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Dealing with Customs/Skylasers reply posted

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Linkreincarnate

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So my laser from Skylasers is not being cleared by customs. They aren't telling me I can't have it, but they aren't telling UPS to continue with the shipment either. The laser has been in Louisville, Ky for two days and had three import scans, but has yet to depart for it's final destination(my greasy mitts.) Has anyone else had something similar happen to them? Should I be worried? The UPS person on the phone said that they declared it as a 60$ Flashlight and that customs wasn't clearing the import scan. He also said the the shipment wasn't flagged by them either. In Skylasers defense I haven't heard their side of the story so the may be a reasonable explanation. If I get a response soon Ill be sure to post it.


Any advice on speeding the process up would be greatly appreciated.
 





Re: Dealing with Customs

Most of the time when customs flags an import it's because the import documentation is vague. They are usually looking for a more in-depth explanation of the item. A general term like flashlight does not provide enough detail to make a clearance decision. They are probably waiting on detailed description information from either you or the originator/manufacturer. Does the UPS site mention FDA or just customs in the hold up? If it mentions FDA then the jig is up and you or Sky will need to provide a FDA 2877.
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

From what I understand it's a customs thing. Skylasers says that they are legal in the us. They do follow all of the safety guidelines.

Here's what their faq says about the legality of skylasers in the us.

Yes, all SKYlasers.net portable laser pointers are 100% legal to own and use within the United States. Our portable lasers are fully compliant with FDA safety standards and incorporate a 5-point safety system which includes an aperture shutter, key switch, indicator LED, interlock, and output delay. We have obtained an FDA accession number for the legal import of our portable laser pointers shipped to the United States.

How likely is it that this information is true?
If it is true and is just a customs thing, how can I get them or ups the FDA accession number and detailed info to get this thing moving again?
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

Skylasers is VERY trustworthy and has made successful trades very often. Their customer support is also EXTREMELY helpful. I recommend you contact them for specific laser/FDA issues. The contact page is on their site.
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

The problem is not that their lasers are FDA compliant, the problem is there is not enough information. If they ship the laser as a flashlight and the inspection demonstrates it's not a flashlight customs starts asking questions. Just because they have all the required safety systems does not mean they have an FDA accession number for legal import which is probably why they are shipping it as a flashlight.
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

Linkreincarnate said:
From what I understand it's a customs thing.  Skylasers says that they are legal in the us. They do follow all of the safety guidelines.

Here's what their faq says about the legality of skylasers in the us.

Yes, all SKYlasers.net portable laser pointers are 100% legal to own and use within the United States. Our portable lasers are fully compliant with FDA safety standards and incorporate a 5-point safety system which includes an aperture shutter, key switch, indicator LED, interlock, and output delay. We have obtained an FDA accession number for the legal import of our portable laser pointers shipped to the United States.

How likely is it that this information is true?
If it is true  and is just a customs thing, how can I get them or ups the FDA accession number and detailed info to get this thing moving again?
Click to expand...

Dont always believe what you read. Yes the lasers are 100% legal in the US but importing over 5mW pointer isn't. And if they had a legal right to import them why is it listed as a flashlight?

You can get all the parts here and DX to build just about whatever you want for around $100 give or take. Cheaper if you want to do all the labor. Plus people back their stuff up. It would be much safer and you would get a better product in the end.

Good luck.
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

RTFQ. I just realized it does say they have the accession numbers so my guess is customs wants more information.
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

Th0ughts said:
Skylasers is VERY trustworthy and has made successful trades very often. Their customer support is also EXTREMELY helpful. I recommend you contact them for specific laser/FDA issues. The contact page is on their site.
Click to expand...
That's the impression that I got as well. I did a lot of research before buying. I just don't understand why UPS is telling me that Skylasers claimed my 300+ rated laser as a 60$ flashlight if they have an FDA accession number. At this point, as long as I get it they could claim it was a shipment of foul tempered monkeys for all I care.
I did contact them but I'm in America and they are in China. I'd imagine they won't be open for another 3 hours or so.

They responded here is what they said. Minus my personal info like address and so forth.

Hi Justin,

The laser unit is FDA approved and we have the appropriate paperwork to clear customs. To save time, we sometimes declare the value of the content to be lower than its actual cost. Also, this way, you will not incur any additional customs taxes with your order. Did you receive a notification saying your item has not been cleared? According to UPS's tracking system, your item is being scanned at the moment and should be ready for delivery soon. Looking forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

SKYlasers.net


Second e-mail


Hi Justin,

I also wanted to send a copy of our FDA approval to you and to assure you that we'll try our best to get this laser unit declared and delivered to you. If we are unable to do so, we'll have another laser unit shipped out for you. We understand you maybe somewhat disappointed and we apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused. We will do everything in our power to have your laser delivered, you're in good hands.

Sincerely,

SKYlasers.net

and finally a cut n past of the "FDA" approval verbatim (remember that last point it really was this in a word fie)

Food and Drug Administration
Center for Devices and
Radiological Health
1350 Piccard Drive
Rockville,MD 20850

December 26 ,2007 Reference:0710888-000

Jinhua Wang
Manager
SHENZHEN KEYUAN CO.,LTD.
RM 606, Buji Cunwei Bldg.,
Jizheng Rd, Buji Town,
Shenzhen,China 518112

This is to acknowledge of your product ....

Your document has been assigned an accession number of 0710888-000,....

Further, the submittal has been assigned an informal subject title of " This submission is a(n) Initial Product Report . This Surveying, Leveling, Alignment Laser Products include designated model family(s) Laser Pointer with model(s) DPL, Brand Name S-KY ."

....

....

Sioncerely Yours,


CDR Sean M Boyd


You be the judge. I just want my laser. I hope it's worth all this...
 
You will get your laser, I'm sure that if they weren't confident that it would pass customs, they wouldn't bother trying to ship it. Judging by your other thread as well, it looks like you're getting more for your money's worth. If customs does not pass your laser for whatever reason, I'm sure that skylasers would oblige themselves to send you another free of charge (we can hope). I know for a fact that nova used to do this.
 
Yeah they did say that in the e-mail. I'm just worried about the wait. It was almost here. I'm not bashing skylasers I'm just showing what's going on with my order. If anything I am angry at customs for taking so long and UPS for only trying to get clearance twice a day around 12 and 2 AM. Even though that FDA ::) letter was highly suspect, I do think that they will keep trying until I get what I ordered. They have been very helpful and patient with me throughout. The frustrating part is I have family in that town but they couldn't even go pick it up because UPS wouldn't give it too them. (Even if I asked)
 
Re: Dealing with Customs

Tech_Junkie said:
[quote author=Linkreincarnate link=1232736836/0#2 date=1232742455]From what I understand it's a customs thing.  Skylasers says that they are legal in the us. They do follow all of the safety guidelines.

Here's what their faq says about the legality of skylasers in the us.

Yes, all SKYlasers.net portable laser pointers are 100% legal to own and use within the United States. Our portable lasers are fully compliant with FDA safety standards and incorporate a 5-point safety system which includes an aperture shutter, key switch, indicator LED, interlock, and output delay. We have obtained an FDA accession number for the legal import of our portable laser pointers shipped to the United States.

How likely is it that this information is true?
If it is true  and is just a customs thing, how can I get them or ups the FDA accession number and detailed info to get this thing moving again?
Click to expand...

Dont always believe what you read. Yes the lasers are 100% legal in the US but [highlight]importing over 5mW pointer isn't[/highlight]. And if they had a legal right to import them why is it listed as a flashlight?

You can get all the parts here and DX to build just about whatever you want for around $100 give or take. Cheaper if you want to do all the labor. Plus people back their stuff up. It would be much safer and you would get a better product in the end.

Good luck.
[/quote]

[highlight]importing over 5mW pointer isn't[/highlight]
It is if the lasers are FDA certified.

[highlight]you would get a better product in the end[/highlight]
The professionally build laser is much more likely to be of a higher quality, as it will have not had the chance of a human error, as it will be build by a robot i would think
 
Courier shipping seems to attract attention from customs in many countries. Plain airmail seems to be the best option if you need something to arrive no problem. My dilda and two greens came from DX by airmail no problem, not opened at customs. My Lasercheck came by UPS, the package was opened and inspected by customs. (I am in Canada)
 
Well it took four days but my package finally cleared and is on the way somewhere. Whether that = home or china I don't know yet. I think it's coming to me though
 
Linkreincarnate said:
Well it took four days but my package finally cleared and is on the way somewhere. Whether that = home or china I don't know yet.  I think it's coming to me though
Click to expand...
Good to hear it brother. I'm still waiting on a module to finish my first build. I'M DYING FOR IT TO COME!!! :o
 
Uhh what's with the horrible spelling and bad grammer in the FDA declaration?? I'd think that since the FDA is a United states government branch that it would be clear of any engrish.
 
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