Amazon and customs

[Frode]

We had a thread here a while back where I recommended other people buy from Amazon's BOGO sales, because 2 discs would come under the customs limit then, whereas they normally wouldn't. Other people then countered that Amazon would still write the value of both discs on the packaging, even if the invoice inside would contain the correct amount. The verdict is in: I was wrong.

I just got two packages from Amazon, both of which should have gone through customs scot free, but instead I got hit with extra fees. I wasn't satisfied with that however, so I called up and checked - if I'd called the post office (who do the customs processing here in Norway) before I picked up and paid for the package, I can fax them a copy of the invoice and get the amount fixed, but only if I haven't paid anything yet. What I also did is send off a complaint to amazon because of their mislabeling - this is the first time I've gotten a package from them and the amount on the outside doesn't match the invoice. It took two emails, but I got this response:

I see that has you were incurred an extra cost of $57.74 because of invoice problems.I can understand your concern regarding this issue.I have also passed your message along to our shipping department so that they can look into the matter further.

I've requested a refund of $57.74 to the payment method you used for your original purchase. This refund should go through within 2 to 3 business days. You should see it as a credit on your next statement.

If enough people complain about the mislabeling hopefully they'll change back to their old practice of stating total amount paid for the contents, rather than just the discs' listed price.