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A reship company is holding my packages hostage

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neobev

Member
I use a reshipping company to forward international purchases to me. They have physical mailing addresses in both the UK and Canada, so I purchase items from international vendors and have them shipped to the reshipping mailing addresses, and then I pay the reshipping company to forward them to me in the United States. I've used them without hassle for over a year now.

Last month, out of the blue, I received an email from the reshipping company saying that my account was closed. It was a standard form email with no details. I immediately tried to call them, and the phone just rings and rings (I've since tried repeatedly on different days and this is always the case; apparently they can't be bothered to ever answer the phone). I contacted them via email and eventually received a message saying that "Your account has been closed at the request of the local police office while they investigate an issue." I've asked for further information, including how I could contact the police in question myself, but I have been refused any further details. They've only said that they'll reopen the account once the case is closed.

Now I have absolutely no idea what this could possibly be about. I use the reship service in the manner that it is intended for, and the items I purchase have been entirely DVDs and CDs available through Amazon Canada and Amazon United Kingdom - nothing illegal, nothing even borderline, just import versions of some mainstream movies and albums. I don't even know the country of the "local police office" in question - it could be either Canada or the United Kingdom.

If they just don't want to do business with me anymore, that is their prerogative. But I have about a dozen packages sitting in their warehouse that I was waiting to bundle into one package and have shipped - I don't intend to just forfeit those items that I've already paid for. I didn't immediately push for shipment, because I didn't want to seem like I had something to hide, like I needed the items shipped asap before the police might inspect them. But it's been a month now, the police have had ample time to inspect them if they so desired, but I still can't get any answers or movement from reship.com.
 
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PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
You are likely buying counterfeit DVDs and that is the problem. If they are counterfeit you will not be receiving them or if you do the UPS guy is may be a fed.
 

neobev

Member
You are likely buying counterfeit DVDs and that is the problem. If they are counterfeit you will not be receiving them or if you do the UPS guy is may be a fed.
I am not purchasing counterfeit DVDs. They are being purchased from reputable sellers on Amazon.ca and Amazon.co.uk - most times from Amazon itself, not even a third-party seller on Amazon.

If one of the items I purchased is somehow a counterfeit (which I cannot verify until I actually receive my items), then that was not known to me at time of purchase, and I have thus done nothing wrong. If the police want to seize one of the items, I would at least expect to be notified of that and have the remainder of my purchases released.
 

neobev

Member
Sorry, I did not know not to mention vendors - I will edit out the names. I am a US resident dealing with this situation, so where should I post this?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Sorry, I did not know not to mention vendors - I will edit out the names. I am a US resident dealing with this situation, so where should I post this?
Your matter pertains to the law(s) of another country (or countries), not to US law. This forum is for US law matters only.
 

neobev

Member
If I were to contact a US attorney, would he be unable to give me any advice? Would I have to hire both a Canadian and a British lawyer to get even the most casual assistance? Or is it possible that you're being uncharitable to a good-faith question?

And for what it's worth, the reshipping company is headquartered in the US and provides US-to-Canada and US-to-UK forwarding as well, so they exist as a legal entity in the US.
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Your items are being held up by the police of a foreign nation. For what it's worth, your matter is not a US law matter.
 

neobev

Member
It is unclear that the items are being held by the police. The only information I have is that the police have asked the account to be suspended. As far as I know, the US-headquartered reshipping company has my items in their warehouse.

And even if my issue is with the police, would I not turn to a US lawyer to find out how I, as a US citizen, can or should interact with foreign police? My next step after 'free advice' was to try to find an appropriate US lawyer, so if your (informed) answer is truly that that is useless, that I should be somehow trying to find a Canadian lawyer as my very first step, I would like to know your reasoning so I can act on it.
 

Just Blue

Senior Member
If I were to contact a US attorney, would he be unable to give me any advice? Would I have to hire both a Canadian and a British lawyer to get even the most casual assistance? Or is it possible that you're being uncharitable to a good-faith question?

And for what it's worth, the reshipping company is headquarter in the US and provides US-to-Canada and US-to-UK forwarding as well, so they exist as a legal entity in the US.
sigh...

This site handles United States law only. No one here can assist you with a foreign legal issue. Find an attorney in either Canada or the UK (which ever country has a hold on your items).

This is not "uncharitable"...indeed it would be irresponsible of the volunteers here to advise you on a matter which they have no knowledge.
 

PayrollHRGuy

Senior Member
Or you could hire a US attorney licensed to practice law in Oregan (Portland is where they are based) to ultimately sue them for not fulfilling the contract they have with you.

I assume during the process you will find exactly why the products have not been shipped to you and your US lawyer can advise on your next steps should it be law enforcement that is causing the problem.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Your advice is sound, however, it might have hurdles to jump, not the least of which is the $100 limitation of liability for any shipment.
 

quincy

Senior Member
It is unclear that the items are being held by the police. The only information I have is that the police have asked the account to be suspended. As far as I know, the US-headquartered reshipping company has my items in their warehouse.

And even if my issue is with the police, would I not turn to a US lawyer to find out how I, as a US citizen, can or should interact with foreign police? My next step after 'free advice' was to try to find an appropriate US lawyer, so if your (informed) answer is truly that that is useless, that I should be somehow trying to find a Canadian lawyer as my very first step, I would like to know your reasoning so I can act on it.
I didn't have the chance to read your original post before it was reported so I am sorry if you already addressed this but: Are you working out of your home, where you receive and then repackage goods for shipping?
 

neobev

Member
I didn't have the chance to read your original post before it was reported so I am sorry if you already addressed this but: Are you working out of your home, where you receive and then repackage goods for shipping?
I'm not working out of my home or in any way operating a business with regards to this situation. I'm purchasing items for personal use, and the reshipping company I've been using seems larger than a home-office operation - they have physical locations in the US, UK, and Canada and, as far as I can tell, have a sizable customer base.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
The company that the OP uses allows him to purchases items from out of the country and have them delivered to the company, whereupon the company "reships" the item from their location to the OP. This makes it so the OP doesn't have to do the legwork for importing, and also gets around restrictions on shipping outside of certain geographical locations.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I'm not working out of my home or in any way operating a business with regards to this situation. I'm purchasing items for personal use, and the reshipping company I've been using seems larger than a home-office operation - they have physical locations in the US, UK, and Canada and, as far as I can tell, have a sizable customer base.
Thanks for answering my question, neobev.

I know some goods ready for shipping from overseas have been seized because the goods were purchased using stolen credit cards.

Thanks, Zigner. I think using reshippers is a way to avoid the payment of taxes, too.
 

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