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Sending studio unit to USA for repair - customs / taxes / your experiences


roman_sub
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Hi guys

Unfortunately my newly purchased 2nd hand studio rack EQ has arrived with a problem - that, to cut a long story short - I can't have repaired by anyone else other than the manufacturer. It's a hand-tested and hand-calibrated dual sealed potentiometer - and I can't get hold of this part any other way. They said they can only do it themselves as it also requires further calibration of the unit.

I received authorisation to have it fixed at the factory in USA.... but this will obviously require me to get the unit to them in the first place.

Does anyone have any experience with sending "warranty" units out of the UK (/EU), into a territory such as the US; and then having them shipped back?

Can anyone help me understand if I'd be liable to customs duty at any point, as the unit is technically being exported / imported? (hopefully not as it's very expensive brand new...).

Also, any recommendations on which courier - would royal mail / USPS be a bad choice here?

Finally, should I be truthful on unit value declaration - or does it not matter, if it's being sent under warranty / non-working? Also thinking for insurance purposes...

many thanks in advance for any experiences or advice.
Roman

Edited by roman_sub
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In the past I bought a guitar with some some alembic electronics in it on ebay and had to ship the electronics back to the Alembic for repair as it wasn't working. It was out of warranty and they told me that they have to declare any new parts fitted and you pay duty on that cost.

Also if you have current insurance on the item you can ask if it includes insurance for common carrier which will save you having to insure it separately through the carrier.
On fixing the electronics, have you tried giving John East a call to see if he can fix it. He's designed studio gear and might have/or be able to get the parts you need and fix it.

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[quote name='jazzyvee' timestamp='1509573455' post='3400069']
In the past I bought a guitar with some some alembic electronics in it on ebay and had to ship the electronics back to the Alembic for repair as it wasn't working. It was out of warranty and they told me that they have to declare any new parts fitted and you pay duty on that cost.

Also if you have current insurance on the item you can ask if it includes insurance for common carrier which will save you having to insure it separately through the carrier.
On fixing the electronics, have you tried giving John East a call to see if he can fix it. He's designed studio gear and might have/or be able to get the parts you need and fix it.
[/quote]
Thanks! If declaration has to cover new parts only, hopefully this will be very low, as value of the pot itself shouldn't be too much.

Cheers for heads up on John, I'll give him a call.

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You would typically fill in a "Foreign Shipper's Declaration of US Goods returned form" - something along the lines of this - http://images.fedex.com/downloads/jp/contact/cf3311.pdf

When I returned goods, I attached it to the package itself and sent a copy via email to the manufacturer. In the description, specify the goods and underneath that, the statement "returning for repair" and "9801.00.1055" (this is the HTS code for U.s. Goods Provided For In Chapter 85, Others, Returning, Without Having Been Advanced In Value Or Improved In Condition By Any Process).

I also tend to put my phone number on as the sender and the destination address and phone number (which should be on the package anyway).

I've done this plenty of times. Went through no problem, no customs problems. On return to the UK, the manufacturer should be clued up enough to do the same for bringing it back into the UK. As stated above, the only chargeables will be components, postage and bench time and not the cost of the unit itself.

With regards to insurance - cover it at it's full cost.

Hope this helps.

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Thanks a lot, EBS_freak, exactly what I was looking for.

I did speak to John East earlier, who was kind enough to offer to send me a similar pot as a freebie, but we came to the conclusion that it wouldn't be a perfect replacement and the original manufacturer probably gets custom order pots from Bourns. This means that doing this properly and having the original factory do the work is the only real viable option if I ever need to resell the unit...

Edited by roman_sub
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Can't really comment on your specific case but i got a pedal from a US online store a few years back and they declared in the invoice that it was a waranty repair return, i didn't had to pay custom taxes for the pedal or any parts. The full value of the pedal was on the invoice.

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