I have posted over in the eBay forum a long time ago so I thought I would give you all an update. It has been a very stressful fight dealing against not only the US Customs, but also Balenciaga's trademark attorney in the US. Things finally resolved in my favor, I still suffered slight financial loss but I am very thankful of Bal HQ's kind help which was the only reason why US Customs agreed to release my bags.
Please pardon the long story, but I hope by sharing this experience here no one would have to go through the same crap I did with buying/selling/trading Bals across borders. I read another tpf'er went through quite a nightmare dealing with LV for similar issues. I've also just read another thread involving 2 Tory Burch's being "seized" by US Customs - I guess they are really taking anti-counterfeiting seriously these days. While I think this is a good thing, it would also be inevitable that some authentic (especially pre-owned) bags mistakenly get "caught" as fakes.
So here is what happened:
Please pardon the long story, but I hope by sharing this experience here no one would have to go through the same crap I did with buying/selling/trading Bals across borders. I read another tpf'er went through quite a nightmare dealing with LV for similar issues. I've also just read another thread involving 2 Tory Burch's being "seized" by US Customs - I guess they are really taking anti-counterfeiting seriously these days. While I think this is a good thing, it would also be inevitable that some authentic (especially pre-owned) bags mistakenly get "caught" as fakes.
So here is what happened:
- I sent 4 used Bals from Canada to the US through UPS. The price was negotiated as a lump sum total to be $2800, but instead of declaring the value as such, I (being in a rush) inadvertently declared $2200 on the custom form.
- A few days later UPS informs me the parcel was held by US Customs & Border Protection (CBP) for authenticity verification. Then a few more days later they told me the shipment was seized because all 4 bags were deemed counterfeits.
- I corresponded with US Customs Officers to figure out how they came to such conclusion. One told me they follow a strict verification protocol, and that a Bal rep DID verify that they were counterfeits (though her tone didn't sound like she was very sure). Then I consulted another officer on what they need from me in order to release my bags. I was told I need to submit a petition with 10 days with proof of authenticity. Here's the fun part, they would not tell me what they would accept as PROOF beside original store receipt. I asked a number of times whether or not a letter from Carol Diva or My Poupette would suffice - the officer simple IGNORED the question.
- I must note that I live in Canada, there is no Bal boutique here so majority of my collection are finds from eBay or Bon. hence providing original store receipts is out of the question. Also, whatever paper cards I had for the bags were SHIPPED WITH THE BAGS.
- So I put together a petition outlining the features (ie hardware, leather/metal tag etc) that make my bags authentic. I decided not to use paid authentication service (did I mention the buyer basically said she will not deal with US Customs, despite the fact that I said I would put together all the paper work, all she has to do is help inquire what's needed from her side of the border just for efficiency sake? Not only that, the buyer, while agreeing that she is fully aware that my bags are authentic, files a dispute with PP within days of the seizure so at this point my PP account was frozen so I had no way of paying Carol Diva for her service)
- After dropping approx. $100 into having a waiver form notorized (required by US Customs indicating that I will not sue them upon choosing to submit a petition as the course of action) then mailing in all the documents through overnight express, US Customs responded to tell me they won't release my bags because they were fake, and once again, with no details given as to what makes them fake.
- I emailed the officer again to ask what protocol they followed and how they came to the conclusion that my bags were fake. She told me to contact Bal's trademark attorney (R. Elings) in NY with Greenberg & Traurig.
- I have attempted to get in touch with Ms. Elings even as I was writing up the petition. I sent email after email, all courteously worded, only to receive no response from her. After being directed by the customs officer to get in touch with her, I dialed her number and send more emails and finally heard back from her.
- After a 10 minute conversation with Ms. Elings and sending her pics of my bags, she told me she will hand the case off to a contractor (Vaudra Ltd.) because it is more cost efficient for the client (Balenciaga). The same day, I got an email from the Vaudra rep saying that she will contact US Customs and look into the authenticity of my bags. I responded to her email and offered to send her all the paperwork if necessary, but she never responded.
- 2 weeks later, I still have not heard back from Vaudra or Greenberg & Traurig. During this time I have sent a number of emails, politely asking for updates, if any, and each time I offered to provide any info that they may need to push things ahead. Still no response from either party.
- Finally I emailed Vaudra again, and cc'd Greenberg, to ask if there has been any update. Vaudra replied to tell me she has not been able to get in touch with US Customs and asked me for the contact info of the officer in charge of this case.
- I emailed back right away with the contact info of the officer I have been in correspondence with. WITHIN 2 HOURS (that tells you if she's actually inspected the actual bags in person), Vaudra emails me back and basically said that they have confirmed my bags to be counterfeits, asking me not to bother with submitting further appeal. She also indicated she won't release details as to what features indicated to them that my bags were fake, but that they do follow a striction authentication protocol. (I agree with and fully respect this policy, because counterfeiters can easily improve their products if they knew what features they need to fix).
- I emailed Vaudra and Greenberg to inquire whether or not they have actually re-inspect the bags (noting the 2 hour turnaround in results), and politely asking for a response even if they needed some more time to look into the issue. But these lovely, professional ladies were never heard from again!
- At this point, I was very PO'd. I know my bags are NOT fake, and not having original store receipts should not make them fake. And just because I have been dealing with ill-trained authentication "professionals" shouldn't make them fake either. Well I have been going through some serious emotional issues so I figure I can't sleep anyways, may as well call Balenciaga HQ in Paris in early a.m. I got nothing to lose anyways, since I was pretty much told I won't get my Bals back. But even so I wanted to proof my bags are authentic - just for the sake of it!
- So I called Bal customer service at 3 a.m. my time. Communication was somewhat awkward since I don't speak French, but they understood it was about authenticity issues and I was directed Isabelle who looks after those things.
- I send Isabelle photos of my Bals, and within the same day, she responded to tell me what she felt the issues were (without disclosing too much details of course). She said my bags didn't have the long tassels and that the mirrors weren't attached to the bags. Seriously??? Thats it????? But...but...but...do they not realize my bags are NOT new from the boutique so of course they are not packaged like they once were. (This tells you how specific the authentication protocols are - pre-owned bags can easily get caught as fakes by mistake!)
- I pointed this out to Isabelle and she agreed she would look into the authenticity of my bags further. After a week or so I did bug her again for updates (at this point I really hated chasing after people for updates and was starting to think that it is APPROPRIATE business etiquette to ignore people's inquiries). Isabelle did respond the same day saying they are in correspondence with US Customs and that everything is under control!!
- Finally, I GOT A LETTER IN THE MAIL FROM THE US CUSTOMS SAYING THEY WILL GIVE ME MY BAGS BACK!!!! I made arrangements for UPS to pick up the bags and had them sent back to me.
- So my bags finally came back to me (about 4 months after I first shipped them). But guess what? 3 dust bags went missing! After several more email exchanges, the US CBP officer informed me they have found the dust bags and that they would be mailed back to me. Well, it has been 2 weeks now and still nothing came in through the mail!