Thread: heads up - DHL Scam

Originally Posted by goingbush

Been buying a fair bit of stuff from overseas lately.

DLS Landrover Spares are great. for example,
3 x Coopers TD5 Defender Air Filters less than $30 AU delivered, (for the 3)
Set of Terreafirma Silicone Intercooler Hoses $112 in my letterbox
OEM Siemens TD5 MAF $133 delivered.

Why anyone would pay extorsioninst AU retail is beyond me.

Anyway when you go to chose a Mail carrier your probably wiser to check the regular option rather than the signed for option.

Signed for was here in 4 days via DHL
Regular in 5 days via royal mail

A week after receiving the MAF I got a Letter from DHL demanding $47.30 for quarantine Processing.

I smelled a rat because I get PipeLocators all the time from USA via DHL & never had one of these letters before. The MAF was not opened by customs & hard no stamp on it.

So then I found this http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/276573
basically some guy bought 2 tshirts & got the same $47.30 fee from DHL. which seems to be a scam.

Im not going to pay - will see what happens.

Did you read the last post? I would follow it up with DHL so they do not sell the debt to a debt collector.

I would say thats legit, the real scam is the email i got saying DHL had a parcel with 450,000 USD waiting to be sent to me - from West Africa no less.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Did you read the last post? I would follow it up with DHL so they do not sell the debt to a debt collector.

Yes, but they should send me a final notice before that happens, in which case if they do I'll follow it up quoting the tshirt case as a precedent. will post any updates here.

I'd be inclined to do exactly what he did... maybe even compare notes with all concerned. - Which is the last thing a dodgy courier business would want...

ring customs? and see if there is a quarantine processing fee on the goods you are bringing in , i have never had such a fee on the stuff i have bought in

Originally Posted by richard4u2

ring customs? and see if there is a quarantine processing fee on the goods you are bringing in , i have never had such a fee on the stuff i have bought in

If you read the blog site, DHL claim it is a quarantine processing fee, charged by DHL for DHL's own in-house processing.

The fee was not one levied by any Australian Government entity, not Customs and not AQIS, but a surcharge charged by DHL.

I've read about this a lot on another forum where they import cyling bits & pices from OS. DHL tries this on a fair bit & it's best just to ignore it.

Search Google for "DHL quarantine processing fee".

Air Express Carrier Fees - Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
I was charged $47 also by DHL last year . I will question them more next time .
Regards Philip A