I have mentioned this already in the 15mm ltd thread, but decided to start a new thread.

B&H has recently started the delivery service where you can pay the customs duties and VAT in the price. I wonder if anybody here has used that service, especially somebody from EU?

My experience isn't very good so far, but admittedly the problem seems to be with UPS and not B&H. I ordered the lens last monday and it was sent very fast. In just about two days the package was in Helsinki (our capital, about 330 miles from where I live). Then the delays started. UPS tracking page showed that the delivery would be on thursday the 18th. As it was my day off, I spent nearly the whole day at home waiting for the delivery. Which never happened. Then the next day I called UPS and heard that the lens was still in Helsinki, because they needed my social security number for the customs. The package had been there for two days already and they hadn't contacted me even though they had my cellphone number. OK, they said, now with the number everything should be fine and the delivery would be on monday. Which never happened again as it's already past 8 PM local time now. Tracking shows that the damned package is still in Helsinki. And when I tried to call the service number, it turned out that the national site was already closed and I was transfered to the Swedish UPS and all they could say was that the package was "on hold". And if there's still a problem or some data is missing, they still haven't contacted me.

Damn I'm getting mad with this order. While B&H seems to be a great shop to buy from, in my experience the customs & VAT option does not seem to work - and certainly not UPS!

Great. Now the subcontractor who delivers locally had been behind our door during the working day and hadn't called beforehand to check whether there's somebody home. And it seems they have no proper contact phone to call to and no official pick up place either. So what next? They try to deliver during the day two or three times in vain and send the lens back? Just great.

[ixian]

Great. Now the subcontractor who delivers locally had been behind our door during the working day and hadn't called beforehand to check whether there's somebody home. And it seems they have no proper contact phone to call to and no official pick up place either. So what next? They try to deliver during the day two or three times in vain and send the lens back? Just great.

I had a similar situation with a different courier comapny - DPD. They all seem to be the same, eh?
As you say, no contact phone, no proper pick up place... I've printed the invoice and tracking number emailed to me by the sender and found the nearest DPD depot. And guys at the warehouse were nice enough to find my parcel and sort out all the paperwork.
It was night shift, maybe they were bored But maybe you could try it with UPS...