r/mildlyinfuriating • u/thetoastmonster • 1d ago
Customs cut the head off this expensive hand-carved elephant artwork shipped from Africa, and did a terrible job gluing it back on.
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u/Kaszana999 1d ago
Ngl I think the seller might have seen a good opportunity to offload their damaged stock and blame customs for it.
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1d ago
How did you learn that customs cut the head? I have worked in customs compliance for almost 20 Years now and this makes no sense to me.
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u/DavePeesThePool 1d ago
I would suggest that it was broken in transit (the shape would be very vulnerable to getting broken off after all). But were that the case, they would have found the carving in 2 pieces.
It was either broken and poorly repaired before it shipped, or someone opened the packaging during the shipping process and broke or cut it and glued it back together. I'm not sure who else would do such a thing other than customs looking for smuggled paraphernalia.
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u/Own_Round_7600 20h ago
Customs may open items if they have a reasonable suspicion from x-rays or swipe tests, but they're certainly not paid or equipped to glue it back together. They only tape the shipping packaging back up.
An apologetic customs officer inexpertly attempting to restore the item itself with glue from his drawer is cute to imagine, but they're not allowed to tamper with it any more than strictly necessary to do their job. This absolutely wasnt customs, it was the seller.
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u/toomany_geese 23h ago
That ain't customs, someone dropped it and hastily glued it back on. Customs would just throw the pieces back in the box and call it a day.
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u/ParkingAnxious2811 1d ago
If only customs had access to machines that could scan through wood...
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u/Lopsided-Rough-1562 1d ago
If Doctor Who can't do wood, how would customs?
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u/ParkingAnxious2811 1d ago
Doctor Who isn't real. X-ray machines and other scanners exist.
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u/spencer1886 23h ago
This wasn't cut, and it definitely wasn't glued together by customs. I bet it was broken either way before you even bought it and the condition was never disclosed, or the seller broke it as they were boxing it up and hastily glued it together in an effort to get it out the door and get paid
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u/moonflower_C16H17N3O 23h ago
You think OP actually owns this? He just came up with a BS story to get engagement.
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u/TeratoidNecromancy 23h ago
BS. That's not a cut, that's a break. And customs wouldn't glue it back on. 100% the seller.
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u/shrimpsisbugs23 1d ago
That looks like the wood cracked due to pressure changes or moisture in the wood.
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u/No-Market9917 23h ago
Customs is not gluing that back together. Sounds like the seller might’ve ripped you off. Seeing as how they’re in Africa, you’re probably shit out of luck but you could maybe find a local woodworker that could fix it up a little better.
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u/Mikki-chan 22h ago
I call bs, I worked in customs and we have so many detection methods available to us without having to do something like that.
Any delay by customs would have been because of the risk of ivory, I've had to check that myself, which would.only involve checking the tusks.
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u/Dragon3043 23h ago
This wasn't cut... and even if it was, customs wouldn't have glued it back together.
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u/JCBashBash 22h ago
Dude if this was customs it would have come in a completely torn apart box and you'd be missing pieces cuz they would have just hacked it. The seller did this
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u/MaxTheCookie 22h ago
That looks more like a crack since no material is missing. If it was cut with a saw there would be material missing the width of the saw blade.
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u/hankhillsucks 1d ago
The cruelty is the feature
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u/JetstreamGW 23h ago
If customs broke it, they ain’t gonna glue it. And they don’t need to cut it, they’d just x-ray it.
This was done by whoever sent the product.
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u/Fishboy_1998 22h ago
Op I’ve seen enough of the border show to know this is exactly what they send over Khat in. Large wooden statues from Africa. You could have been a middle man (technically a outsider) for a drug smuggling that you blamed then blamed on customs
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u/Equal_Flamingo 19h ago
OP, that is very obviously just a crack. It doesn't even look remotely like it was cut lol
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u/Sillybumblebee33 12h ago
customs leaves a slip informing you they've done things iirc.
either way sad to see a damaged piece like this.
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u/Luzifer_Shadres 8h ago
You got scammed. The seller glued together a broken piece and sent it to you.
That "cut" is way to iregular and like almost no material is losty wich is an indicator of something being broken off.
Also, Customs does not glue things back together when they cut something open, in the case of suspected drugs (Wich only happens when suspect xrays or drug dogs point it out.).
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u/Altruistic-Poem-5617 23h ago
That fell off due to a crack in the wood when it dryed (wood always "works" dud to changes in humidity and can crack at the growth lines at times). Bet it fell off at the seller and they glued it.
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u/Iittletart 17h ago
This is intentional and is a good thing. Ivory poaching is decimating elephant populations. Destroying the market for ivory is necessary to protect the species.
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u/COIFFEDSNARFLE 1d ago
Dude that thing is hideous anyway 😂
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u/thetoastmonster 1d ago
Yeah -- thankfully it was my mum that bought it and she didn't even notice the damage. I agree it's hideous.
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u/honey_glamrock 22h ago
I once ordered a few storage containers to put all of my cosmetics in, from Temu as it was cheap and I didn’t really need much, but customs tore the boxes apart and pretty much squashed them together and packing taped them closed. I understand they need to check but I was astounded by how little care they put into it, quite literally ripping the boxes and then having them arrive damaged and flattened because the boxes weren’t put back together properly.
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u/BrainSqueezins 1d ago
If customs did it intentionally, they’d just crate it back up and send it on. They’re not gluing it.