myself charged customs despite the seller voluntarily undervaluing the item.

They cannot affix any value they want, if you have the paperwork to show its actual value but still find you were overcharged you can ask for a re-evaluation which is well within your right.

If the package is under valued and the customs guys realize that the actual value is higher, then they can also easily pocket the goods and switch it for something else that fits the value. Then you would be in no position to even claim that there was a much more valuable item inside.

Wrong, they cannot pinch your goods under any circumstances whatsoever. If this turns out to be the case, then the person concerned ouught to escalate the case to higher levels.

There is no doubt that customs people often pinch items, but this is the first time I am hearing about contents being switched if it was indeed done at the customs office. However switching of contents is a pretty common occurrence in postal and courier services in India. I have heard of many cases where contents were replaced with suitable sized rocks/paper and what not. The OP is lucky so far that he at least got something of use even after the switch.

You are introducing another actor here, ie the courier ppl. I was under the impression that the suspicion atm was only at the customs level. And agree that is the case as they would have been the first ppl to open the package itself.

I still maintain he will get his goods if he files a complaint with the customs ppl and pays out the full amount in duty. Makes up some excuse like he was ignorant or something, don't think there is even a fine here, just the full amount of duty due.

As things stand atm, i think he has no choice as he is out $120+ and he does not even drink tea.

I am shit scared right now cause I have a few difference parcels coming in from , US,Hong Kong etc . Each worth about 200$ :|..

Provided you do not undervalue your items by 400% as it appears in this case there should not be anything to be overduly worried about

 

[FaH33m]

^Its not exactly about how much you undervalue it by. Depends a lot on the product as well.. a big touchscreen PMP for example wouldn't really cost as low as 25$ ..so the customs official might get suspicious. On the same hand a 20$ IEM as well as a 200$ IEM look like any other earphone .

 

[blr_p]

Ok so there is the perception to contend with, how much something looks like it should cost vs how much it really costs.

The point about the $20 vs $200 IEM is interesting, would you take the chance at undervaluing the higher cost one for as little ?

..because it looks just like any other, perception wise.

 

[gamingstill]

wtf is wrong with the mp4nation guys? they don't know how to talk to their customers and behaving rudely.I was not there at my place when the courier came.. I must have checked it properly.This is my first and last purchase from mp4nation and will stick to ebay etc in future, they atleast refund easily for these kind of non sense..
i just don't know what to do now :huh:

 

[blr_p]

wtf is wrong with the mp4nation guys? they don't know how to talk to their customers and behaving rudely.I was not there at my place when the courier came.. I must have checked it properly.This is my first and last purchase from mp4nation and will stick to ebay etc in future, they atleast refund easily for these kind of non sense..
i just don't know what to do now :huh:

Can you confirm for us what value you declared for the goods and its actual value ?

 

[gamingstill]

$25 written on the courier and its actual value is $152..

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Even the MP4 Nation guys are finding this claim absurd and not able to believe something like this happened. Here are the mails I and gamingstill got from them. This has turned into a completely horrifying incident .
I am shit scared right now cause I have a few difference parcels coming in from , US,Hong Kong etc . Each worth about 200$ :|. Guys please make sure you check the contents of package before signing for it .

according to hong kong post it left hong kong on 18th august,2010

 

[blr_p]

$25 written on the courier and its actual value is $152..

There you have it

@Vaishishta Sushant you have amazing eyesight, i could not make out any figures on that lousy 800x600 img he posted.

So....mr.gamingstill what is your next course of action ?

 

[gamingstill]

^ donno what to do now...:huh: