Customs Question

[SweetSue]

Several years ago, a friend of mine was bringing down a big suitcase full of school supplies which she had promised in advance. SO when she got banged for a $25 overweight luggage charge, she paid it. However, insult got added to injury when going thru customs (voluntarily declared) and they charged her some ridiculous duty fee because 1) they couldn't believe someone would bring all of that down just to GIVE away 2) despite receipts, they couldn't believe it all came from dollar stores. Its a shame her good deed got punished... She now packs less and doesn't declare a thing.

[TBfan]

Been through similar (though I was not expecting to be paid for the items) but I did not expect to have to pay duty. Some customs agents are reasonable but some are trying to squeeze $$ out of travelers and others are just plain NASTY!