We have had two parcels held for CITES inspections and the delays were on the
order of a couple of months (cutbacks they say!), but we eventually got the
parcels with contents undamaged.  A pain sure, but I'd rather they catch bad
guys who smuggle live parrots, rhino horn etc.

Nora
Calgary, Alberta
Canada

Ross Mayhew wrote:

> Barbara wrote
>  <That's the last time i make an overseas purchase!> or similar words.
>
> Many collectors, even some in the USA, feel this way for various reasons
> - customs interferance bieng the most frequent.  However, as long as no
> CITES species are involved, and all the shells (except for the little
> ones in shell grit, ie!) are identified and the localities speciefied in
> the shipment, customs are 99.9% of the time no problem at all -
> certainly many packages are intercepted, and one will hear horror
> stories of long delays or even damaged shells, but the ***vast***
> majority of packages crossing borders are completely untouched, and
> nearly all of the time that Customs wishes to check a parcel, they do it
> relatively quickly and quite carefully - i have sent over the years many
> hundreds of packages all over the world, and only three have been unduly
> delayed, no shells have ever been questioned by the authorities, and
> only one shell was ever damaged - most dealers will have similar
> records.  So, despite the "isolated incidents" of random beaurocracy
> which occasionally befall cross-border packages, the overwhelming
> majority reach their intended destinations in a timely and complete fashion.
> So far as rude replies to complaints, just go elsewhere if this happens
> - the vast majority of specimen shell dealers are pretty decent folks
> :-) !
> Finally, the cost of shipping will not be extraordinary if one refrains
> from ordering heavy shells (like that 2 foot long gastropod that comes
> from Australia that i can't ever remember the name of!!)
>
> From the Great Wet North,
> Ross.