Last time I had something to declare I got treated like a criminal. Yelled at by the agent who demanded to inspect my bags. I was waiting there while he rummaged through my dirty clothes and casually put my hands in my pockets. GET YOUR HANDS OUT OF YOUR POCKETS!!!!!.Mel wrote:Well guess what! I found out where the people who fail the TSA test go. They become "Customs" Agents.
We were returning from a cruise on Tuesday. My Wife had made a significant Jewelry purchase in Grand Cayman. While clearing customs, the agent told us to "Go into the little room and get out your receipts." We did this and waited and waited. There was only one agent and he appeared to be trying to figure out what to do next. After waiting 15-20 minutes (seemed like an hour), he returned and proceeded to add up our receipts. Every time he added it up, he included the "total" into the addition, thereby doubling the total. We tried to explain to him that the total was just that and NOT an additional item. Finally after going through this several times, we made him understand. He then figured out how much duty we owed and directed us to the cashier. We waited there for several more minutes before the cashier looked at our paperwork and told us what we owed. Amazingly it was the same that the customs agent had told us. Then after several more minutes, she came back to tell us that her computer was down so we would not be charged. By this time, the entire ship had been cleared so it was relatively easy to get a Taxi. AMAZING!
When he was finally finished, I requested to speak to a supervisor. I asked the supervisor why I was treated like a criminal when I voluntarily declared that I had duties I needed to pay... Why was I yelled at? Why search my bag when I'm declaring that I have dutiable items and just want to pay? Supervisor said he'd have a chat the the agent. yeah, right.