Revenue and Customs are going to destroy my Genuine goods. Help Please.

TheRacerboy5

I require some assistance with this problem which I am facing.

I ordered 2x Refurbished boxed Iphone 5s from Ebay coming from Hong Kong posted with the Global Shipping Program which includes the Import Charges and Vat as far as I know.

Got Notice of Detention in the post Yesterday to say the goods are conterfeit and that the revenue are going to destroy them. They require me to either 1. agree to the goods being destroyed or 2. I believe that the goods do not infringe an intellectual property right and do not agree to their destruction.

Now this is why I believe the goods are genuine. I have read loads of reviews saying the phones are genuine and work perfectly as in Grade A+. The seller has only has one negative feedback and its not to do with electronics. Over 567 of these have been sold.

I believe there may have been a mistake with the order as the Notice of Detention states the goods are 2x AOOLE Mobile Phone (Right Holder Appple Inc.) I believe this may have been a typo as the P and O are located beside each other on the keyboard. I am not 100% sure they are genuine but have a strong feeling they are.

Either way Im not sure what to do.
Do I:
1: Let them destroy the items valued at €463.50 and go to paypal to claim as I have proof from a govt body that they are counterfeit goods

2: Try and convince them to turn them on and check the phones serial number on the apple coverage checker to see if they are fake. But will more than likely receive a bill from them.

Thanks in advance I am open to any suggestions and advice.

VincePP

sorry - but just because someone on ebay say that something is genuine, doesn't mean it is genuine.

In any case aren't customs givign you an option to declare that the product is genuine?

Simply contact them, give them details of the ebay listing, say that they have been purchased as refurbished apple iphones and see what their repsonse is.

TheRacerboy5

VincePP wrote: »

sorry - but just because someone on ebay say that something is genuine, doesn't mean it is genuine.

In any case aren't customs givign you an option to declare that the product is genuine?

Simply contact them, give them details of the ebay listing, say that they have been purchased as refurbished apple iphones and see what their repsonse is.

Thanks for the advice Have tried to ring them numerous times this morning and no answer from a few different numbers. Yeah I do agree that you cant believe everything on Ebay but its just strange that if they are fake why is there not more negative comments and so many positive ones about the product?

Anyway thanks again for the advice.

Lux23

I could be wrong, but I suspect they have already checked the serial number and they know it is fake. Counterfeit aren't just fake, they often don't reach minimum safety standards so maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

But could you contact the seller and ask them for the serial number, if they are genuine they should be keeping these things on record?

TheRacerboy5

Lux23 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I suspect they have already checked the serial number and they know it is fake. Counterfeit aren't just fake, they often don't reach minimum safety standards so maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

But could you contact the seller and ask them for the serial number, if they are genuine they should be keeping these things on record?

I dont want to contact the seller just yet as I dont want to scare him off. Afterall I will want to open a dispute with paypal.

TheRacerboy5

Lux23 wrote: »

I could be wrong, but I suspect they have already checked the serial number and they know it is fake. Counterfeit aren't just fake, they often don't reach minimum safety standards so maybe this is a blessing in disguise.

But could you contact the seller and ask them for the serial number, if they are genuine they should be keeping these things on record?

I reckon you are probably correct with the safety standards. Its not the phones but its the accesories that are the problem its probably a knock off charger in the box.

Cheers for the advice.

stronglikebull

TheRacerboy5 wrote: »

I reckon you are probably correct with the safety standards. Its not the phones but its the accesories that are the problem its probably a knock off charger in the box.

It's quite possible that these are counterfeit phones, especially since they're coming from China. There's a huge industry in knock off iPhones from China, so it's very possible in this case. You'd have to check with Revenue to find out why they believe they are counterfeit, but it's likely that they've checked the IMEI and determined this to be the case.

tnadolecki

TheRacerboy5 wrote: »

I require some assistance with this problem which I am facing.

I ordered 2x Refurbished boxed Iphone 5s from Ebay coming from Hong Kong posted with the Global Shipping Program which includes the Import Charges and Vat as far as I know.

Got Notice of Detention in the post Yesterday to say the goods are conterfeit and that the revenue are going to destroy them. They require me to either 1. agree to the goods being destroyed or 2. I believe that the goods do not infringe an intellectual property right and do not agree to their destruction.

Now this is why I believe the goods are genuine. I have read loads of reviews saying the phones are genuine and work perfectly as in Grade A+. The seller has only has one negative feedback and its not to do with electronics. Over 567 of these have been sold.

I believe there may have been a mistake with the order as the Notice of Detention states the goods are 2x AOOLE Mobile Phone (Right Holder Appple Inc.) I believe this may have been a typo as the P and O are located beside each other on the keyboard. I am not 100% sure they are genuine but have a strong feeling they are.

Either way Im not sure what to do.
Do I:
1: Let them destroy the items valued at €463.50 and go to paypal to claim as I have proof from a govt body that they are counterfeit goods

2: Try and convince them to turn them on and check the phones serial number on the apple coverage checker to see if they are fake. But will more than likely receive a bill from them.

Thanks in advance I am open to any suggestions and advice.

Hi.
I'm in same exactly situation. I've received same exactly letter, same thing - refurbished iphone 5.
Marked second option "I believe it's genuine...." and sent it back yesterday.
The letter did not say what's going to happen next...
Let me ask, did you get your phone at all. What was the outcome ?
Thanks.
Tom.

TheRacerboy5

tnadolecki wrote: »

Hi.
I'm in same exactly situation. I've received same exactly letter, same thing - refurbished iphone 5.
Marked second option "I believe it's genuine...." and sent it back yesterday.
The letter did not say what's going to happen next...
Let me ask, did you get your phone at all. What was the outcome ?
Thanks.
Tom.

After about 3 weeks of being in the unclear not knowing what was happening I received an email from revenue stating.

"As the Rights Holder has not responded within the timeframe"

They released the 2 phones and I had to pay VAT at 23% on the value of the item and €7 to an post for handling fees so it ended up costing me €120 smackers.

Although I was happy that the phones were in complete and perfect working order.

So to anyone reading this I hope that you NEVER EVER buy anything outside the EU without adding on the 23% VAT.
For the money I ended up paying for the phones I could have bought two new ones here in Ireland. Lesson learned

VincePP

TheRacerboy5 wrote: »

So to anyone reading this I hope that you NEVER EVER buy anything outside the EU without adding on the 23% VAT.

That's hardly new - that's they way it has been since vat was introduced.

Many items will also be subject to duty and vat is added to the entire landed cost of item + delivery fee + duty. Doesn't matter if it a single phone or a container full of phones. Same rules apply.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

TheRacerboy5 wrote: »

After about 3 weeks of being in the unclear not knowing what was happening I received an email from revenue stating.

"As the Rights Holder has not responded within the timeframe"

They released the 2 phones and I had to pay VAT at 23% on the value of the item and €7 to an post for handling fees so it ended up costing me €120 smackers.

Although I was happy that the phones were in complete and perfect working order.

So to anyone reading this I hope that you NEVER EVER buy anything outside the EU without adding on the 23% VAT.
For the money I ended up paying for the phones I could have bought two new ones here in Ireland. Lesson learned

The VAT has nothing to due with your issue regarding suspected counterfeit goods.
Duty, VAT and handling charges are always extras when buying from outside the EU.

Wait until it applies to goods from the UK.

mad muffin

I thought you said you payed the vat and import charges already?

TheRacerboy5 wrote: »

posted with the Global Shipping Program which includes the Import Charges and Vat as far as I know.