Canadian Customs/Health Canada Seized My Laser [Letter inside]

[regalis]

Customs here in UAE think that lasers exist only in pen form, they even can't recognize these CNI cr2 hosts as lasers :crackup:

Hopefully the german customs also don't recognise my lasers which are shipped here

 

[HIMNL9]

Naah, they recognize them (mine was a 18650 host) ..... they (here, at least) just don't care about laws.

Our law say clearly that the ban is not applicable for pointers "sold for specific professional use only" ..... and don't ask you to proof that use ..... so, technically, any pointer sold for "specific professional" (and NOT SPECIFIED) use must pass the custom office.

Instead, CSI Forlanini and Lonate Pozzolo custom offices, each time they see a pointer they *COUGH*steal it*COUGH* (pardon, it's technically called "send it back to the seller" here ), and, sometimes, after some month (usually 4 to 6 months, if you're lucky), they send you a letter saying "the content was not admitted for the import, so it's sent back to the seller", regardless if the content was admitted or not, if it was sold for legit uses or not, just as personal decision of the employees.

In the last year and half, i received 7 of these letters ..... "casually" always about good pointers around 150 / 200mW, never about cheapy ones ..... "casually" all the times from foreign sellers, so check is more difficult ..... and, as i've said, this one is the first case where the pointer was really sent back to the seller, all the other ones NEVER reached the sellers (i asked all the times).

Just speaking about "honesty" of some public employees

I still remain on my idea ..... gasoline and matches can solve some problems, sometimes, better than bureaucracy ..... :eg:

 

[regalis]

OMG...
No i'm scared...just payed the last bit of my money to get an laser...
Maybe i should invest some more to get it send per express with trackingnumber!?
I hate bureaucraZy

 

[HIMNL9]

^ well, i don't know about German laws, but i got my 400mW one without problems asking the seller to ship it in 2 parts (paying shipping extra for the second package), and declaring it as "spare parts" (that, basically, is the truth, cause both the parts was not complete pointers, and cannot act as pointers alone) ..... cause the ban, here, is for "laser pointers and other objects with laser pointer function", it does not apply to parts or spare parts.

But you need to check your local laser laws, about this, and also you need to ask the seller if he can do this double shipping, cause unfortunately not all the sellers accept to do this.

 

[Tech_Junkie]

I don't know why you would want another arctic.

The more the merrier.

Kind of an ironic statement seeing that WL is the one thats causing a big enough problem to warrant laser seizures in Canada.

I do feel for you though. Its straight BS.

 

[JBTexas]

Instead, CSI Forlanini and Lonate Pozzolo custom offices, each time they see a pointer they *COUGH*steal it*COUGH* ...

Just speaking about "honesty" of some public employees

I still remain on my idea ..... gasoline and matches can solve some problems, sometimes, better than bureaucracy ..... :eg:

You should get someone over here (overseas from you) to get a box and ship it to you... they declare it as "BIG FRICKIN POWERFUL LASER POINTER - CUSTOMS PLEASE DO NOT EXAMINE".

But inside, it is REALLY filled with a couple dozen miniature teeny tiny starving hungry cannibals.

 

[regalis]

@HIMNL9: Thanks for pointing me in that direction...
Asking the seller about customs and he said that it should be no problem because he'll ship only the parts *hehe*

@JBTexas: Good idea..maybe Flesh-Eating-Bugs

 

[JBTexas]

I can send Fire Ants. GENUINE Texas flesh-eating fire ants. IF I can figure out how to harvest a hive without getting eaten myself. They are mean, aggressive, and evil.

 

[regalis]

rofl...
If our customs seize my Laser your fire ants would be very welcome!
Open a webshop where people can order your fake HIGH-POWER-LASER-DO-NOT-FUCKIN-OPEN packages filled with mean and hungry ants

 

[Slythh]

Hello all,

My frist public post! About a month ago I had ordered an Arctic and it too was seized by Canadian Customs. I contacted Wicked Lasers and a replacement was sent - thank you guys!!
I sent a scathing letter to customs about 24 days ago - funny as hell, and as yet I have not received a response back. I sent it from an email account that is obviously from a police station and cc'd my corrections account - hoping to give a little more "legality," and legitimatecy (sp) to its use.
I will try and dig up the letter that I have saved - and post it later. I really have no really hold no hopes of receiving the first laser - but, I felt a little better after sending the letter, and a lot better after receiving the second letter from Wicked Lasers.

 

[spyrorocks]

Please do post your letter. If I can get some ideas of how to properly word a letter to health canada, I will send one and try to get the laser released.

 

[spyrorocks]

Update

Just got package in the mail with arctic goggles and a battery/charger, and another notice telling me health canada seized my package.

They should have seized the explosive batteries

 

[Tech_Junkie]

Man that sucks. We all knew WL would screw it up for everyone when the Arctic hit the market.

 

[random person]

Looks like WLs own rep will kill its own business... Not to many laser hobbyists would cry if they went. However, really sucks to hear that your lasers are keep getting stolen.

 

[Teal]

You likely won't get your product back citing "burning plastic" as your intended use.

Kindly explain to customs that you intend to use the laser for displaying astronomical objects. For this purpose you require a laser with a clearly visible beam. The beam from 5mW lasers cannot be seen by most persons under regular viewing conditions. The Arctic Spyder III is suitable for this purpose, due to its bright blue beam that is clearly visible in the sky under most viewing conditions. From your experience, laser pointers of lower optic power provide an inferior viewing experience.

[Note: this is actually a "legitimate" use for high powered lasers and one of the reasons I want to build one]

 

[Tech_Junkie]

So you think saying that you want to point a 1W laser in the open sky will get his laser back? :crackup: Good luck.