Bad experience with US Customs

[CindyLouCovington]

I went to Thailand with another person  in January 2013, both of us scheduled for SRS by Dr. Suporn. Coming back on Feb 28 we had an unpleasant experience at LA airport. Caroline went up to a customs station manned by a large and unfriendly looking black man. After she was finished I went up. The agent asked me if we knew each other. I said yes, that we had traveled from New Orleans together. He got mad and yelled at Caroline" YOU, come back here!" He said"You told me that you didn't know each other" Caroline said "No, you asked me if we were MARRIED", which of course we were not. He didn't say anything else, but wrote on our papers something that required our luggage to be searched, unlike most other travelers(out of spite, obviously). Fortunately the people doing the searching were nice and friendly, and we had no trouble. We should have reported him. Just be on the alert, and if someone acts like this, get their badge number and report them.

[Nicole]

Customs officers are all a bunch of w***ers.

This year I went to Thialand, then Singapore & Bali for a friends wedding and a holiday, on the way back I had a guy standing over me and a friend asking how much I paid for my camera.
my reply "no idea"
him "well you'll have to pay tax on it"
me "would have thought I did that when I bought it last year"
him "why didn't you say that in the first place"
me "you didn't ask when I bought it"
him "don't be a smart arse miss"
me "don't call me miss"
him "do you want to leave here tonight"
me "do you want me to sue you"
him "for what"
me "could be a number of reasons"
him "can I see your bags"
Me "sure, I've declared everything, while we're at it, can I see your manager?"
him "excuse me?"
me "believe I've asked for your manager, that means under Australian law you must get your manager, I won't be going anywhere until you produce your manager, which I have asked for"

I spoke with the manager who said sorry and will speak to the officer.

I think while they can be pushy, you need to stand up for yourself with these power tripping failed cops

[sh1982]

Cindy you are lucky you are an american citizen, you should see how to yell at foreign tourists that by accident made a mistake on their entry form.In all my travel from Thailand to Russia and from Finland to Brazil i never ever been so poorly treated as by the american customs people and the funny thing is outside the airport american people are generally much nicer then in say Europe.It has come to a point that i will not travel to USA unless i really have to, i rather spend my hard earned money in a country that make me feel welcome and i am not the only one.It is a pity because the USA is such a beautiful country.

[Paige]

I think while they can be pushy, you need to stand up for yourself with these power tripping failed cops

Hi Nicole,
I'm not sure if that would turn out as well going through U.S. Customs.

Paige

[ImagineKate]

US customs is nothing compared to some countries where they make you pay an exhorbitant amount of customs duty on everything they can get away with... and there's nothing you can do about it otherwise it gets seized.

[sh1982]

Hi Nicole,
I'm not sure if that would turn out as well going through U.S. Customs.

Paige

I agree not a very smart idea basically any us custom or border control agent can deny you entry into the USA for the simple reason he or she doesnt like your attitude or face at least if you from a visa waiver country and you cannot protest this until you back home in you home country and even then no one seems to care unless you make a big media thing about it.

[SorchaC]

I have to say something here, I've heard allot of people complain about US Customs Officers, I've visited US 7 times now over the years and haven't had any issues, I was once put in a room full of Mexicans for extra processing but that turned out to be a mix up caused by their computer that issued my ESTA and we had a good laugh about it. The one time I really expected problems was 3 months after going full time with my new name and Gender Marker on my Passport. As folks will know all visitors are fingerprinted and I'd been 3 times as old me so was expecting issues. I contacted US Embassy in London to check on this and was given loads of advice on what to do and what to say. When it came to it the guy couldn't have been nicer,

Customs Guy : Have you been to US before ma'am ? ( Always a good way to make me smile calling me Ma'am )
Me : Yes 3 times
Customs Guy : When was that ?
Me : November last year I entered at Buffalo in a truck from Canada
Customs Guy : Ok thank you, Why are you visiting this time?
Me : I have 2 pen pals in Toledo I'm coming to meet for the first time. We've been e mailing for a year now and I wanted to come say hi
Customs Guy : Oh that's nice, How long are you staying?
Me : A week
Customs Guy : Do you have a return ticket?
Me : I have an e ticket which I searched for and gave him
Customs Guy : He looked at it and said Jeez ma'am you need a Tea Party ( It cost me 320 pounds of which 180 pounds was taxes )
Me : I looked at him quizzically Sorry I'm confused now which isn't hard
Customs Guy : You must have heard of Boston Tea Party?
Me : Yes but I don't think they had planes back then so I wasn't sure of the relevance
Customs Guy : After explaining the history he said well welcome to America have a nice week and stamped my Passport with a huge smile

I just wanted to let folks who haven't been to US know that not all are horrible and even that being trans doesn't make it certain you'll get a hard time. I've seen on 2 occasions the person in front of me be refused admission so they are vigilant but I think if you smile allot and remain calm they'll be fine. It's an act to make them with something to hide nervous and give themselves away. Being a happy little Irish Girl using a UK Passport could help me but then it could be my charming personality 

Happy Travels

Sorcha 

[Marcia]

I have to say something here, I've heard allot of people complain about US Customs Officers, I've visited US 7 times now over the years and haven't had any issues, I was once put in a room full of Mexicans for extra processing but that turned out to be a mix up caused by their computer that issued my ESTA and we had a good laugh about it. The one time I really expected problems was 3 months after going full time with my new name and Gender Marker on my Passport. As folks will know all visitors are fingerprinted and I'd been 3 times as old me so was expecting issues. I contacted US Embassy in London to check on this and was given loads of advice on what to do and what to say. When it came to it the guy couldn't have been nicer,

Customs Guy : Have you been to US before ma'am ? ( Always a good way to make me smile calling me Ma'am )
Me : Yes 3 times
Customs Guy : When was that ?
Me : November last year I entered at Buffalo in a truck from Canada
Customs Guy : Ok thank you, Why are you visiting this time?
Me : I have 2 pen pals in Toledo I'm coming to meet for the first time. We've been e mailing for a year now and I wanted to come say hi
Customs Guy : Oh that's nice, How long are you staying?
Me : A week
Customs Guy : Do you have a return ticket?
Me : I have an e ticket which I searched for and gave him
Customs Guy : He looked at it and said Jeez ma'am you need a Tea Party ( It cost me 320 pounds of which 180 pounds was taxes )
Me : I looked at him quizzically Sorry I'm confused now which isn't hard
Customs Guy : You must have heard of Boston Tea Party?
Me : Yes but I don't think they had planes back then so I wasn't sure of the relevance
Customs Guy : After explaining the history he said well welcome to America have a nice week and stamped my Passport with a huge smile

I just wanted to let folks who haven't been to US know that not all are horrible and even that being trans doesn't make it certain you'll get a hard time. I've seen on 2 occasions the person in front of me be refused admission so they are vigilant but I think if you smile allot and remain calm they'll be fine. It's an act to make them with something to hide nervous and give themselves away. Being a happy little Irish Girl using a UK Passport could help me but then it could be my charming personality 

Happy Travels

Sorcha 

OMG was that Toledo, Ohio? Is it was I live just south of there.

I have been on 7 cruises and each time have to go through US customs on the way back.  I know being a US citizen and on a cruise helps in not getting questioned too hard but sometimes they like to be funny and bring up different events and ask about them. It is more about seeing how you react to the question than your answer.

[SorchaC]

OMG was that Toledo, Ohio? Is it was I live just south of there.

I have been on 7 cruises and each time have to go through US customs on the way back.  I know being a US citizen and on a cruise helps in not getting questioned too hard but sometimes they like to be funny and bring up different events and ask about them. It is more about seeing how you react to the question than your answer.

Hi Marcia 

Yes the very same Toledo, I was there for a week in October 2007. Nice place although I'm told it has a dangerous side too but I never saw it  I've had a few good laughs with US Customs and TSA. There was even an offer to arrest me so I missed my plane because me and my ex gf in Spokane WA were telling the woman neither of us wanted me to leave  All done in fun, My ex even got away with asking how much Duct Tape would it take to stop the plane from taking off 

You're right about the questions though, They use them to see what you could be hiding so best response is a smile and don't bite back.

Happy Cruising Marcia

Sorcha