This better not be my cigarettes from Yesmoke.com Does anybody know?
Dear Customer,
Unfortunately due to the inspection at JFK airport, some of our packages are still on hold. Various articles on newspapers everywhere have used words such as illegal and smuggling pertaining said situation, however this is not in reference to the cigarettes sold at Yesmoke. Infact, all our packages have a proper custom declaration on them, which corresponds to an import request: federal law does not prohibit purchasing cigarettes from abroad via mail.
Shipping cigarettes, infact, is legal in the USA, not only because of Federal Law, but also because of the Universal Postal Convention dated September 15, 1999 whose provisions have been ratified by both United States and Switzerland and which lists cigarettes among the permitted products. Should the United States forbid these shipments, they would be violating the above agreements: we thus reckon that our packages should be released within a short amount of time.
We have been informed that the latest procedures applied by USPS allow Federal Authorities to randomly check all incoming mail, therefore packages can be delayed up to a few weeks.
Unfortunately the inspection started a few days before the international debut of the Yesmoke brand, which is to be launched on the market on Wednsday December 1, together with our new website where, in a special section you will find an update on the shipping situation
Please remember that it is nonetheless our priority to inform you and all our clients on any and all developments about this matter as soon as possible.
We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience, we thank you for your understanding and we wish to reassure you that we will do our best to safeguard our client's rights.
Best regards
Customer Care
Yesmoke.ch
Unfortunately, I do believe it IS your shipment from yessmoke.com.
If you are in NY, you should really consider buying from the Indians instead.
Meanwhile, from what I understand, they intend to hit you with a tax bill on those cigs from yessmoke.com.
I don't know what they expected to happen when they raised the taxes so high, but...oh, nevermind. These tax-raising idiots will never learn.
Regards,
Feds stub out big cig racket
BY ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Federal agents have seized tons of bootleg cigarettes at Kennedy Airport that were sent to New York from Switzerland as part of an illegal scheme to sell tax-free smokes, authorities said yesterday.
Agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began confiscating the shipments of cigarettes bought over the Internet in the last few days, authorities said.
A law enforcement source said the scheme has cost the feds roughly $90million in taxes over the last three years.
The feds are sorting the cigarette shipments by their address labels - and smokers who hoped to get a deal instead could get a visit from the taxman, authorities said.
The probe, launched after a DHL shipping company employee tipped off Port Authority cops, was expected to go on for weeks, a law enforcement source said.
But the feds were so overwhelmed by the quantity of illegal cigarettes coming in that they called the Swiss shipper behind the scam, Otamedia, and told it to stop sending the smokes, the source said.
Customs agents and postal inspectors worked with ATF agents and PA cops to stockpile the cigarettes in a hangar.
"In three days, we filled half a warehouse," the source said.
Otamedia sold Marlboros for as little as $13.95 a carton - allowing buyers to evade as much as $50 in city, state and federal taxes.
"Individuals that ordered these cigarettes are liable to pay those taxes, and the state and the city are entitled to collect their taxes," said ATF spokesman Joe Green.
City and state authorities are involved in the probe, and some sealed criminal complaints have been filed, Green said.
The city of New York won a $17.4million judgment against Otamedia last month for not paying city taxes.
Otamedia did not respond to requests for comment.
Originally published on November 17, 2004
i sent for cigs from yesmoke,2 NOV.2004 and as far as they are concerned they don't seem to worried that no deliveries were made.I have emailed them quite a few times and they say either wait or get a refund.The told me that a replacement order was sent but that was bull shit.Ask your credit card co. for refund or wait and it will be a long time from them.If you use a debit card like i did you can go to your bank and fill out a paid/undelivered order and in 10 days you will be reimbursed and you need the receipt from them when you placed your order.