Parcel held by customs but received the same products in the past with no charges.

I'm writing this review and giving 3 stars due to being dissatisfied with the customs and SARS process at DHL. I had great service from a lady called Tebogo and she responded back to my emails in a prompt manner and also went out of her way to assist me. I had no choice to review here because it's not easy to deal with SARS and customs directly. They will never answer any calls, emails or direct correspondence.

My issue is with the custom stop and the random selection supposedly of my parcel and yes I do understand this is out of DHL's hands. What frustrates me is why may parcel was stopped and why I have to pay such extravagant charges. For the past few month's I've tried my luck with competitions and have won a few for international shipping and received all my parcels in good order without any charges levied.

DHL already send one last year to me with no charges. This year I received another parcel from the same company with no charges. To make it clear I've received 6 altogether, 2 from DHL and the others from different shipping companies.

Now where the issue comes in is customs flagged my parcel as devalued. The invoice price and product description do not match. "WELL," the funny part about this is all the other invoices I've received along with the product have the same value due to them being a competition prize. The company who sends these devices will value all prizes on the invoice the same no matter where it lands all over the world. They also pay the shipping charges.

I've sent through all my information as requested via email and informed customs I had no invoice because no item was purchased. I included all the screenshots and correspondence about winning the competition and I will receive my gift from the company. It was shrugged off and customs send me an Invoice where I must pay penalties. The total amount due to release the parcel including penalties are R 1475. The product if purchases in South Africa from reputable dealers including tax will be around R550. I'm charged POST CLEARANCE MODIFICATION FEE: R 975.00 and a PENALTY supposedly me being guilty of evading tax of R 500.

I've tried to contact customs, mailed them with no avail. They seem to stall these type of events to add more charges. I am sure this amount shown above won't be the last invoice I'll receive. How is it possible to clear parcels with the same contents and the same value each time with no hassle but all of a sudden this happens? This product is legal in South Africa and comes from a company who sends hundreds or even thousands of products each day to SA. Customs should already know them well. It's clearly stated on DHL's website: The total value of the gift cannot exceed R1400.00 (or approximately USD90.00, rate of exchange dependent). If the shipment value is above R1400 duties and taxes will be payable for the entire value of the items, not just the amount over R1400.

The product value when sold abroad on the specific website is promotional at $ 20 and with shipping, the total comes to $30. FAR below the value as indicated and even sold in SA for R550 at most. The invoice when shipped will show the amount of $20 for the product including the description. It clearly says if a parcel is above R1400 taxes and charges will be levied. So in my opinion customs overrules their own terms and make decisions to their own liking depending on who is working that specific day.

My friend has won the same as I did and received his parcels marked with the same value on the invoices and description with no charges levied. Does this make any sense whatsoever? If these parcels are devalued according to customs why is there so many that will slip through if it's a problem? Are certain people targeted by customs each day randomly to make their lives miserable and the others can get away with it? It's really not the receivers fault especially if it's a gift or a prize when the supplier indicates lower value on their invoices. It's unfair.

I've sent a mail indicating I'm unemployed and will not be able to pay for something I didn't do and I then refuse to parcel and it can be auctioned off or destroyed. I will also not pay any return fees to the supplier if it's their fault of devaluing the product. Now I must wait for a further 3-5 days for confirmation from customs and I'm sure they will add the extra R80 storage fees per day on the invoice because "I'm guilty". Then everyone who received their gifts must automatically also be guilty but it seems only certain people will be selected and the others can slip through. The whole process doesn't make sense.

I'm not disappointed with DHL and know you guys only handle shipping but it's a strange way of handling packages. Which ones are legal and which ones are not.

Raising more red flags is all off sudden receiving private messages on Facebook messenger from random people asking me if I'm struggling to release packages at customs and will assist for a special fee. Where do they receive this information from? Something fishy going on and I'll let someone investigate.