Hi, I think these Post Office guys are trying to extort me. My iPhone XX Max order from Amazon just arrived and the guys at the Post Office, EMS precisely,
placed a call to me to come collect my order but I should come with my money, I was surprised because I've never been charged to pick any of my orders from overseas.

On getting there, a paper was flashed at me telling about token which was running into 70,000. I objected and he quickly collected the paper and asked that I write to the GM through him. On further probing, he started talking about customs duty and some other incoherent stuffs which don't make any sense to me.

I left there without writing the letter because I don't understand what difference the letter would make if the charge is from customs.

Has anyone been in similar situation? How did you go about it? If the customs want to charge duty on an item, doesn't it have to be held at the ports and only released after its been cleared? If the phone has been cleared by customs, does the EMS guys have any obligations to charge for customs duty or any duties or taxes for that matter? Please I need someone that knows much about how the customs duty and other charges work to enlighten and educate me more about it and most especially, advice me on how to go about it.

Its basically extortion.

CLOUT:
Its basically extortion.

So please what do you advise that I handle this?

nineone:
So please what do you advise that I handle this?

I don't know if its right to post this here but you should just find a way to bribe the Nipost official with some money. That is what they're asking for indirectly but not with that 70k. If that doesn't work then maybe you should threaten them or just call their bluff. Perhaps, you may involve some legal means like a lawyer or something. Just fine a way to get your stuff without being ripped off with such ridiculous amount.

CLOUT:


I don't know if its right to post this here but you should just find a way to bribe the Nipost official with some money. That is what they're asking for indirectly but not with that 70k. If that doesn't work then maybe you should threaten them or just call their bluff. Perhaps, you may involve some legal means like a lawyer or something. Just fine a way to get your stuff without being ripped off with such ridiculous amount.

thanks for this. Actually, I called NIPOST and complained. They said I should pay whatever fee I'm asked to pay that's it's real. I wrote their emails and was told there are some communication between Customs and EMS but I should demand for the Delivery Note. They said there's a legit operational cooperation and communication between NIPOST and Customs. I collected this and sent to NIPOST. they took a week to send a reply that the DN is genuine.

All this time, I was in contact with the Customs operation unit in my city. We have a project going on about one pole away from their post so I have access to them. They seemed lost about the whole thing. This I observed from their body language. They were all insisting that it's a fraud from NIPOST but they didn't look like they were sure or knew what they were talking about. I met their overall boss, showed him the delivery Note and he said it's fraudulent. Some of the Customs guys volunteered to go with me to EMS but on an agreement of a fee. I agreed to pay because I don't mind paying to get my parcel but only trying to make sure I wasn't being extorted. They didn't seem very serious so I removed my mind from their.

After more than a week of being in contact with customs and not having any luck in getting a satisfactory and convincing reply, a Customs guy saw us passing and requested to see the DN which I sent to him on whatsapp. He sent a reply the following day declaring that the DN and fee is genuine. That the EMS guys are customs agents. That same day, NIPOST replied my email of about a week and declared it genuine.

I went to NIPOST the following day and paid the money and collected the phone. Nigeria is a very funny country. There should be a way to confirm the authenticity of such things on the internet. Till now, I'm not convinced of the genuineness of the whole information I got from NIPOST or customs. NIPOST can cover for their people if that's their way of getting illegal money in the organization just as immigration and Road safety do when you want to process your Passport and driving licence. And the customs guys gave conflicting information.

I'm still interested in getting to the real story so I know how to go about it if I encounter this in future. I've never encountered any thing like this in all my shipments. Any useful info would be appreciated