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What will you do with your packages?

So you already have packages on their way to Kuwait via Aramex and yesterday like everyone else you found out you will have to pay at least KD20 to clear each package, what will you do?

Personally I have two packages on their way. One is valued at $20 and another at $30. There is no way I am going to pay KD20 for a package that’s worth just $20 or $30.

What are our options?
Did anyone receive any packages yesterday?
Did you have to pay the new clearance fees?
Can we refuse delivery of our packages?

105 replies on “What will you do with your packages?”

I’m expecting a package valued 42 $, i will wait until it reaches Kuwait…if there are any paper or customs paper i will surely not pay KD 20 for that and will leave it to them, and will close my Aramex account.

Just been to collect a package from Amazon this morning. Didn’t have to pay anything more than the usual 5.500KD fees.

I got a $ 62 package on the way, Wii sports resort bundle (2 motion plus), ordered it from amazon to save KD 13—if i was to buy it from rehab, now it looks like im going to pay Kd 15/20, wat a waste!!!

we need to know if these rules applies to other carriers or not!
But in general I don’t believe such rules? if these to apply to all carriers then it would simply means no more internet purchasing.

what happens to globalization and free country shit! ?

Local merchants are laughing their fucking ass off now!

I believe that if they are to change the fees to higher they should first contact us and inform us , this would not be acceptable in the westen world why do we let companies abuse us just because we need them . I have been offered the same deal with TNT and with DHL a while back I guess I will be cancelling my Aramex and shifting to the best other deal I can get .

I have many packages on the way with USWS, mostly cloth I purchased through Ebay for my 3 yrs old daughter which were quiet inexpensive ($15-$20-$30/each)! When I read Mark’s post yesterday night I went crazy as I will have to pay around KD20 for each package!!! I didn’t sleep tonight as my dreams were haunted by this & I had nightmares!!!! If this is true I will end up paying KD200 for stuff that cost me $200!!!! That’s unfair!!!! What shall we do??? Please keep us updated!!! 🙁

Am expecting a package 2day !!! but had this issue before my package was a $10 book so i told them to keep it 😉

I regularly refuse shipments from aramex when it comes to stupid letters from my bank or credit card for which i dont wanna pay KD3. I imagine you dont have to accept a shipment if you don’t want to pay fees. Some moron at the customs or at aramex will get your toy and play with it for free, that’s all.

I dont think this rule can apply to ARAMEX only…wont take people much time to shift loyalties to other carriers if thats the case…am expecting a package worth 60 $ sometime soon…status still shows as shipped…

I just called Aramex, they say this rule is applicable to all courier services… not sure how true that is, but i would guess that the Customs would not single out just one company for this sort of thing.

Y’all !
I suggest that as a protest, if we can, to refuse to accept the shipment from Aramex. There is nothing they can do to force us to pay. They can keep our goods and fill their floor space with it.

Well I have ordered used phone worth 250$ through USPS… am I liable for Customs too? And if so how much customs should I have to pay and where am I suppose to go to pay it off?

Mark, I just spoke with my contact at USWS & she advised me that the new rule applies on all Shipping Cos. She told me that yesterday they cleared a shipment without this rule applying on it for one reason or the other! Go figure!!! USWS will hold clearance of future shipments for a while until they see what will happen to this new CRAZY law!!! I asked if we could refuse delivery of a package & I didn’t get a definite answer to this question! She was very compassionate & promised to call me if my packages get delayed because of this new customs law!!! 🙁 I will keep you updated!!! I feel like SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The law basically puts courier shipments the same as freight; so it will apply to all couriers – DHL, FedEx, Aramex it doesn’t make a difference.

This is really fucked up decision from the customs, to charge us 20KD it’s really stupid..

I think we all should sign a petition or something to show our disagree on this matter.

We really should do something.

@puff, Nice one man.

I hate all these expensiveness..
aramex was already expensive. now with this, its even more expensive.

i guess all is left… to find something other than Aramex…
when the hell will Kuwait get ZipCode so we can just ship it for free… or pay normal postal delivery services…
by the way, Any body know of a good site for online purchases in kuwait? that accepts paypal? also what ways except bank wiring you have to withdraw cash? or what bank wiring you use to redeem cash from paypal??

Let’s BOYCOTT Aramex and the others, and REFUSE shipments that are on their way!

That will force them to lobby the government to drop these stupid charges. The local owners of Aramex, DHL, and the others will have to make their wasta work for them to drop these ridiculous charges.

Who’s in?

i think we should for a full refund for all the items ordered from Aramex as they didnt inform us accordingly, neither did they warn us about this stupid rule…the least they could have done is warn us!!

I doubt it Frankom but I hope am wrong 😀 , yesterday morning i was at the customs to clear my apple time capsule. Paid exactly 18kd fees (10 kd for kuwait airways “artheya”, 1kd stamp, 5kd customs fees, 2kd cbk fees) took me 1 HOUR to get my package and it was NOT busy! I saw all people from dhl, fedex, ups..etc and they are all affected for sure so i doubt they wont charge us for the fees! The guy at the counter mentioned that the 18 kd is fixed for all items except documents. keeping in mind that an additional 5% custom fee is applicable for large quantity orders on companies , NOT applicable on us/personal shipments.
I’ll tell you 1 thing for sure, the place there is a big mess!! make sure you have your running shoes on you , worm up, and be ready for a marathon! ;p

Puff I like your idea.Mark your’s is bizarre. I’m calling to cancel now but no one answering shop and ship wonder why?

Another way to look at this development (hopefully temporary) is that this makes Aramex and USWS and DHL@Home only cheap if you order something expensive. For low-budget items (CDs, clothes, games) its going to be too expensive to be worth it.

If you are buying high end equipment, then it will still be cheaper. There are lots of overly-inflated items in Kuwait. For example, camera lenses, Apple products, etc. These will still be cheap even with the new rules.

Fawaz: When I cleared my laptop from customs I paid only KD5 but that was USWS. I don’t think USWS use Kuwait Airways, they use NAS. So thats why it was much cheaper clearing it with them.

This is obviously an effort to keep nationals and residents of Kuwait from ordering from overseas to the percieved benefit of local merchants, Kuwait Airways and Kuwait Customs and what have they done for me lately?. Ultimatley its your money and your decision. Solutions such as opening a P.O box in neighboring countries and you physically going to that country to pick up those packages seems like a good idea. Going to Bahrain once a month is a nice change. Personally I am not going to buy anything in Kuwait I dont desperaltey NEED, which I realize is relative, but why make the local Mafia stronger?
As Ol Dirty Bastard (R.I.P) used to say” Bitch betta have my Money!”

Guys, does anyone know whether this applies to couriers only or is EMS (and all methods of post/shipping) now affected?

I agree with Mark = let`s flood them with packages until they realize that this is absurd and realize that its beyond their ability.
I will continue receiving my shipments because I believe ( and hope) that these new procedures will not last long 🙂

@Burhan,
If this is properly implemented, nobody is going to order expensive items using this method – because the services will shut down.
They cannot continue operating just to ship a few items.

@ Puff: I have asked around before and came to know that they sell such items (held/abandoned i.e.: my book …etc) on auction hehehehe

I agree let’s protest 🙂

On a totally different topic, does anyone feel like it’s gonna rain today? I’m in Salmiya, and it’s looking pretty cloudy.

Mark, EMS works perfectly alright! I’ve been using them for quite sometime now. And is reasonably fast too, from Tokyo to Kuwait in 4 days.
Heres how I get my stuff; I get an sms from MOC Kaifan announcing my package has arrived and I got pick it up from there. The only delay is that theres a customs official there who makes you open the package to make sure theres no illegal stuff in it.

The shipping address is my office address in Kuwait City but they always keep the packages at the EMS counter in MOC. I think its so coz they want customs to inspect it before we take it away.

Just use your company’s P.O.Box address, with your name of course, and your number. They’ll most likely end up calling you, if not you just get the card at work.

i am waiting for two packages one is 260 $ which i am unfortunatly going to pay 20 kd for the other is for 6$ which i am going to unfortunatly let them distroy after sometime what a waste……..

Let’s hope Aramex will make a move toward resolving this problem, otherwise it’s gonna looser a lot of customers and especially credibility..,.

This is a show of clout and vitamin w (wasta). Someone in Customs and/or big business want a piece of the online shopping cake.

I would if I could, but I can’t…if enough locals make a fuss of this in the press, the law will probably end up being discussed publicly and won’t see the light of day until some form of ruling is passed, and knowing Kuwait, it’ll take well over a year to make a ruling, and it’ll probably be in our favour.

Every single “panic” law we’ve seen in Kuwait has died down once people made a fuss of it. Remember the iqama laws a year ago? Or the traffic laws? Revoked when people made a fuss in the papers.

Boycott ! Boycott!
Refuse packages, Refuse packages! 🙂

I don’t wanna give 1 fils to whatever *&%$ who want to suck our money.

BTW Aramex …. we collect our own documents and release em from the customs ……? then what do you guys do ?

who said you get to pay a fine if you don’t pay your shipping rate? I have done it 3 times when I have recieved junk mail through my Aramex and they have asked me to pay 5 KD! I kept telling them that I will not pay for junk and three times the driver goes back with the junk mail and no 5 KD!

EMS works just fine

the only thing is most of the time you have to go and pick it up you guys
mostly in Kifan Post

Safe with tracking if it got lost then your payments should be refunded because you paid for EMS thats Automatically insured

Only reason I’m still ordering through Aramex is because not all vendors ship internationally. Time to close my Aramex account. Who’s with me?

Laughing at those people who said Kuwait is not a Third World country.No proper postal service that delivers overseas ‘snail mail’ to your home.

if anyone is gonna protest this I’m all the way in. I’m going to send an email to Al-Watan and let it be known on the papers. Hopefully if we protest they’re gonna follow up on the law and make it a big deal. Newspapers love this kinda stuff.

GUYS, yes all of u, including victims:

JUST ASK! service at Sultan Centre.

Yes>>>>>>>>>>> JUST ASK! service ship everything to you. Even u don’t need to pay the full amount too 🙂 – but you need to collect it from them as they don’t have delivery. About the time, once they get it they will send u SMS with the total costs.

ahahaaaa….Heartbeat… I am in..
And for sure there is a big problem… we ordered a packagde from Amazon worth 18 KD and got a bill… Shop and Ship 12 KD…. Costumes 40 KD….so a tottal 70 KD….we declined
If Kuwait is not a Third world I dont know, while rules with no study is beeing implemented and the rich is getting richer on the poor… about time for changes… Let me know where to protest and we will show up.
This country has very little stuff to offer of variation it’s all about the food and cloth.. try to find anything of art, books, pet accessories, sneakers, gagdet accessories etc… No wonder we all come back here with our suitcases filled with stuff… overloaded…!!!

expat of 6 years

so Sultan Centre is the one to blame for this fiasco
Khalid AL-Sultan, MP own %10 in the company about 55mil shares poor guy .
or Ebrahim algahim the head of Customs .

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for choosing Aramex as your transportation partner.

The Kuwaiti Customs Authority has recently notified us that all courier shipments containing non-documents shall undergo customs inspection upon arrival at Kuwait airport. While Aramex shall continue providing its clearance services, we are unable to provide a specific time frame as to the duration of the clearance period, which may exceed five working days. Aramex therefore encourages all its customers who require speedy clearance to collect their shipments’ documents for self-clearance at the Aramex Ardiya office

???

I just thought about this now, what about using Sultan Center’s service “Just Ask”.

They operate differently than Aramex since they handle buying the items and practically everything. I don’t know there specific charges but I do know the take a small percentage interest for your items price & the shipping charges are similar to Aramex. Shipping takes 2 weeks.

I hope someone could clarify if they don’t charge for the Jamarik stuff since our options simply dies yesterday.

Blekh!
The whole ordering from the other side of the globe thing made me feel like I’m living in the desert already. Shit with customs and handling charges is horrendous; and now THIS?

Consumer rights are inexistent in this place!!

We need to who is behind this decision….

Blekh!
The whole ordering from the other side of the globe thing made me feel like I’m living in the desert already. Shit with customs and handling charges is horrendous; and now THIS?

Consumer rights are inexistent in this place!!

We need to who is behind this decision….

You guys are making too much of a fuss about this!!

Protest!! Boycott!! Complain!! Reject packages!! Flood them with packages!! Laish laish laish?

Its just one of those laws that will prove to be unrealistic and gets reversed once the mess piles up.

In the meantime, Keep buying online, pay the extra charges for expensive shipments but reject your incoming ‘inexpensive’ packages (I’ve done it before, you can simply tell them you don’t want the package and won’t pay for it, come and sue me!).

you know what, Katukoa is right. Everyone order like 100 1 dollar t-shirts and have them shipped to aramex, and then refuse to take em!

The most hilarious argument happened once between an aramex representative and my cousin who ordered a $3 bargain DVD that got held in customs. He refused to clear it of course because it now costs 15 times its original cost:

Aramex: Sir, but you have to pay for delivery charges.

Cousin: Pay for what I didn’t receive anything.

Aramex: Sir, the package that is now with customs. If you’ll let us release it or you release it yourself you’ll get it.

Cousin: No I don’t want to.

Aramex: OK but you have to pay the delivery charges.

Cousin: Pay for what? I was not delivered anything!

And it lopped for 3 times before aramex gave up.

I think Aramex is not at fault here , if customs held the item they lose power over your package . You still have to pay for shipping .

I second #79

I’ve seen it all and been through that many time before, customs try to enforce a new silly law which ultimately end up nullified because they are being custom made to benefit certain people. Just give it a month and everything will go back to normal. This is Kuwait, why will it be any different this time!!! When did we start to actually think carefully about laws before forcing them, it’s not like it’s written on stone. Just keep those items in your wish list for the time being till the storm passes by.

I can think of a couple of scenarios that cause this fiasco (based on previous incidents)

1. Carriers usually grease their business with custom inspectors to facilitate releasing packages and thus keep the business prosperous, so it is possible that custom management got greedy or they actually started to follow the written laws)

2. Some highly powerful people influenced the customs to enforce such ridiculous laws to hinder online shopping (and please don’t underestimate their losses for online shopping as I’ve personally experienced the power of verbal instructions to stop people from shopping supplements online through opening packages and losing the items to delaying the delivery up to 4 weeks from arrival to Kuwait)

P.S.
I’ve just been charged KD49 for two packages which have been delivered by FedEx so I think there are no exceptions for carriers.

P.S.S.
Tax is %5 even for personal use and sometimes inspectors don’t follow the printed invoice as they claim that it is possible that the customer asked the buyer to print an invoice with much lower price from the actual one which happens if you buy items from ebay and small firms, so you end up with an exaggerated estimation based on Kuwait prices and thus you end up paying stupid amount of money)

I have ordered electronics .. and now I was checking Aramex online and it says shipment received at operation facilities! no customs hold no extra charges ! I would need to wait till Saturday to see what they will charge me but I don’t expect any extra charges cause the shipment was received at operation facility same day it was arrived!

Aramex only serve the middle east .. but other companies like DHL ,UPS.. are iternational so they follow the international rules … aramex told me before that some times there will be customs for 300$ packages and it was true but I notice that they let me pay 28 KD(customs) + 12 KD (delievery) for handbag worth 400$ and when I refused to pay they told that they will close my account (custemor since 2006) on the other hand I received 2 shoes from UPS worth (500$) and just pay 12KD for customs
and i received iphone(250KD) from ebay via FEDX and i paid 14KD for customs .. I called Aramex asking why Im paying too much for your customs and he told that me they charge us 10-12 KD for clearance services….
what??????
they should deliver door to door and the clearance service is there jobs
I never pay for UPS,DHL,FEDX any clearance services just customs

Hi Eman, I’m not an Aramex fan at all, but I still have to correct the info for you. The 12 KD clearance you’re talking about by aramex is actually by customs. The 12 KD you paid for your iphone by Fedex is also for customs clearing (There is no taxes on mobile phones).
That is why the figure is almost the same between Fedex, DHL, and Aramex.
Those 12 KD are ONLY paid when the item is held by customs. if the item is cleared without being held, that’s when they only charge you delivery charges.

Hope that helped.

Pato

i just got my packaged 38 min ago and paid just 3 KD shipping, i guess it depends on the package or random choices that have to be cleared… there is no way they are going to check all packages thats too much work on them and they are lazy as hell…

a while back i went to clear my bike exhausts it took me for ever the bloody tea boy hooked me up for 3 kd he did everything for me….. i was what the hell.

anyways il zibda i paid 3 kd just now… oo inshalah khair

I purchused a laptop and a skin protector for my mac air, and i did pay only for aramex regular fees. I did not pay the customs for the laptop also :)))

I`m still surprised that some of you pay Taxes or Customs on Stuff that should NOT, for example the Mobiles Laptops these stuff i know for sure No Customs on them HOW the hell the Guy paid Customs for the iPhone ?? people Just ask the Customs what items fills under this category and what item isn`t, AND ALWAYS ask them for a List to make sure u and they are on the Right Side, Now the rule might have changed to Include EVERYTHING this is a Different Story … BTW this isn`t the 1st time this thing happen to me it happened with me when i ordered an iPod 1st time with U Shop We Ship and i paid Customs for it they told me if it were iPhone there`s no customs on it :1

Here Goes the Thing when u go there,

1- You Will pay Aramex the Shipping Charges they will give you the clearance papers (Elbolisa)
2- You Go to Kuwait Airport and Go to the Custom Guys They Will check your papers and they will calculate the Tax for ya which is i think 5 or 6 %.
3- Yo Go to CBK and pay that amount of money plus 2 KD Bank Charges ( I really don`t understand why not i take the Customs Account and Transfer the money via my Bank FREE OF CHARGE)
4- You Go and take 1KD Stamp.
5- You go Back to the Custom Guys and show them that you paid the charges and they will put that stamp and give you, some more paper to clear your stuff.
6-Just turn back and go to Global Logistics Counter and pay them 1 KD I REALLY DUNNO WHY i asked my cousin who works at the Customs why i paid 1 KD what is their Job here he told me they are like the Index for Kuwait Airport, they will tell you where your item is located isn`t this should be the Kuwait Airports Job ???? why i pay GLOBAL ??? why don`t Kuwait Airport Pay their Salary and be done with it ????? WTF????? Because the owner of the Company is Hamour ??? any way lets continue :p
7- go to Kuwait Airways or NAS, Theres no reason one company Should be stick to a specific one the Shipments comes randomly at either one of them i guess it depends on the available space, so here comes the Trouble again they will ask you for charges i asked ok tell me charges for WHAT Exactly NAS told me 3 KD Shipping and Handling and it was for an iPod which is not that heavy they told me from 0.1 KD to something KG is 3 KD so no way i can pay less, ok the other charges he mentioned Customs something i refused to Pay them because i already Paid the customs charges at the other Building, they accepted just the 3 KD and i received my iPod it was the 1st and last time i used U Shop We Ship, so the custom charges was random across all Companies its not random anymore thats too bad :1

A lot of things happen in Kuwait and make no sense at all. Bas sha6reen we put laws everyday like the law that restricts using cell phones while driving they kept on giving tickets for the first few weeks and then POOF! like that law never existed. Inshallah the same thing happens with this stupid law by customs if it EXISTS that is!

I use Aramex for places that don’t ship to Kuwait. If a website ships directly to Kuwait, you can guarantee I’m going to use my home address (or P.O. Box). I had a terrible experience with my subscriptions and Aramex. I had subscriptions to 6 magazines (because in Kuwaiti bookshops, they’re ripped and censored), but it came to the point where I would pay 8 KD for a heavy magazine that costs $3.99!! They refused to group my magazines into one shipment (therefore decreasing some of the costs) and were continually increasing shipping rates. It was ridiculous so I canceled my subscriptions and just refused to accept whatever was still being shipped.

I wrote a post about it last year in greater detail. If you’d like, you can read it at the link below:

https://pomegranateandpatchouli.blogspot.com/2008/09/subscriptions-subscriptions.html

ok guys, i don’t see any problem, today i have received a package that cost me 300$ and i only paid 5.500 KD as a delivery fees only as usual… nothing has changed..
here’s the tracking details:

Shipment History

Location Date Activity

Kuwait,Kuwait 10/24/2009 10:57 AM Shipment Delivered –
Kuwait,Kuwait 09:09 AM SMS Sent to Consignee – SMS – +965 (6) XXXXXXX
Ardiya,Kuwait 08:05 AM Shipment Out for Delivery
New York Office,United States 10/19/2009 06:27 PM Shipment Record Created – Full Record
New York Office,United States 06:27 PM Shipment Forwarded to – Ardiya,Kuwait

I will repeat the same as previous post :

As a business owner our customers never believed us how much more we have to pay to clear customs while they were getting thiers out for free !! These charges & more are NORMAL for all business transactions for ages !! Now you know why items are more expensive to buy in Kuwait than through Amazon for example

For the Business Owner do you believe that the PS3 when came out it was on Amazon $599 and in Kuwait 599 KD ??? is this fair enough ?? a lot of things are 3x the price in Kuwait, now business owners woke up a little bit after watching THE WHOLE Kuwait Ordering from US and benefiting the US Stores 🙂 now if u sell something which is around 10 KD more than US i`ll be so glad to pay for it but if its for some ridiculous price I Will NEVER pay for it ;1 hope that helps 🙂

BTW a lot of things is changed now, mostly a lot of stuff are nearly the same price as us i`m speaking about electronics and gadgets not about Shoes Clothes those are still problems for example i found Addidas Bounce in Premium Outlet Mall in Vegas for $79 and the EXACT same in Kuwait for 52 KD in Discovery Mall is this fair enough ???

And the same goes for Cars the Mustang GT500KR 08 is 52,000 Dolars BRAND NEW at the Dealer and the Normal GT500 last i heard it was 17,xxx KD at Almajmo3a Is this Fair ???? want more i have more and more and more examples ; )

Boss,
Of course when the difference is not realistic , it is un-fair but the factors you have to take into account when you compare with the USA :
1- The size of the market .How many Addidas Bounce will be sold in
Kuwait & how many in a premium shop in Vegas ?
2- Cost of running business . A lousy 1000 m sq. lot in Shuwaikh costs
more than a million KD on a secondary road.In the US you can buy a
whole block for that
3- Most manufacturers actually have lower prices for the US market due
to the size & high competion
4- Cost of “red-tape ” and bad service applicable in third world countries

Here’s what I just received from Aramex>

Hello Shop&Shippers!

We understand it’s been a rough week for all of you, but finally, Kuwait Customs’ policy has cleared up, and we’re happy to say that online shopping is about to become more fun than ever!

So here’s the bottom line: regardless of the goods value, all shipments are subject to customs clearance. We’ll clear all shipments in one bundle, and pay the charged customs duties accordingly. You read correctly; it’s on us!

In this case, you will only endure the following charges:

* 1 KD handling charges
* 5% of order value for Kuwait Customs duties (applicable only to orders valued above $100 USD)

However, self-clearance option is no longer available for our customers. You can contact us at [+ 965 1 820011] for further details.

Happy online shopping!

Your friends at Shop&Ship.

————————————————-

So if we were to assume that you bought a $100 worth item, you’ll pay 5% which is $5 and 1KD for handling. $5~1.5KD and 1Kd makes it 2.5KD. Does that mean we don’t pay bank charges and all that crap? What about packages that are below $100? We simply pay 1KD for handling charges and that’s it?
And what if I ordered say Automotive parts which are big, heavy and costly? do I only pay 5% and 1KD handling? This is good news if that’s the case 😀

so if it is below $100.00 I still pay 1kd for aramex . I think it is not right if Aramex clears the whole shipment , from where the 1KD comes from . Still not clear , I’m paying premium for shipping already .What are the extra steps Aramex is doing to charge me 1KD for each package .
Murad please explain .

should be like this>

(1LB x 3KD) + (2LB x 2.5KD) = 8.000KD for Aramex

then (57.160KD x 5% tax) + 1KD = 3.860KD for Customs

8 + 3.86 = 11.860KD total.

That’s assuming the info in the email is correct.

Yo BJ! I went today to pick up my package from DHL (borderlinx) it only cost me 3.5 KD and it took six days to be received in Kuwait. Btw the package contained a video game.

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