So, FYI in case anyone else is planning on buying one of these units new...
Do NOT pay for the expedited international shipping! I mean, they got it into the USA really fast, but that's where customs stepped in and made that $40 up a wild hog's ****! Specific examples of inefficiency within our government are easy to come by; I'd go so far as to say that they are difficult to avoid with the current media and technology we have, but the details of the specific examples of inefficiency are often not told, leaving the American taxpayer to ponder just how screwed up and nonsensical government bureaucracies could be to result in the mind-warping debt that they have and continue to create. The fact that our ex secretary of state and possible future president did not understand how to work a fax machine a mere 3 years says enough, but here are some tidbits I discovered with my customs dealings.

Customs sees a package that contains a "diagnostic" computer. Seeing this, they decide they must determine whether or not this is a medical device subject to additional taxation, as they certainly would not want to miss out on that extra money...that, by the way, drives up the cost of healthcare. So in order to determine this, they e-mail DHL and have them request additional info from me. My Name, business, tax id number, contact info of the person attached to the tax ID, address, and e-mail. They also need a copy of a legible invoice and a description of the product and what exactly it will be used for. So, two days after my package was supposed to arrive, I get an e-mail requesting this info. I sent a reply giving them all the info they requested. Two days later, I get a call and they want to know more specifics on the unit. Apparently, having the product name and description on the invoice and my description of "it is a computer diagnostic tool used to read error codes on a Landrover Discovery 2 so that I will know where to start and what to fix on my Landrover so that I may get the vehicle running again" was not sufficient, and they still were wondering if it was a medical device. I had to explain to the lady at DHL that a Landrover Discovery 2 was a VEHICLE, which is information that should have been ascertained by reading the second half of my sentence describing the unit..."you know, the part where I say I'm going to use it to fix my VEHICLE!" Apparently, the customs folks are not allowed to use google or make phone calls. So, in order to not miss out on an additional tax that would have added up to less than $50.00, they spent 5 days worth of manpower at whatever $/hour they make to figure out something that should have taken them 10 minutes to figure out had they simply called the business I bought the unit from or simply Googled it. Makes me that much more warm and fuzzy every time I notice how much I'm paying in taxes to bang down our deteriorating highways.
OK, rant over. Thanks for playing "let him vent before he loses his mind!"

 

I understand the frustration of waiting for something to arrive in the mail, especially from overseas and I doubt I would be any less annoyed. I ship about 20-30 packages overseas each month that contain Land Rover parts. If you think our customs service sucks, you haven't seen anything. I've stopped shipping to certain countries because all too often I can track a package into customs in that country but then it falls off the radar never to be scanned again. Mexico and the Philippines come to mind, in particular. I'm out as is the customer.

As far as your "rant" I think a lot of what your going on about is misdirected. For example, with taxes on medical devices, the impact it has on healthcare costs is miniscule (2.3% of the cost of the device) compared to the cost of visits to emergency rooms by the uninsured. Your comment about the "mind warping debt" fails to note that the overall size of the government has been shrinking over the last five years while the annual budget deficit has dropped considerably. We were pretty close to the edge just six or seven years ago and had we followed the austerity economics Europe did, we would still be a lot worse off. Comments about "how much I'm paying to bang down our deteriorating highways" should really be taking issue with the fact that the gasoline sales tax, not indexed to inflation, hasn't been raised since 1993. Is it really a wonder why roads and bridges have fallen into disrepair?

OK, my rant is over, too. Now, use the Nanocom well and get that Rover back on the road.
Cheers,
Paul

 

The government employees needs to create something to justify their time at he office. Have you ever step into any state or federal office and notice how fast and efficient they are operating? and when you get your turn they act like they are doing you a favor. Most employee forget they are "public service". Enough rant, go and make good use of you Nanocom.....

 

The customs rip off is not unique to the US by any means. In the developed world, yeah it's bad, but once you step into the third world it's far worse. It's often best to get a pal to buy it abroad and send it as a 'present' thus saving customs interference. Unfortunately that's not much help to you now. Public services employees are as useful as 'chocolate teapots' in many cases but, hey ho, unavoidable. Hope the Nanocom works for you and comes in useful ............ enjoy it but don't bother to try and right the world 'cos you'll always lose.

 

I Love a good Rant.

 

Not misguided at all. I was simplifying to be brief. I don't want to get into any political left vs right crap on here, so I was speaking about government waste in general. But your reply warrants a response. I actually work in ORs as an anesthesia provider; I have worked in healthcare since 1997 working as a PT aide, respiratory therapist, RN, and now CRNA. I don't believe in PC, especially when it is used to bury common sense truth, so I'm going to give you, in no uncertain terms, the number one reason that healthcare costs are as high as they are. A tremendous percentage of our population 1. abuse their health and 2. expect to show up at the doctors office or hospital and be fixed. Don't kid yourself into thinking that just because they now have Obamacare that they are lining up at their family practice docs eager to quit their bad habits, lose weight, and become compliant with the meds they need to take while they work on optimizing their health. The ones that do have been plenty surprised that they are having to come out of pocket with 5-6k before their insurance covers anything. This is such a deep and complex topic, we could go on about it nonstop for months, but this isn't the place for it.
As for the medical device tax...yes, it's "only 2.3%. How many medical devices do you think are required for something as straight forward as a total knee arthroplasty? Do you have any idea the amount of equipment and devices required to be opened and ready for use in just one TKA? What do you think 2.3% of that is and who do you think is going to pay for it? How about 2.3% of every piece of medical equipment necessary to thread a highly specialized wire through a femoral blood vessel, into an aneurysm in a small brain vessel, then coil it within that weakened spot in such a manner that the patient, a previously ticking time bomb, walks out of the hospital with the bright possibility of longevity? How much do you think 2.3% of just the wire's cost is?
I was speaking of government beurocratic inefficiency, btw. Did you see the news articles today showing that for the umpteenth year running, the IRS spends far more money attempting to get back the money that it screwed up and over paid in refunds than it actually gets back? Sorry dude, but that is unacceptable waste no matter how you slice it.
And...are you seriously going to type that BS about government getting SMALLER with a straight face? Seriously? Save your spin, because I will not read it.
Lastly...you are dead on about the gas tax. Every dime collected via the gas tax has always gone straight into efficient and on-budget road projects, and the lack of money to fix our crumbling road system is simply a result of inflation outrunning tax collections. There certainly is no waste between when those monies are collected and when they result in a new or replaced roadway.
You seem to be a fairly smart guy, but if you can't see just exactly how much money our Government (this is not a dem vs rep argument here) is pi$$ing away every year while our debt grows, you are burying your head in the spinning sand. If you and your wife were 10k in debt in 2010, 30k in debt in '11, 80K in '12, 100K in '13, and 118k in '14...would you say your spending problem was fixed? Would you be happy about your future since you came in under your '13 and '14 budget? Would you be employing people and paying them 60K/year to go out and recover 30K of 40K you gave away by mistake? For goodness sake people! Quit listening to all the spin, look at the numbers, and simply employ some common sense!

 

I am not, nor have I given any indication, that I am fooling myself about the immediate or direct impact The Affordable Care Act will have on the average consumer. I can, however speak to my own personal experience where, for the first time in 2015 due to changes in what constitutes a small business, I actually had to use the State of CT healthcare network to purchase my insurance. After over fifteen years with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield where costs continued to escalate (in some years, dramatically) I was pleasantly surprised to see a comparable plan offered through my state's network that actually reduced my monthly premium, allowed me to keep all but one of my caregivers and maintain my total, out of pocket expenses. (I should stress that, because of our income, we do not benefit from any subsidy.) So, for my wife and I, the experience with The ACA has been positive.

Regarding the Medical Devices Tax, I know that this has been kicked around ad nauseum since it's initial introduction as a means to help pay for ACA. We're talking about an estimated $39B tax collected over the course of 10 years with roughly $29B applied directly to offset the cost of ACA. I'm sorry but this is a small price for an incredibly profitable industry to pay. There have been no studies that I've seen that can genuinely show where the tax will stifle innovation, cost jobs or dramatically add to the cost of healthcare. In fact, arguments can and have been successfully be made that the industry, thanks to a significantly larger number of insured, will benefit from the ACA. The increase in numbers in sured will more than offset the tax.

I was recently looking at a survey of companies who manufacture medical devices here in the US. Even with facing the second year of the tax, overwhelmingly, 75% of all companies reported Somewhat Positive to Very Positive sentiment for 2015 and forward. The tax didn't even seem to play into the feelings of these companies. In fact, 66% felt the growth potential in North America was positive to very positive over the next 5 years. (Outlook for the medical device industry in 2015).

Now, I'm not going to contend that our government is a model of efficiency. There is, and always has been waste. I haven't seen the article you mentioned about the IRS but I don't doubt, for an instant, that mistakes were make and money was lost. There are always these frustrating, anecdotal stories that fire the anger of taxpayers. Without seeing the actual article, I can't comment specifically.

You, also, seem like a fairly smart guy but you make a fundamental error when you compare the government to a household. I understand the allure of the overly simplistic comparison but you completely ignore the fundamental purpose of government which is to provide for public good. That’s very different than the driving interests of my wife and I or, for that matter, a corporation (something else I hear people want government to act more like) whose primary interest is to provide a return for investors.

As you requested, I have looked at the numbers and what I see is encouraging. It’s not spin, it’s fact, But I guess I shouldn’t bother to provide any support because you’ve already stated you won’t read it and that’s a shame.

 

Hi Paul

Trying to receive goods to here in France from the US or far east is a nightmare they seem to enter French customs never to be seen again. I buy quite a lot from the US, Germany and the far east but those outside of the EU seem to be embargoed for some strange reason.

 

So then will the unit fix your rover?
Have you connected it to see if it works?
Maybe Customs broke it.