I had bigger and bigger cracks developing on my early batch Kickstarter unit, and after my first no-response RMA attempt, I decided to try again last November. It took two months, but at last I was told to return my unit to the French “warehouse”, which I did. About a month after that, I got a shipping notification from Hong Kong and DHL customs contacted me for more details. I sent them the very unprofessional looking PDF (below) I got from Pimax explaining this is a replacement unit and they told me that since the return unit went to France and the replacement came from China, I’ll need to pay customs and taxes. The value on the label said $80, so at least it’s “only” about $38 total (DHL fees included) that I need to pay.
I’ll see if I can get Pimax to reimburse that.
So be careful if you’re told to RMA outside of Hong Kong.
Dear Custom,
Sorry for the inconvenience caused to you. Our customer: <<>> purchased the product because
of quality issues were returned, and we found that it could not be
repaired after testing. So we provide him with the replacement
service. This letter certifies that is an after-sale replacement product. Please approve the clearance. Thank you for your help.
Pimax Technology(Shanghai)Co., Ltd. 2020.02.10
I had an issue with UPS, but didn’t pay anything in the end. Make sure not to agree to any carrier fees for handling your product, it’s supposed to be handled at the local customs closest to you.
Also, you need to show the customs your earlier proof of purchase which includes the taxes already paid, the support ticket history, and the retoure label you used to return the defective unit.
UPS charged me around 50€ after handling it, which I declined, with some knowledge in the local trade laws to back me up. It’s basically ransom - but unfortunately seems pretty common - their contract is between Pimax and them, you’re not part of it and not eligible to be billed. UPS wrote it off.
Pimax really needs a forward shipping center in the EU.
Precisely what I was afraid of too after support also told me the defective HMD will have to be shipped back to Pimax french warehouse but then the replacement HMD could come either from France or from China if there was no stock in France.
@SweViver : Can you do something about that ? I find it is not an acceptable aftersale policy as some will have to pay customs for a replacement unit if sent from China while others will have this replacement at no additionnal cost if available within Europe.
People should not have to pay any import tax for any replacement, Pimax should not send replacements from China directly to customers (unless the said customer explicitly asks for it to customer support to speed-up delivery).
Default policy should be to regulary send stocks (HMDs, accessories, spares) to Pimax European warehouses from where it will then be forwarded to customers.
“or” (but less convenient for the customers): make a clear policy Pimax will always reimburse customs (if they think the win/loss balance is better when saving as much as possible on shippings by sending mostly from China and reimburse customs when “they get caught”).
Imho, sending replacements always from the European warehouses (unless explicitely asked/allowed by the customer) is the most professional option (best option for customer satisfaction).
If you get contacted by UPS or DHL with a customs charge you need to explain the situation. First off YOU are not their customer so you absolutely don’t have to pay their “handling fee”. Secondly, if you talk to customs directly they should waive the customs fee too, as its not your fault you bought something broken from a chinese company who is sending you FOC replacements from China and you already paid taxes on the original item.
Yes it will delay your package, but once you pay the charge there is very little you can do to get it refunded.
While you do not have to, you usually want. This is at least my experience with DHL here. They “offer” you customs handling for a fee (~20€) or you can opt to do it youself, but you have to pick up the form at some remote DHL warehouse, then go to some remote customs office to file them and pay, and then go back to DHL to reclaim the package.
It is deliberately set up this way, so you can justify the “handling fee” .
PIMAX gives (or at least in my case) an option of waiting for a replacement via Germany or Hong Kong. They explained the case that choosing to source one direct from Hong Kong is quicker but will incur import taxes.
I wasn’t given the option. I ended up paying a total of $47 (including DHL’s ridiculous service fee of $20), which I will try to get reimbursed on with Pimax.
i need to pay 108€ for not having a “Exportfright certificate”
this certificate says that i send back my old Pimax 5k+ … what i cant do since I did not export it myselfe! i send it to an amazon warehouse.
So what i need is this certificate so i can get my money back from the german government or i want my money back from pimax.
problems i have found in this process
-Pimax sends HMDs from Hong Kong from an alias ELVA FORD, in order to make it trough customs without problems is that the defect HMD must been send to this ELVA FORD adresse or else this whole process is NOT an EXCHANGE RMA !!
as an example
When we send them to an Amazon Warehouse WE MUST get the new HMD from that Warehouse or else Tax.
When we send them to ELVA FORD we MUST resieve the new HMD from ELVA FORD or else Tax.
When we send them to an Amazon Warehouse WE must get the EXPORTFRIGHTCERTIFICATE to proof that the HMD is send back to Pimax.
Mine was replaced by NA service center and because Pimax failed to indicate “RMA replacement” info on the paperwork I got taxed. Opened a ticket and settled for almost full refund to my Paypal and a protective sleeve for the difference,
.