Hi All,
I too received the same kind of issue. for my Cloud Architect certificate, i have opted for thule Laptop bag. i received a call from postman for the parcel which contains a customs charge slip for INR 6827 which is to be paid at the time of delivery. the customs slip was pasted on top of your parcel , they also contains calculation slip on how they arrived on the amount 6827. in my case, the bag worth was declared as USD 90, but the Indians Customs charged a whooping 77% of Duty on top that value. when they asked in post office, they said they dont have any authority to comment on the taxation part. so there are three options, either you accept the parcel by silently paying the amount or deny to accept the parcel and return to sender (google) or request the postmaster of that postoffice in written to send the parcel to customs again for revalidation (yes its permitted as per law, and the same is printed on customs slip as well).
i took of photo of the parcel including the customs slip clearly and request the post man to keep the parcel hold for 1 week , in the mean time, i wrote a mail to Robertson marketing (google perks incharge) about the scenario and requested their clarification. they assured they can reimburse the tax if i am ready to pay it. i also sent them the customs slip because that will be only proof for your payment as there will be no bills given by post office. google is ok with that slip as bill too.
i paid the cash INR 6827 and received the parcel which is worth of USD 90. then i wrote again to robertson marketing with the scanned proof of the customs tax bill, they sent me an email asking for medium or refund. they provide two options, first is payPal which is faster and easier for them and the second one is charge back in our Credit Card. Since i dont want to deal with USD in paypal and converting that to INR etc,.. i opted for credit transaction in my credit card. i shared them my CitiBank VISA credit Card details. i received a confirmation sms about the credit transaction in 3 days and it was visible in my statement in 7 working days. their refund process is smooth.
PS : 1) i came to know Customs will charge you tax if the value of gift item exceeds INR 5000. so USD 90 is greater than INR 5000
2) Robertson Marketing collect your credit card details in a seperate application via the link shared by them, which is only visible for their Accountants, you will not share the card information in plain email. so no need to worry about sharing the card info. but make sure your credit is open for international transaction.
Let me know if you have any Queries.
--Jeevanand Kesavan
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