ISC Thread - Received or Not

R

RStone77

Active Member
Oh yeah, the title says it all - let's bitch about all our ISC seizures and celebrate the ones that get through!

ISC - Chicago ---- God, is there any ISC more hated than ISC Chicago! That feeling of dread just hits every time you see a package go through there. I currently have a Herbies package that has been stuck there for over a month - yeah that one is gone LOL... Herbies did a resend on the package that has been stuck there about 13 days now - pretty sure that one is dead too....horrible luck on that order.

Did an Attitude order the same time as the above Herbies - their shipping has gotten interesting....the stealth always rocks, very creative... but the last few orders it looks like they are routing through Ireland, which always seems to hit the NY ISC - which I've NEVER had an issue with....always love to see NY ISC pop up on that tracking.

Also did a recent GYO order...pretty sure that for states that normally get routed through the Chicago ISC, that they are sending to a state-side location that gets routed through LA ISC and then shipping domestically...because everything has been coming domestic recently (but with international shipping times). Got a current GYO order out right now, we'll see if the above holds true.

So it looks like Attitude and GYO have adapted their shipping in recent years but Herbies doesn't appear to be adapting... real shame because I like Herbies.
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
RStone77 said:
Oh yeah, the title says it all - let's bitch about all our ISC seizures and celebrate the ones that get through!

ISC - Chicago ---- God, is there any ISC more hated than ISC Chicago! That feeling of dread just hits every time you see a package go through there. I currently have a Herbies package that has been stuck there for over a month - yeah that one is gone LOL... Herbies did a resend on the package that has been stuck there about 13 days now - pretty sure that one is dead too....horrible luck on that order.

Did an Attitude order the same time as the above Herbies - their shipping has gotten interesting....the stealth always rocks, very creative... but the last few orders it looks like they are routing through Ireland, which always seems to hit the NY ISC - which I've NEVER had an issue with....always love to see NY ISC pop up on that tracking.

Also did a recent GYO order...pretty sure that for states that normally get routed through the Chicago ISC, that they are sending to a state-side location that gets routed through LA ISC and then shipping domestically...because everything has been coming domestic recently (but with international shipping times). Got a current GYO order out right now, we'll see if the above holds true.

So it looks like Attitude and GYO have adapted their shipping in recent years but Herbies doesn't appear to be adapting... real shame because I like Herbies.
Click to expand...
Buy in the states rather than overseas
 
R

RStone77

Active Member
Lordhooha said:
Buy in the states rather than overseas
Click to expand...
Oddly enough I started this thread because of a reply I gave on another thread about that very thing.... so I'll just cut/paste the important part...

Few major problems with US seed banks:

1) There really aren't a lot of them and some are sketchy as shit;
2) They all have a pretty small selection - and of that selection, half their shit is always out of stock;
3) Their websites suck REALLY bad. It's actually amazing how shit poor the websites are - I have an issue ordering from anyone who can't have a proper e-commerce website made;
4) They're generally more expensive (and no, it's not because they have better seeds - that's silly talk);
5) They're US based - meaning the feds can walk in and seize all their shit, including their customer records. That's not going to happen to foreign seed banks running businesses that are completely legal in their own countries.

Now, US seed banks do have a few major benefits though:

1) quicker delivery! Nothing worse than waiting a few weeks for your seeds;
2) less likely to have your shit seized by law enforcement.

So yeah, my preference is for foreign seed banks hands down. I don't sweat the occasional seizure, part of the price for now (but that doesn't stop me from bitching about it LOL). Foreign seed banks are safer, cheaper, more convenient to order from (See #3 above), and have a much larger selection...
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
RStone77 said:
Oddly enough I started this thread because of a reply I gave on another thread about that very thing.... so I'll just cut/paste the important part...

Few major problems with US seed banks:

1) There really aren't a lot of them and some are sketchy as shit;
2) They all have a pretty small selection - and of that selection, half their shit is always out of stock;
3) Their websites suck REALLY bad. It's actually amazing how shit poor the websites are - I have an issue ordering from anyone who can't have a proper e-commerce website made;
4) They're generally more expensive (and no, it's not because they have better seeds - that's silly talk);
5) They're US based - meaning the feds can walk in and seize all their shit, including their customer records. That's not going to happen to foreign seed banks running businesses that are completely legal in their own countries.

Now, US seed banks do have a few major benefits though:

1) quicker delivery! Nothing worse than waiting a few weeks for your seeds;
2) less likely to have your shit seized by law enforcement.

So yeah, my preference is for foreign seed banks hands down. I don't sweat the occasional seizure, part of the price for now (but that doesn't stop me from bitching about it LOL). Foreign seed banks are safer, cheaper, more convenient to order from (See #3 above), and have a much larger selection...
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Damn not sure what seed banks your looking at. I just got a little over 160 seeds for 80 bucks came in a few days. There are certain breeders that yes charge a ton. But most of them are good plus search around through strainly it has a ton of seeds there for decent prices. I have a few people I follow on there that are awesome to say the least.
 
R

RStone77

Active Member
Lordhooha said:
Damn not sure what seed banks your looking at. I just got a little over 160 seeds for 80 bucks came in a few days. There are certain breeders that yes charge a ton. But most of them are good plus search around through strainly it has a ton of seeds there for decent prices. I have a few people I follow on there that are awesome to say the least.
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What seed bank? I'll certainly take a look at their selection
 
R

RStone77

Active Member
Lordhooha said:
Strainly.io
Baked beans seeds is another. But honestly I’ve dealt mainly with strainly here lately.
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But Strainly.io is not really a seed bank though right - you're buying from other "community members" not from Strainly? Seems dangerous to me. Good to hear you've had good luck with it though, I honestly don't know anyone that has ever used it.
 
Lordhooha

Lordhooha

Well-Known Member
RStone77 said:
But Strainly.io is not really a seed bank though right - you're buying from other "community members" not from Strainly? Seems dangerous to me. Good to hear you've had good luck with it though, I honestly don't know anyone that has ever used it.
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There’s a lot of legit breeders on there. There are definitely other guys that put out good seeds. Most will take PayPal or some other payment. Hell the guy I just got some from sent the seeds first to ensure I was happy before payment. There are some straight from strainly on there. I was a bit on the fence at first but after my first purchase i went for a second and third and more purchases.
 
xtsho

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I've never had an issue with customs but I'm on the west coast. Nothing has ever spent longer than a day getting through from Europe. I've gotten seeds in under a week shipped from Great Britain. The reason I don't buy from US seedbanks is because none of them have what I want. I don't want all these hybrids of hybrid of hybrids or auto's which is what the majority of US seedbanks and so called breeders are pushing. I prefer regular seeds of landraces and I'll make my own seeds, hybrids and crosses.

I'm not saying US strains are bad. They are just not want I want or need for my purposes and reasons for growing. I have to shop overseas to get what I want. So I do.

Show me a US seedbank where I can buy these strains that recently arrived in my mailbox:

Nanda Devi
https://therealseedcompany.com/products.php?product_id=22
https://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Nanda_Devi/The_Real_Seed_Company/

Sinai
https://therealseedcompany.com/products.php?product_id=34
https://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Sinai/The_Real_Seed_Company/

Kerala
https://therealseedcompany.com/products.php?product_id=14
https://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Kerala/The_Real_Seed_Company/

Highland Thai
https://therealseedcompany.com/products.php?product_id=10
https://en.seedfinder.eu/strain-info/Highland_Thai/The_Real_Seed_Company/
 
R

RStone77

Active Member
xtsho said:
I've never had an issue with customs but I'm on the west coast. Nothing has ever spent longer than a day getting through from Europe. I've gotten seeds in under a week shipped from Great Britain. The reason I don't buy from US seedbanks is because none of them have what I want. I don't want all these hybrids of hybrid of hybrids or auto's which is what the majority of US seedbanks and so called breeders are pushing. I prefer regular seeds of landraces and I'll make my own seeds, hybrids and crosses.

I'm not saying US strains are bad. They are just not want I want or need for my purposes and reasons for growing. I have to shop overseas to get what I want. So I do.

Show me a US seedbank where I can buy these strains that recently arrived in my mailbox:
Click to expand...
Yeah you can't get those in the US...limited selection is definitely one of the biggest issues with US seed banks. You're pretty set for shipments to the west coast though, you shouldn't ever see anything move through ISC Chicago. That's the place shipments go to die LOL... Those strains are a little too tall for me to grow but I bet they're pretty awesome :)
 
R

RStone77

Active Member
Herbies resend stuck in Chicago ISC for 23 days now - yeah, that one is dead now too. Surprisingly, no customs letter for either the original (2 months stuck) or the resend. I've never actually had a resend snagged, anyone know how Herbies normally handles that? I have no expectation that they reship another, I am well aware that shit cost money and there is a risk of nondelivery - just curious if anyone else ever encountered the issue.

2 weeks in on GYO order, no tracking number yet. I expect to see a domestic tracking number pop up any day now for that one.
 
Gemtree

Gemtree

Well-Known Member
So glad I havent had to buy overseas in years had way too many packages taken by chicago. Glad I dont have to grow europe strains anymore either
 
WingAK

WingAK

Well-Known Member
RStone77 said:
Oh yeah, the title says it all - let's bitch about all our ISC seizures and celebrate the ones that get through!

ISC - Chicago ---- God, is there any ISC more hated than ISC Chicago! That feeling of dread just hits every time you see a package go through there. I currently have a Herbies package that has been stuck there for over a month - yeah that one is gone LOL... Herbies did a resend on the package that has been stuck there about 13 days now - pretty sure that one is dead too....horrible luck on that order.

Did an Attitude order the same time as the above Herbies - their shipping has gotten interesting....the stealth always rocks, very creative... but the last few orders it looks like they are routing through Ireland, which always seems to hit the NY ISC - which I've NEVER had an issue with....always love to see NY ISC pop up on that tracking.

Also did a recent GYO order...pretty sure that for states that normally get routed through the Chicago ISC, that they are sending to a state-side location that gets routed through LA ISC and then shipping domestically...because everything has been coming domestic recently (but with international shipping times). Got a current GYO order out right now, we'll see if the above holds true.

So it looks like Attitude and GYO have adapted their shipping in recent years but Herbies doesn't appear to be adapting... real shame because I like Herbies.
Click to expand...
You think once you get caught you get put on a list and they start searching all mail from international? I have seeds the just hit Chicago so we shall see.
 
R

RStone77

Active Member
WingAK said:
You think once you get caught you get put on a list and they start searching all mail from international? I have seeds the just hit Chicago so we shall see.
Click to expand...
Nan, don't think that at all. Seeds aren't normally seized by customs because they are cannabis seeds - they're seized for violating agriculture import laws...

One of the big ones is:

"(a) No person shall import or offer for entry into the United States any prohibited article or any article whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis in accordance with § 319.37-2a, except as otherwise provided in § 319.37-2(c) of this subpart. No person shall import or offer for entry into the United States any restricted article except in accordance with this subpart."

So if your package has no phytosanitary certificate - it's getting seized.

Also, unidentified seeds/plants are prohibited - so those get seized.

Another big one is the no "address of shipper" ... all AG imports have to identify the shipper. But a lot of seed banks stopped putting their address on "stealth" shipments (which is okay for most shipments - just not AG shipments).

If you're getting a package with seeds in the breeder packs - well those are obviously cannabis and will get seized if they find them because it's a prohibited plant (but the vast majority of seizures are for other purposes). If you go through 7 CFR § 319.37 , you'll see how strict the laws are on AG imports.

But no, customs doesn't give a shit about a few seeds (even if they know its cannabis seeds), not worth their time to put you on a list. Customs is the second largest revenue generator for the US government (behind the IRS), and they are mostly concerned with revenue generation. All these minor seed deliveries and shit, they couldn't care less about - ...they literally seize BILLIONS of dollars worth of shit every single year - I think it was like 1.3 billion in counterfeit items alone last year...your little $100 seed delivery isn't worth the time it takes to do the paperwork. More less worth the time to add your name on a list and check for your packages.. Now if you were importing kilos of cocaine, you'll probably make many lists LOL :P

And no, it's also not worth their time to turn your name over to any law enforcement agency. No agency is going to spend the time and money to verify your seeds are cannabis seeds, when there isn't really anything they can do after that. See, the big thing about ordering from foreign seed banks is that the US government can't raid those places and seize their business records, so getting customer records is near impossible (which is a huge limitation on proving YOU ordered them) ....and even if it was possible, as long as you are paying with things like giftcards or cryptocurrency - they could never prove you placed the order. So basically, all they would ever have is a package addressed to you that anyone could have sent - which isn't close to enough evidence to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant .... so, going after seed importers is simply not worth anyone's time and effort.

The biggest issue that I think we have with Chicago ISC isn't official seizures...I'm pretty certain the workers there are taking seed shipments and that's why so few official letters are being sent out. Technically, if your shit is seized by customs, they're suppose to notify the addressee that a package was seized and why. But most Chicago ISC seizures of seeds don't result in letters anymore....so seems obvious the seizures are not "official".

So yeah Chicago ISC is the place seed shipments go to die. But I hope you get yours. Might I inquire as to what seed bank you ordered from?





 
R

RStone77

Active Member
Oh yes and an update - my GYO order did finally change to shipped and, as expected, it is now coming from a domestic address. Which given the location of the domestic shipper - the import no doubt came through the LA ISC. So it does appear that GYO has taken active steps to avoid Chicago ISC.

So if you live in a US state that would normally have international packages routed through Chicago ISC - after multiple recent shipments, I can confirm that both GYO and Attitude appear to have adapted their shipping methods to push their shipments through other ISCs.
 
hotrodharley

hotrodharley

Well-Known Member
Lordhooha said:
Strainly.io
Baked beans seeds is another. But honestly I’ve dealt mainly with strainly here lately.
Click to expand...
I like Baked Beans. Got some WoS Kilimanjaro from him. None popped. Josh replaced them on my word. Try his NorCal Nacho for a really good photoperiod. Blackberry Kush X Critical Cheese.
 
WingAK

WingAK

Well-Known Member
RStone77 said:
Nan, don't think that at all. Seeds aren't normally seized by customs because they are cannabis seeds - they're seized for violating agriculture import laws...

One of the big ones is:

"(a) No person shall import or offer for entry into the United States any prohibited article or any article whose importation is not authorized pending pest risk analysis in accordance with § 319.37-2a, except as otherwise provided in § 319.37-2(c) of this subpart. No person shall import or offer for entry into the United States any restricted article except in accordance with this subpart."

So if your package has no phytosanitary certificate - it's getting seized.

Also, unidentified seeds/plants are prohibited - so those get seized.

Another big one is the no "address of shipper" ... all AG imports have to identify the shipper. But a lot of seed banks stopped putting their address on "stealth" shipments (which is okay for most shipments - just not AG shipments).

If you're getting a package with seeds in the breeder packs - well those are obviously cannabis and will get seized if they find them because it's a prohibited plant (but the vast majority of seizures are for other purposes). If you go through 7 CFR § 319.37 , you'll see how strict the laws are on AG imports.

But no, customs doesn't give a shit about a few seeds (even if they know its cannabis seeds), not worth their time to put you on a list. Customs is the second largest revenue generator for the US government (behind the IRS), and they are mostly concerned with revenue generation. All these minor seed deliveries and shit, they couldn't care less about - ...they literally seize BILLIONS of dollars worth of shit every single year - I think it was like 1.3 billion in counterfeit items alone last year...your little $100 seed delivery isn't worth the time it takes to do the paperwork. More less worth the time to add your name on a list and check for your packages.. Now if you were importing kilos of cocaine, you'll probably make many lists LOL :P

And no, it's also not worth their time to turn your name over to any law enforcement agency. No agency is going to spend the time and money to verify your seeds are cannabis seeds, when there isn't really anything they can do after that. See, the big thing about ordering from foreign seed banks is that the US government can't raid those places and seize their business records, so getting customer records is near impossible (which is a huge limitation on proving YOU ordered them) ....and even if it was possible, as long as you are paying with things like giftcards or cryptocurrency - they could never prove you placed the order. So basically, all they would ever have is a package addressed to you that anyone could have sent - which isn't close to enough evidence to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant .... so, going after seed importers is simply not worth anyone's time and effort.

The biggest issue that I think we have with Chicago ISC isn't official seizures...I'm pretty certain the workers there are taking seed shipments and that's why so few official letters are being sent out. Technically, if your shit is seized by customs, they're suppose to notify the addressee that a package was seized and why. But most Chicago ISC seizures of seeds don't result in letters anymore....so seems obvious the seizures are not "official".

So yeah Chicago ISC is the place seed shipments go to die. But I hope you get yours. Might I inquire as to what seed bank you ordered from?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the detailed reply it makes since! I ordered from true north seed bank in Canada I’m in Alaska and was hoping it wouldn’t go to Chicago.
 
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