German shipping is also a nightmare; they charge VAT on pretty much anything that comes from outside the EU but it has to be flagged so some things sail through and other things get stopped. If something you ordered is stopped by customs you will get a letter from a PRIVATE COMPANY TO WHOM YOUR PACKAGE WAS PASSED that collects the VAT + about €30 in "administration fees". Your choices then are:
1. Pay these assholes the VAT and their "administration fees" and get the package 2-10 days after your payment is processed
2. Pay the VAT directly to the government yourself. This involves going to an airless windowless room in some government building and sitting there for anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before they call your name and you pay the VAT in cash (the government does not take cards for anything ever). This means you have to take at least a half day off work.
You can see why I usually just pay the administration fees and quietly seethe about it.
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zvi
(no subject)
Date: 2021-07-01 10:41 am (UTC)1. Pay these assholes the VAT and their "administration fees" and get the package 2-10 days after your payment is processed
2. Pay the VAT directly to the government yourself. This involves going to an airless windowless room in some government building and sitting there for anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours before they call your name and you pay the VAT in cash (the government does not take cards for anything ever). This means you have to take at least a half day off work.
You can see why I usually just pay the administration fees and quietly seethe about it.