tourists shipping stuff to Turkey

**maenad** · 28-05-2010

Two of my friends have just arrived from Australia. They shipped their bikes from Oz to Turkey and were planning to pick them up in Istanbul and then ride to Bulgaria and on home to Switzerland.

When they went to get the bikes today they were told two things which made them hit the ceiling. Firstly, they will have to pay about 700 dollars for storage because the bikes are arriving on Sunday and can't be taken until customs are dealt with (will have to be on Monday) - the firm says that it will take two days, so the cost of storage for two bikes for two days is about 700 dollars.

I know it's reasonable for a shipping company to charge for storage, but an amount like that is ridiculous. What should they try to get the company to charge?

Secondly, surely you don't have to pay for customs when you are bringing second-hand bikes in to Turkey as a tourist? They were told that if they were residents, they wouldn't have to pay.

The whole thing stinks of corruption and kick-backs. We are going to try to sort it out on Monday but in the meantime, can anyone offer any advice?

Thanks!

**fonzi kermit** · 28-05-2010