Letter from lawyer company, help please

[c0okie]

Hi guys,
I ordered 4 Breitling boxes from DHGate a while ago.
They were detained by customs.
Now got a letter from some lawyer company in which they ask me to give up the boxes so they van be destroyed, they also ask me to pay €125 for all their costs and a receipt where I bought it.
If I do that within 8 days they won’t take any actions, if I don’t they maybe want to get it to justice.

Sounds little strange, because I never got a letter from customs saying something was detained. When you order on DHG you can’t even see a Breitling logo on the pics.

I read in all these kind of topics never to react / reply to these kind of letters.
I guess this situation is the same or should
i do something else?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Nivka]

Do not respond. Sounds like you know the drill

 

[c0okie]

Thank you. Yes I read all about it but this is my first letter.

 

[kluzik1]

Wow that’s a screen play for a good movie

 

[andyr]

As Nivka says just ignore it. Once you respond and open up dialogue you have played into their hands. Sounds like a scam anyway.

Sent from the RWI App

 

[lcz.79]

100% scam...only someone try to make some money extra....
they saw your activity on dhgate and try to scamming you...

 

[c0okie]

As Nivka says just ignore it. Once you respond and open up dialogue you have played into their hands. Sounds like a scam anyway.

Sent from the RWI App

Many thanks for the info!

 

[c0okie]

100% scam...only someone try to make some money extra....
they saw your activity on dhgate and try to scamming you...

Thank you!

 

[tripdog]

Hi guys,
I ordered 4 Breitling boxes from DHGate a while ago.
They were detained by customs.
Now got a letter from some lawyer company in which they ask me to give up the boxes so they van be destroyed, they also ask me to pay €125 for all their costs and a receipt where I bought it.
If I do that within 8 days they won’t take any actions, if I don’t they maybe want to get it to justice.

Sounds little strange, because I never got a letter from customs saying something was detained. When you order on DHG you can’t even see a Breitling logo on the pics.

I read in all these kind of topics never to react / reply to these kind of letters.
I guess this situation is the same or should
i do something else?

Thanks in advance for your help.

You say your watches were detained by Customs, then later say that you never received a letter from them saying that hey had been seized and detained.

So the only written proof you have of seizure is the letter from the lawyer ?

Breitling, as a rule doesn't try to take legal action in these sorts of circumstance - the lawyers letters people sometimes receive are not lawyers working for Customs, they've usually been mandated by he watch manufacturer. Rolex take a far harder line and are informed by the relevant Customs agency, whatever the country, each time a counterfeit Rolex is seized - Rolex will then make a decision on whether to take legal action or not.

As has already been said, ignore the letter ( I assume you didn't sign for it ?), don't acknowledge or reply to the letter - the lawyers can't make you pay for their costs - if it were a fine issued by Customs, that would be different.

It would make sense to get a new shipping address organised for watches - or have it all triangle shipped.

What country are you in ?

 

[c0okie]

You say your watches were detained by Customs, then later say that you never received a letter from them saying that hey had been seized and detained.

So the only written proof you have of seizure is the letter from the lawyer ?

Breitling, as a rule doesn't try to take legal action in these sorts of circumstance - the lawyers letters people sometimes receive are not lawyers working for Customs, they've usually been mandated by he watch manufacturer. Rolex take a far harder line and are informed by the relevant Customs agency, whatever the country, each time a counterfeit Rolex is seized - Rolex will then make a decision on whether to take legal action or not.

As has already been said, ignore the letter ( I assume you didn't sign for it ?), don't acknowledge or reply to the letter - the lawyers can't make you pay for their costs - if it were a fine issued by Customs, that would be different.

It would make sense to get a new shipping address organised for watches - or have it all triangle shipped.

What country are you in ?

Thanks for your reply.

It was only about 4 boxsets actually and no watches. I only order watches from our TD’s.

The tracking on DHG showed the boxsets were with customs and that took quite a while. I waited 30 working days and already had contact with the seller.
Finally the seller said the boxsets were detained. I never got any letter from customs myself though.
So indeed the only proof is the letter from this so called lawyer firm.

The seller says he will ship again but now with Singapore post.

I’m in the Netherlands btw.

 

[tripdog]

Thanks for your reply.

It was only about 4 boxsets actually and no watches. I only order watches from our TD’s.

The tracking on DHG showed the boxsets were with customs and that took quite a while. I waited 30 working days and already had contact with the seller.
Finally the seller said the boxsets were detained. I never got any letter from customs myself though.
So indeed the only proof is the letter from this so called lawyer firm.

The seller says he will ship again but now with Singapore post.

I’m in the Netherlands btw.

I would say that the boxes were simply destroyed by Customs. Singapore Post will be safer - everything coming out of china is considered suspicious.

 

[c0okie]

I would say that the boxes were simply destroyed by Customs. Singapore Post will be safer - everything coming out of china is considered suspicious.

So just to ignore this letter is the best option right?

 

[johnnythefox]

Here is a link to the NL customs website regarding importing counterfeit goods https://www.government.nl/topics/export-import-and-costums/counterfeit-seizures It does say that if the goods are seized the importer will be fined. I wonder if they give your details to a law company to extract money from you. But there again the law company letter should state that they are acting on behalf of the NL customs and if they didn't then I would just ignore the letter.

 

[c0okie]

Here is a link to the NL customs website regarding importing counterfeit goods [video]https://www.government.nl/topics/export-import-and-costums/counterfeit-seizures[/video] It does say that if the goods are seized the importer will be fined. I wonder if they give your details to a law company to extract money from you. But there again the law company letter should state that they are acting on behalf of the NL customs and if they didn't then I would just ignore the letter.

Many thanks for your reply.

They sent the letter on behalf of the Breitling SA company.
But I see the letter is not very well made up. They miss some spacings between some words.
Are you from NL too? If so can I send you a pm?

 

[johnnythefox]

I'd just ignore it then. It's up to them to prove that you personally ordered and payed for the goods, which is virtually impossible for them to do.

 

[Tucker]

So just to ignore this letter is the best option right?

Absolutely. Do not respond.

 

[tripdog]

Ignore.

Ignore;

Ignore.

They were just trying their luck with the 125 euros - some people will pay, just because it's a lawyers letter. Even if it's a real law firm, pursuing you for such a small amount is not worth it for them.

 

[tripdog]

Ignore.

Ignore.

Ignore.

They were just trying their luck with the 125 euros - some people will pay, just because it's a lawyers letter. Even if it's a real law firm, pursuing you for such a small amount is not worth it for them.

 

[xray7]

I'm going to chime in here as someone who perhaps has a law degree. Perhaps more than one. Perhaps some insight also into customs and forfeited goods. If that were the case, my involvement with that kind of work, though very much only as an observer, is very much behind me. Perhaps I'm just a hobo with a thesaurus. This is the internet. Judge for yourself.

At the end of the day, a customs authority in a given country only pursues goods of certain names if instructed to do so via one means or another. The mechanisms for this vary by country. No country has a guy who has a job of proactively knocking on IP rights' owners' doors and drumming up administrative burden for the state. IP rights holders may be told where to go by lawyers.

In some countries, customs authorities detecting goods which infringe handle the whole thing out of the state's pocket. In some countries have an arrangement where the IP owner has to foot the bill for detention and destruction. The more things lean that way, the more value added the paying user tends to get.

Not naming names or locations, but I've seen a similar logo on a product everyone reading this would know be deemed similar enough (and in my opinion, while not dissimilar, I wouldn't call it similar) for the state to seize a shipment on the IP holder's behalf, then hit the allegedly infringing product's importers for the costs.

Could the original poster's correspondence in from a private law firm demanding what amounts to liquidated damages AND wanting him to snitch on the dealer be genuine? It could well be. Will most IP holders aggressively pursue someone over four boxes? Probably not. What gives this away as a play by someone who knows their options are limited is trying to gain added value for their cooperating, likely privately retained investigator.

Ignore. Don't enter into correspondence or your ability to deny later if they do go after you is gone.

 

[c0okie]

I'm going to chime in here as someone who perhaps has a law degree. Perhaps more than one. Perhaps some insight also into customs and forfeited goods. If that were the case, my involvement with that kind of work, though very much only as an observer, is very much behind me. Perhaps I'm just a hobo with a thesaurus. This is the internet. Judge for yourself.

At the end of the day, a customs authority in a given country only pursues goods of certain names if instructed to do so via one means or another. The mechanisms for this vary by country. No country has a guy who has a job of proactively knocking on IP rights' owners' doors and drumming up administrative burden for the state. IP rights holders may be told where to go by lawyers.

In some countries, customs authorities detecting goods which infringe handle the whole thing out of the state's pocket. In some countries have an arrangement where the IP owner has to foot the bill for detention and destruction. The more things lean that way, the more value added the paying user tends to get.

Not naming names or locations, but I've seen a similar logo on a product everyone reading this would know be deemed similar enough (and in my opinion, while not dissimilar, I wouldn't call it similar) for the state to seize a shipment on the IP holder's behalf, then hit the allegedly infringing product's importers for the costs.

Could the original poster's correspondence in from a private law firm demanding what amounts to liquidated damages AND wanting him to snitch on the dealer be genuine? It could well be. Will most IP holders aggressively pursue someone over four boxes? Probably not. What gives this away as a play by someone who knows their options are limited is trying to gain added value for their cooperating, likely privately retained investigator.

Ignore. Don't enter into correspondence or your ability to deny later if they do go after you is gone.

Many thanks for your advice.