balikbayan box arrived opened and items were missing

[jennyangela12 0]

Hello my kababayans! I sent a balikbayan box to my family filled with canned goods and gifts through Pentagon. Not only did it arrive late, but the box was already open! When i Packed the box, I had to take some stuff out because it was so jampacked we couldn't even seal it. But when it got to my family house, there was a lot of space around 1 1/2 feet! Do they really open the box to check the items? My uncle had been sending balikbayan boxes ever year for 10 years and this is the first time this happened. Also the stuff that was underneath was placed on top so obviously someone rummaged through the box either at Pentagon or Philippine customs!? I can't even find the number of Pentagon on the directory or the internet. They're so unreliable! Any opinions, guys?

[john & jean 37]

aaah, another of the "HAPPY" PHILIPPINES CUSTOMS VICTIMS!!!

[smiley888 0]

aaah, another of the "HAPPY" PHILIPPINES CUSTOMS VICTIMS!!!

that sucks!!! i sent mine kinda late some but still my family got it b4 christmas and had no problems or box never opened... i sent it thru STARKARGO

[jennyangela12 0]

i sent it the first week of november and they assured me it would get there before christmas but it only arrived today. i'm getting frustrated because i can't even find the number of pentagon shipping. According to http://balikbayanboxes.blogspot.com, "If you send your box through a cargo forwarder, normally, the Customs do not open your box and check the items one by one if your balikbayan freight forwarder is in good standing (no bad records, pays the right taxes, etc.) (or they may also do random checking)." Either pentagon is in bad standing (I wouldn't be surprised) or I was the "victim" of a random check and sticky fingers at Philippine customs. arrgg!! I want to complain but what good would it do?

[Dakine 26]

No problema so far using Forex for the last 3 years. Won't be surprised when we do get ripped off tho. Value of the things inside isn't much more than the cost of shipping.

[sasha414 0]

it was on the news just less than 2 weeks ago i think, a lot of balikbayan boxes were opened and items missing.

[ryandgracey 2]

Hubby used Forex and sent it end of October. Arrived in November intact. He put his own security tape around it (just masking tape with "security tape") written all over...lol. Some had two Panasonic wireless handsets in it too and loads of toys. Was delivered to the house promptly.

[maritoni 3]

I still recommend Forex...I would say customs are getting greedy....what a shame..

[nbfsb 1]

no doubt, it was done by phil customs. sorry to say but they are many dishonest people in customs. if i remember it right, acccording to statistics, i forgot what particular institution did the research on that, customs was the most corrupt governemnt agency!

[jennyangela12 0]

I was just taking to a friend of mine and she said that I should still consider myself lucky that they didn't jack the entire box and at least half of the items made it to my parents' house. The box she sent last april never arrived. It frustrates me that there really is nothing I can do about it. I met up with a another friend of mine yesterday whose mom used to work at customs and he said these things have been happening a lot lately.

This is why our country is going to the dogs. There's no sense of accountability at all and whenever lying or cheating or stealing happens, we don't have a choice but to bite the bullet.

[EWRI6884 0]

I was just taking to a friend of mine and she said that I should still consider myself lucky that they didn't jack the entire box and at least half of the items made it to my parents' house. The box she sent last april never arrived. It frustrates me that there really is nothing I can do about it. I met up with a another friend of mine yesterday whose mom used to work at customs and he said these things have been happening a lot lately.

This is why our country is going to the dogs. There's no sense of accountability at all and whenever lying or cheating or stealing happens, we don't have a choice but to bite the bullet.

That's part of the problem... your friend along with many others consider themselves lucky and think there is nothing you can do! Well I really feel for you and anyone else that is a victim of this type of theft. I have personally experienced this type of theft and problems from the Philippines for over 20 years and it never gets easy to swallow. My latest was when I sent a Blackberry Curve to my Fiancee and it "Got Lost" in customs, at least thats what they said... Well I say BS and my Fiancee much like you and your friends was really upset but believed there is nothing we can do and that its...just like that sometimes. Well I don't believe that for a second, I know there are a lot of dishonest people in your country BUT... I also know there are a lot of honest people too. The problem is, the honest people just need to hold the dishonest ones accountable.

What I did was.... I started from this end and had the shipping company tell me EXACTLY where the POE into the Philippines was, in my case it was Manila and they gave me a phone number and address. So I called there and was told it was there but it had left to Tacalobon several weeks ago. I told the person I was talking to that, I was unhappy and that if needed too, I was going to launch an investigation from this end on the whereabouts of my package. She was very cooperative and gave me all the details...SHe said it had gone through Customs and had been sent to Leyte at which time she proceeded to give me their phone number and address.

So I then started to call the place in Taclobon and explained to them the SAME thing, that I was upset and that if I dont get resolve, I will have an investigation launched. Well the guy who started off understanding english, all of a sudden started having a hard time understanding me and and told me he doesnt know anything then just hung up.... Well I called my Fiancee and told her to explain to him that I KNOW whats happening and I am on to him or his office. She called then he said...Oh I will have to look for it! So I called back and told him that if he cant understand me, put someone on the phone that can...well he put on a lady that IMO was worse than him in english but ok, I told her that I believed that they KNOW where this phone is and that I think they are trying to steal it and that I will settle this one way or another. Well later that day, my Fiancee recalled them and they were like... Oh we found it, its in customs and it wont be ready for a week... ANOTHER BS LINE!!! Customs was completed in Manila and again IMO, someone had it and they had to get it back. Well my Fiancee told them no, you have till tomorrow or else... I told her I didnt trust them to deliver it from Taclobon to Maasin and that if she would, go there and see them FACE to FACE in Taclobon... Well she did and they were sketchy and evasive in her opinion. When she finally got the phone, it had been opened and they (Taclobon Office) already knew exactly what it was and its features. They were bragging it had GPS and everything else.

At the end of the day, I believe if we didnt follow it up and werent so persistent, we would have lost the phone. But because we tracked and pressured them, we got it with just a lot of delay and PITA. My friend who shipped a phone around the same time I did, just waited and to this day, doesnt have it.

I guess it all comes down to how hard you want to fight for your rights and for your stuff. I would imagine most of the thieves KNOW you wont fight to hard and hold them accountable.

Good Luck and I hope you or anyone else never has to put up with this again, unlikely but I still wish you all luck!