Watch seized by Swiss customs - rep fan from Switzerland, what should I do ?

[greonmiaiiunm]

Hey all

So I have done my first purchase and it has been ceased by the customs Am working with a TD so he will ship again with PostNL triangle shipping instead of DHL. Hopefully this will work better.

My concern is the Swiss custom reported the problem to the "Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry" and they send me some forms with a 150 CHF (~= 160 USD) bill to pay. Am concerned about this bill and what do to. They say if I don't fill in the form an pay the bill, they will sue me. So I have two options :

A) I fill in the form and pay the bill. I admit I have ordered this watch. Am scared what will happen next. What if they catch another watch from me ?
B) I just ignore the papers and the bill and cross my fingers... maybe I'll get a letter from the judge ? Or maybe nothing will happen.

What do you think? Do some other Swiss rep fan have handled that case? If yes, how ?

Thanks a lot for your input and time!

Cheers

G. AKA noob rep fan

 

[freediver]

I think from what have people said before with such issues,the best is to ignore the letter.

Unfortunately Swiss customs look strict

 

[muiramas]

Glaude

probably knows best. Usually you would ignore it but Switzerland is extraordinarily organised and quadruply ruthless.

 

[greonmiaiiunm]

I think from what have people said before with such issues,the best is to ignore the letter.

Unfortunately Swiss customs look strict

Thanks for your input freediver - am actually more enclined to ignore the letter. About 60/40 currently. Let's see where this discussion brings us.

Glaude

probably knows best. Usually you would ignore it but Switzerland is extraordinarily organised and quadruply ruthless.

Thanks to you muiramas - hopefully someone has already experienced this and can relate what they did.



In 2015, a guy near Lausanne was judged for owning 100+ rep watches and won in court against the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry. This confirms that we are allowed to own rep watches, as long as we don't intend to do business and earn money with them in Switzerland.

Source : https://www.tdg.ch/economie/detenir-fausses-montres-interdit-suisse/story/16967380 (french paper)

 

[Glaude]

Just ignore that letter it's no different than other ones in other countries

 

[Tucker]

Do NOT fill in the form or pay the fine. That’s an admission of guilt. Ignore it. The only evidence they have that you ordered the watch is the fact that it was addressed to you. I can’t imagine that would get them there in a court of law. It wouldn’t in the U.S.

 

[YellowFin]

Switzerland is Switzerland - these guys are overly correct and have no sense of humor whatsoever. Might make sense to at least discuss this with a lawyer...

Since you're based in Switzerland, you probably already know the official Q&A site of the Swiss anti-piracy alliance. https://www.stop-piracy.ch/

 

[kavorca1]

Remember.. The watches we buy are "gifts" for personal use not resale. Who is to say that you already owned that watch and sent it to China for repairs? Just saying...at least in conus there wouldn't be enough to prosecute....now if you had a lot of watches confiscated then that may be a different story cause it would look like you intend to resell.

 

[Glaude]

Switzerland is Switzerland - these guys are overly correct and have no sense of humor whatsoever.

And also very slow and lazy :lol:

While in most EU country there's no admission of guilt by paying a fine (it's even always the only way to later contest said fine, paying it first), here you are dealing with a private party wanting to scare you by squeezing a quick buck out of you, we are not talking about any realistic counterfeiting fine here, this is to scare you nothing else.

They won't go any further this time as it would just not be worthy, get another one seized and it'll be a different story, they might start thinking there's more than just collecting for personal use.

Go with triangular shipping, open a PO box and you'll be all ok

 

[Halien]

And also very slow and lazy :lol:

While in most EU country there's no admission of guilt by paying a fine (it's even always the only way to later contest said fine, paying it first), here you are dealing with a private party wanting to scare you by squeezing a quick buck out of you, we are not talking about any realistic counterfeiting fine here, this is to scare you nothing else.

They won't go any further this time as it would just not be worthy, get another one seized and it'll be a different story, they might start thinking there's more than just collecting for personal use.

Go with triangular shipping, open a PO box and you'll be all ok

why PO box please?

 

[Glaude]

why PO box please?

It's just if you want to be extra extra careful, it's usually not needed

Customs will look out for previous name & address in their system, if it's a PO box, you are starting fresh again as it'll either be a nickname or number and a very generic address as PO boxes are in buildings alongside a ton of other PO box

 

[r0b9502]

Whether you ask for delivery to your residence or a PO box, use a different name from 1st order if an ID is not required for pickup.