Sorry for the late update as I was not subscribed to this topic.
June 17: Item ordered.
June 27:
* Item arrived at Lebanon. There was a message saying "Held at customs" on the AliExpress in app tracking.
* I messaged both LibanPost and the Customs that day, the emails are as follows:
1. LibanPost:
Hello sir or madam,
I have ordered a mobile phone overseas, based on the tracking information from your website "RB567416131SG" it says that the item is sent to customs for clearance. However, the tracking information provided by the store says that my item is held at the customs.
If this is the case, what is going to happen? Will you (LibanPost) take care of it and charge extra once you deliver the item, or how are things going to be managed?
Thank you in advance.
Regards
2. Customs (basically the same email)
Hello sir or madam,
I have ordered a mobile phone overseas, based on the tracking information from Libanpost "RB567416131SG" it says that the item is sent to customs for clearance. However, the tracking information provided by the store says that my item is held at the customs.
If this is the case, what is going to happen? What should i do?
Will (LibanPost) take care of it and charge extra once they deliver the item, or how are things going to get managed?
Thank you in advance.
Regards.
June 28: Customs Reply:
Dear Sir,
Please wait until Liban post contacts you. They will inform you what to and you will have to pay customs duties, however you will have to acquire a permit from the ministry of telecommunications after you contact the Customs office at Libanpost.
Best Regards
June 30: LibanPost replies:
Dear Concerned,
Kindly be informed that the parcel is still under the custom clearance issue related to the custom , you should wait to finish the custom process.
Best Regards
Asma Kaddah
LibanPost Customer Care
*After that comes the waiting period. (Waited so long for LibanPost to contact me)... They have not.
July 31:
*Sent LibanPost another email:
Greetings,
Is there any update regarding this package? It's been stuck on the same tacking information for about 3 weeks now.
Thank you.
Sincerely
August 1:
*I get a reply:
Dear Sir,
The mail is retained by customs under the following lebanese tracking number BS000380014LB.
The receiver needs to visit our main branch near the airport to clear it from customs.
Best Regards
Hiba Khalife
LibanPost Customer Care
August 2:
* I went to LibanPost Headquarters which is in the Airport area, (Available and free parking)
* After reaching the concerned directory I have waited there for about 10 minutes in between ringing the bell and looking for an employee for help.
* Once the employee arrived he asked for the tracking number and my ID
* He bought the package which was unsealed then taped back
* The customs lady pulled out a permit request copied the name and the IMEI of the phone and asked me about its price
I said it was 220000 LL however, i actually got it for 255$. She actually believed me and even wrote 200,000 on the permit request.
*After i get the permit from the MoT they asked me to go to the DHL which is near LibanPost hq and pay the tax which was 44000LL
*Next stop was MoT (Ministry of Telecommunications
*I had to get a 5000LL stamp from the LibanPost office which was near the MoT
*The prcoess of accepting the permit request takes two days, so it was delayed to Monday since i applied for it on a Thursday
August 6: I collected the permit then went to DHL, had to walk for 3-4 minutes, and waited inside for about 30-40 minutes as the employee was not really doing his job correctly (was having breakfast on duty).
* I finally headed back to LibanPost HQ paid a tax of 29000LL and took the package.
I have paid 71000 in total for an item that costs 200000 (on paper).
I would never get another phone thanks to all of that.
Hope this helps.
Useful links ( use a binary decoder like roubaixinteractive dot com):
Links to
1. MoT location (google maps)
2. LibanPost HQ location (google maps)
3. Image of the permit (imgrpost)
4. Image of the DHL tax bill (imgrpost)
5. Image of the LibanPost tax bill (imgrpost)
https://t.17track.net/en#nums=RB567416131SG
https://www.google.com.lb/maps/place/Ministry+of+Telecommunications/@33.8963251,35