VERY URGENT, need help with a US customs problem

[tropin]

Hi guys. I bought one Martin Margiela Nylon Shiny Effect Bomber Jacket from Oki-ni on the 25th of Dec. and they despatched it on the 4th via DHL. It got to DHL's Los Angeles facility the next day and has been sitting there for the whole week.

Today a DHL customs rep called today and said they're examining the jacket and they need to know all sorts of details about it (fabric breakdown by %, woven or knit, gender, name of manufacturer in Hong Kong) and they say they've tried contacting oki-ni but haven't gotten a response. If i don't get the information by MONDAY, it'll be seized and i'll be forced to pay storage until it's resolved, which i don't even know when that would be.

I've sent oki-ni an email asking them for the information, but I don't know if I'll get in a response in time. I'm just wondering what I should do, I literally have no idea. Right now I'm just hoping oki-ni even has the information, as it seems they should.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I imagine the jacket said "Made in Hong Kong" or something on it, and that's why DHL asked for the manufacturer's name in HK. So would that simply be "Maison Martin Margiela"? I know he's got a store in HK at least.

[Guest jmatsu]

Hi guys. I bought one Martin Margiela Nylon Shiny Effect Bomber Jacket from Oki-ni on the 25th of Dec. and they despatched it on the 4th via DHL. It got to DHL's Los Angeles facility the next day and has been sitting there for the whole week.

Today a DHL customs rep called today and said they're examining the jacket and they need to know all sorts of details about it (fabric breakdown by %, woven or knit, gender, name of manufacturer in Hong Kong) and they say they've tried contacting oki-ni but haven't gotten a response. If i don't get the information by MONDAY, it'll be seized and i'll be forced to pay storage until it's resolved, which i don't even know when that would be.

I've sent oki-ni an email asking them for the information, but I don't know if I'll get in a response in time. I'm just wondering what I should do, I literally have no idea. Right now I'm just hoping oki-ni even has the information, as it seems they should.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I imagine the jacket said "Made in Hong Kong" or something on it, and that's why DHL asked for the manufacturer's name in HK. So would that simply be "Maison Martin Margiela"? I know he's got a store in HK at least.

since time is an issue, why don't you call oki-ni directly??????

[dryice]

buying shit from oki-ni and having it shipped to the north american continent is like asking to be robbed.

[tropin]

since time is an issue, why don't you call oki-ni directly??????

I will, but there has been no reasonable hour to call today. I'll call early tomorrow, but I'm just trying to find out what to do in case they do not answer.

[MikeN]

Check out stylezeitgeist.com for extensive info on this topic.

[goldengloves]

Why the hell would the need to know the manufacturer of the garment is what I don't understand; Also, there should be the breakdown of the fabric on the inside label. You could just fuckin' guess in that case and the type of jacket it is obviously tells you whether it's a knit or woven.

Sounds like you got the 'new' customs worker.

P.S. oki-ni sucks for overseas orders.

[tropin]

Still no contact at all from oki-ni. I did, however, contact one of the members of this forum that owns the jacket by private message, and he gave me most of the fabric breakdown. I do think that DHL/Customs will probably be very picky and want every little detail though, so I've asked him if he could give me the other little details just in case.

I also called the MMM store today, and while they did not help with the fabric breakdown part, they told me that the jacket is manufactured in Italy and gave me the name of the company. That's another one of the pieces of information I needed - the manufacturer's name - although DHL asked me for its name in Hong Kong which is not where it was produced. I think maybe this has something to do with the MMM store in HK, but I have no idea why.

As far as it being knit or woven goes, can anyone clear that up? The guy from MMM said that it's neither knit or woven and that it's "cut from a line" or something. Is this true? I'm just wondering what I should tell DHL.

[goldengloves]

You could probably tell DHL that same thing and be okay.

So when you called Oki ni, no one answered? Oki ni is seriously fuckin' up on this as this should have been their responsibility.

[totally epic]

Has anyone in the US ordered from Oki-Ni and NOT get fucked?

[tropin]

Oh okay, thanks. Hopefully that'll work, I'll just try and get the rest of the details just in case, but otherwise I'll give them what I have.

I called oki-ni and got no answer and they didn't answer my e-mail, which I clearly labeled as urgent regarding my order. It was definitely their responsibility, and if I hadn't known of someone on this forum that owned the jacket themselves, I probably never would have found out the fabric details, and it'd be an even bigger mess. I expect a website that is 100% online and says it ships internationally to take some responsibility when it comes to this sort of thing.

[jummych00]

Hi guys. I bought one Martin Margiela Nylon Shiny Effect Bomber Jacket from Oki-ni on the 25th of Dec. and they despatched it on the 4th via DHL. It got to DHL's Los Angeles facility the next day and has been sitting there for the whole week.

Today a DHL customs rep called today and said they're examining the jacket and they need to know all sorts of details about it (fabric breakdown by %, woven or knit, gender, name of manufacturer in Hong Kong) and they say they've tried contacting oki-ni but haven't gotten a response. If i don't get the information by MONDAY, it'll be seized and i'll be forced to pay storage until it's resolved, which i don't even know when that would be.

I've sent oki-ni an email asking them for the information, but I don't know if I'll get in a response in time. I'm just wondering what I should do, I literally have no idea. Right now I'm just hoping oki-ni even has the information, as it seems they should.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

EDIT: I imagine the jacket said "Made in Hong Kong" or something on it, and that's why DHL asked for the manufacturer's name in HK. So would that simply be "Maison Martin Margiela"? I know he's got a store in HK at least.

This by far has to be the weirdest customs story I have ever read or heard of. Like already mentioned, why in the hell would they want a broke down on the material? Makes no sense at all.

[goldengloves]

DHL, more so than Fed Ex is much more harsh on customs packages it seems but still, some of this just seems down right odd.

Again, hope this gets sorted out and keep us in the loop.

Fuckin' Oki ni.

[duofold]

I've ordered from oki-ni several times in the past. Also wesoldout.com (colette). All orders were shipped out by dhl. I live in the US but none of my orders were held for additional duty nor was I ever billed later for the duty.

However, those orders were all done several years ago. So when I tried to order a MMM cardigan from the same sale as did the op, I quickly canceled after reading the (horrific) testimonials from others.

While it's always buyer beware, oki-ni should facilitate smoother delivery & be up front about the perils of shipping overseas to the US.

At least they canceled my order pretty quickly after an email. Just wonder what might have changed in the last several years & if not, why so hit or miss?

[mike lowrey]

Sounds like you got the 'new' customs worker.

my thoughts exactly.

I think the customs procedure for them includes giving certain details on the item that is being declared. theres probably a million different categories under which items can be declared, for clothing theres a load of sub-categories varying by garment type, material etc.

at the end of the day, these details make no difference and a carrier like DHL should definately use their head when making the declaration which they definately arent doing (why would US customs give a fuck about the fabric). the tax/duty probably depends on the material, but the differences aren't huge and no one cares if its slightly wrong.

if its a sensible customs worker, they'd just classify it as something close enough. what I'd do is instead of calling oki-ni, just call DHL, ask for a manager, and tell them there has to be a simpler way to declare it, you're not the first person in the world to buy something for overseas. tell them to check the garment for material information and brand, and the invoice for source and value, thats everything relevant. its not your responisbility to know who the manufacturer is, its a jacket not rocket parts.

[Cue]

In many countries different fabrics attract different amounts of duty - depending on the strength/ protectionist nature of that industry domestically.

Someone is just doing their job a little too well.

[tropin]

In the morning I received a reply from the DHL jerk I had been talking to, telling me that the information I supplied him was literally worthless because Oki-Ni supplied the manufacturer as being in Hong Kong, while I said it is in Italy. He then told me that the package would be returned to the UK today, and that I should go to the Customs website (I believe it was) and read up on the several rules required of an "importer" like myself.

I called him later in the morning, and spoke to him for what he made seem like hours (biggest jerk on the face of the Earth). He contradicts himself all the time, and says things that seem absolutely false. I then called Customs and talked to a man who said I was not considered an "importer", and basically disagreed with everything I told him the DHL guy had told me. He told me to get the Air Waybill and Housebill numbers and he'd try to personally correct the issue.

Then I called the jerk back and argued with him for a while longer until I asked him for the numbers and he transferred me without a word to a much nicer, much more knowledgeable lady. After a while I convinced her to fix the issue, and she said that the package is now waiting to be released by Customs. Hopefully this is the end of it.

By the way, Oki-Ni did send me a message. Apparently they weren't open on the weekend, and they told me they'd forward my message to the director who would hopefully be able to help. I still think they should have done things right from the beginning of course, but at least they did respond.

[ardeetee]

It's not just overseas, I placed an order with Oki-Ni on Dec 20th and it didn't get to me (in Paris) until Jan 6th, even though was next day shipping. The reason it took so long is because they printed my address wrong and they made the last word of my street the city name, causing it to be sent all around the UK and then finally to Paris a week later. Then I had to call in to DHL multiple times to give them the correct address (which was originally clearly typed out correctly on the Oki-Ni order form) because I was afraid they would return it to the sender, and then Oki-Ni would charge me another 10GBP for shipping.

I tried contacting them multiple times, but no reply for several days. Eventually they got back to me, but by that time the package had already arrived.

[mike lowrey]

sounds like they're service is very suspect, but nevertheless the crap this DHL guy was talking was completely unreasonable, when you order from an online store its not your responsibility to know this kind of information and you cant be punished for it by the product getting sent back. and no, if you buy shit from an online store, you're not an importer, you're a customer.

write down this entire experience and send it to every place at DHL, also call up a manager there. I'd do everything I can to get that asshole fired