USPS Mail help at Customs in Italy

[Agrawas]

Not sure if the topic belongs here, let me know if I need to move it to any other section..

Well I send few collectible items to someone in Italy and it has been help at Italy Customs for more than 2 months. Is there anyway to get that package back to US or make sure it gets delivered?

Can't find much on the contact info from anywhere, the latest tracking update it shows is

"Your item is being held in Customs at 10:33 am on September 12, 2019 in MILANO ROSERIO CSI, ITALY."

Now the old tracking is also not showing up on when I originally mailed the package which was back on June 29


Thanks!!

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[krogothmanhattan]

That sucks big time...so sorry to hear that man.

Read this https://www.reddit.com/r/USPS/comments/boplgm/package_held_in_italy_customs_for_over_a_month/

 As the sender, you can file an International Inquiry via 1-800-ASK-USPS OR go to USPS.com, hover over the help menu, select file a claim, and select the international tab where you can file an inquiry yourself. You can request current status and whatever information is necessary to get the item released in that inquiry. Our international research group will contact Italy and reply to you when they reply to us.

[SaltySpitoon]

So when a package gets held by customs, the customer is typically delivered a bill that says, pay this much in tariffs or else you won't get your package. I've sent many packages  where the customer decided not to pay the import taxes, so they were marked as "not called for" and returned to me in the US. It typically takes a really long time, but they should end up back to you.

What concerns me is the update to Customs date. When you mailed it on June 29th, did your tracking number have a similar message that said it was being held by customs in July? As far as I know, things that are held for that long are things that are banned or have had secondary checks done on them to reassess value or to confirm that they aren't banned or concealing contraband.

[Agrawas]

So when a package gets held by customs, the customer is typically delivered a bill that says, pay this much in tariffs or else you won't get your package. I've sent many packages  where the customer decided not to pay the import taxes, so they were marked as "not called for" and returned to me in the US. It typically takes a really long time, but they should end up back to you.

What concerns me is the update to Customs date. When you mailed it on June 29th, did your tracking number have a similar message that said it was being held by customs in July? As far as I know, things that are held for that long are things that are banned or have had secondary checks done on them to reassess value or to confirm that they aren't banned or concealing contraband.

From the screenshot I took on July 16 it was the same message of Held at Customs. Well if it's unclaimed I am happy to get it back even if it takes longer.. (Any idea about how long?)

I just got off the phone with USPS and they said they are not sure about the message but looks like the history of tracking was archived on Sep 12th and they left that last message as the latest update on the shipment.

[SaltySpitoon]

From what I know, if the person didn't collect the goods in month after they were in customs clearance, the item is confiscated from the country.
This is irreversible...
In other hand, there still may be 0.01% chance which the receiver can claim the item to be returned to the sender.
In that case if this 0.01% work (which I highly doubt sadly) you will need to pay the customs fees which the receiver avoid.

I have had plenty of non-claimed international packages sent back to me.
Why would the country confiscate it?  Seems like theft to me.......

Going to second that, it doesn't get confiscated, it gets returned. Again, thats if there isn't something legally an issue. If you declared the collectibles as raw textiles or something, that can complicate things.

From the screenshot I took on July 16 it was the same message of Held at Customs. Well if it's unclaimed I am happy to get it back even if it takes longer.. (Any idea about how long?)

I just got off the phone with USPS and they said they are not sure about the message but looks like the history of tracking was archived on Sep 12th and they left that last message as the latest update on the shipment.

I just checked one of the packages that I had returned and tried to put together a timeline for you. A package I had shipped was received by Customs on 5/21/19 (it has a sticker on it that says so) It has another sticker that says that the customer failed to pay and the package was being returned on 6/18/19. The tracking number actually shows on the USPS site that it returned back to the US on 8/8/19 and was delivered at my mailbox on 8/13/19

[hybridsole]

Things in Italy move SLOW.  Two months is not that long for their gov't.  Hopefully if it's anything like USA Post Office, it's just moving through the process but on the Italian timescale.  Come back in six months 

[Agrawas]

Things in Italy move SLOW.  Two months is not that long for their gov't.  Hopefully if it's anything like USA Post Office, it's just moving through the process but on the Italian timescale.  Come back in six months 

Thanks, that’s what i have been reading on forums about the Italian work culture..