Samsung Galaxy S

Tim182 said:
Told you ;-). Can you do me a favour and let me know how much you paid in customs? I feel like I was overcharged but had no choice but to accept it, paid R900 in customs and VAT.
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Will post here when I find out. The guy said I'll get a call on the day they deliver it to tell me what to pay and how to pay. I hope for less than R900...
 
Maddmatt said:
Will post here when I find out. The guy said I'll get a call on the day they deliver it to tell me what to pay and how to pay. I hope for less than R900...
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+1
I'm actually following your quest and will probably buy one if yours turns out ok.
Already registered on handtec.
 
Think you got overcharged Tim? Try R1133.69 :erm: (customs and VAT)
I complained that I thought it was too much but that didn't work...

The lady said she would email me the payment details. 20 minutes later and she still didn't, so I called them. Gave another lady my email address. 45 minutes later, still no email. Odd, but maybe they just take a while.
 
Maddmatt said:
Think you got overcharged Tim? Try R1133.69 :erm: (customs and VAT)
I complained that I thought it was too much but that didn't work...

The lady said she would email me the payment details. 20 minutes later and she still didn't, so I called them. Gave another lady my email address. 45 minutes later, still no email. Odd, but maybe they just take a while.
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Hmmm, lets think this through: you bought yours in UK for 380 Pounds ex VAT. I bought mine in Germany for 380 Euro ex VAT. The difference at the current rate is 35 Euro which is almost 350 Rand. 14% VAT on 110% Value + that weird 7% tax I also had to pay makes 22.4% on R350 which is R78.4. I paid R900 + R80 for the courier clearance. Your 1133.69 probably includes the courier clearance fee in which case the difference is 1133.69 - 980 = 153.69. As explained above your VAT+customs should be R78.4 more, leaving about R75 unexplained.

So you didn't get charged that much more, only R75 really. Maybe the UPS charge is more expensive than DHL express? Anyway, I really wonder what that 7% charge is?!! It is listed as Type: ADV, Rate VPB and then there is something about Inv Foreign Act and Sch1p2b. P$%$es me off because the customs schedule clearly states the tariff code for handsets as free under 8517.12.00. Obviously there is a tariff code elsewhere, namely DE8517.12.00 if that makes sense to anyone which somehow seems to add an additional 7% on cellphones imports from europe even though it is not listed in the customs schedule.
 
Here is the answer

Schedule No. 1 Part 1 states: Telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks: EU free (http://www.sars.gov.za/Tools/Documents/DocumentDownload.asp?FileID=60422)
Schedule No. 1 Part 2B states: Telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks: Telephone sets, including telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks;
other apparatus for the transmission or reception of voice, images or other data, including
apparatus for communication in a wired or wireless network (such as local or wide area
network), excluding transmission or reception apparatus of heading 84.43, 85.25, 85.27 or
85.28: Excise/Customs Duty: 7% (http://www.sars.gov.za/Tools/Documents/DocumentDownload.asp?FileID=56228)

That explains the high costs... Still, there is some mess up in my bill, probably yours too. The tax bases seem incorrect. Before, I never had to pay VAT on shipping. This time I did. Anyway, still cheaper than it will be locally and on expansys!
 
Is there anyone we can contact about it though? I guess it's one of those South African things that we have to deal with and nobody important could be bothered to get off their fat butt about it...
I paid. So hopefully I'll see my shiny new toy tomorrow.
 
Maddmatt said:
Is there anyone we can contact about it though? I guess it's one of those South African things that we have to deal with and nobody important could be bothered to get off their fat butt about it...
I paid. So hopefully I'll see my shiny new toy tomorrow.
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Well, the problem in this case clearly is the transparency of the import tariffs. While an expert working in the business would probably know that cellphones appear in Schedule No. 1 Part 1 as well as Schedule No. 1 Part 2B, most other people would overlook the appearance in Schedule No. 1 Part 2B. From what I know the transparency requirements are well fulfilled though so there is no point arguing that.

The only thing that could be argued is the tax base, something which I am sure has been messed up in my invoice. But even if it was corrected I would AT BEST get R150 back. Plus, when you accept the article you have to sign that you accept that the custom duties etc are correct, so from a legal point of view, once you've accepted from the courier, there is no way to get anything back. And if you don't sign you don't get the article and have to pay storage fees to the courier company.

That's why normally it is best to have things send via normal mail with tracking and sort customs out yourself. However, if you order an article this expensive, then you don't want to risk loosing it, so its worth paying that little extra.

The real problem, which it boils down to, are the people working at customs who don't do their job consistently!!
 
Anyone tried beautiful widgets?
I can't seem to get it to show the weather forecast on the clock widget.
 
alf101 said:
Just ordered one from handtec, been billed R4319.
Now for the wait and for customs...
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Awsome :-).


I guess after all the orders we've placed and the feedback in this forum R5100 - R5500 is a safe estimation for the total price for those still interested in importing
 
Tim182 said:
Awsome :-).


I guess after all the orders we've placed and the feedback in this forum R5100 - R5500 is a safe estimation for the total price for those still interested in importing
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Yeah it seems that way, its a decent price.
Can't see it going for less in SA.

Hopefully the phone is ok, and works fine.
Don't want to have to return the thing.
 
alf101 said:
Yeah it seems that way, its a decent price.
Can't see it going for less in SA.

Hopefully the phone is ok, and works fine.
Don't want to have to return the thing.
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I am sure it will be. Did some research beforehand and very very few of the Galaxy S seem to be faulty. Far less than the Wave for example.

will post some feedback on the new firmware later. So far so good
 
A co-worker got a Wave - the screen is amazing! It easily outclasses my Desire (Screen quality at least - BADA still needs a bit of work and the screen is a bit small) :( I can only imagine what a 4" SAMOLED must like, but I'm sure it must be awesome.
 
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It has arrived! I must say it looks even better in person than the pictures. They (handtec.co.uk) even gave me a South African charger, very nice surprise :)
The box is much smaller than usual, but it's packaged very nicely.
 
Maddmatt said:
It has arrived! I must say it looks even better in person than the pictures. They (handtec.co.uk) even gave me a South African charger, very nice surprise :)
The box is much smaller than usual, but it's packaged very nicely.
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Welcome to the ever growing family of happy Galaxy S owners :D
 
Here is some feedback on the new firmware (I9000XWJG5)

- system does indeed run smoother, less lags. not much of a difference though
- there is a big difference in battery comsumption. My phone has been off the charger for 7 hours and the battery is still on 60%. That is with heavy usage, 20sms, 10m calls, constant wifi, 1 hour of surfing. Still not perfect but its getting there, I am sure that the capacity will get better after a few more recharges. The biggest user is the screen 75%
 
Do you have a link to download the firmware?
And how did you go about updating it? Odin?
 
Just flashed with JM2. Busy doing the Lag Fix and will report back with how it all goes.
 
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