Today I read an interesting thread in a german flashlight board about flashlights from China being retained or possibly destroyed by german customs since July 1st due to missing safety labels, namely the CE mark. A member told, he didn't get his Solarforce L2T and so on. Unfortunately the whole thread and every regarding post was destroyed by the mods for in my opinion very arguable reasons.
So do you fellow countrymen have similar experiences with german customs? I am highly interested in this topic cause I expect a double digit number of orders in the next weeks.
I will post a link to BLF in that forum but I expect it to be deleted as well...
Now you got me worried, heinzeins! I'm waiting for a number of packages too, not the least for a solarforce delivery that is on its way for over a month now...
Well, if its their opinion that you shouldn't have bought it in the first place, it is your loss... just like when they confiscate counterfeit products, or illegal goods. No cashback.
Oh man, this is bad... where will I buy new bright toys if not in China? Does this mean I am limited to Not-Budget lights now? I don't even like $urefires...
They deleted your introduction? Good thing I am not an active member over there... I would hate to invest my time into a post an then get it kicked by the admins.
Now my account is disabled open end, just for an introduction and asking if it is possible to discuss customs regarding topics.
It wasn't me who started the discussions there and there are many members who are interested in these things in that board, maybe some will find their way here.
I don't know, they have a couple of admins and a bunch of supporters with enhanced rights and close anything that seems to be inappropriate. To answer your second question: Yes
They recently deleted every topic and review regarding Led Lenser, the only german flashlight manufacturer worth mentioning for reasons I can't even think of. I would so pissed of if I write a review and it gets deleted without comment. Whats the purpose of an independent board where you are not allowed to mention anything negative?
Well, kinda. The admin is responsible for everything that is posted on his site, and at least in theory they can bust his a$$ for it. Don't know to what extend that happened in the past, but because of this some admins are veeeery picky about what is not okay to talk about.
That said, a civilized discussion about what can be ordered from china without customs dumping your package should be in everybodies' interest. Just has to be kept within the letters of the law, there is no point in trying to fool customs anyway.
Yes, thats the thread. I completely forgot about google cache, I was more worried about the behaviour of the mods...
I found a thread in a radio controlled helicopter board with over 50 pages that states that every electronic product from china gets temporarely confiscated and checked.
I second that. Its important to know if you can order hosts, batteries, emitters or complete lights without problems. Noone wants to fool customs but I don't want to feel unconfident if I get my toys...
My point of view is, that if free forums get censored for bad reviews or reviewing wrong products, linking to vendors with decent reputation etc. it´s not a free place anymore. Not a place to look information, takes the whole idea of free, accurate information from internet down the drain :|