Abhijith N Kolpe
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru
Mangaluru, Jan 12: A couple from Germany has been stranded in the city for the past three weeks, after their van broke down.
German couple Peter Pavlasek and Alona were on a world tour in their Mercedez Benz van, and had arrived in Mangaluru on December 19. Unfortunately, their van broke down shortly after they entered the city, and since then, they have been stuck here owing to undue delay in delivery of the van's spare part.
The shock absorber of their van developed a snag, after which Peter Pavlasek approached Mercedes Benz showroom in Mangaluru. The showroom asked him to order the spare parts in his own name to make the delivery faster, as otherwise it would have taken a month for the showroom to order and get the product delivered.
Accordingly, Pavlasek ordered the spare parts on December 20 from Estonia for 300 Euros, and the order reached Bengaluru airport just two days later, on December 22.
However, what was expected to be a simple matter turned into a mess after the package reached Bengaluru airport. The courier service, DHL, instead of mentioning the customer's name as Peter Pavlasek, delivered the order in the name of an employee of Benz showroom in Mangaluru. The showroom then gave a no-objection letter to Pavlasek so that he could collect the package from Bengaluru airport. However, when he went to the Bengaluru airport, he was refused stating several reasons, and faced problems with the customs. Pavlasek had to return empty-handed.
On January 6, Pavlasek spoke to the deputy commissioner of customs and after inspecting all related documents, he gave Pavlasek a no-objection letter for the delivery of the spare parts. Pavlasek was assured that the package would be delivered to Mangaluru, but so far the couple has not received it.
Speaking to daijiworld, Pavlasek said, "It is unforunate that I have been denied the delivery of a small spare part stating various reasons. Despite producing several documents to the persons concerned, they repeatedly refused to hand over the package. I visited the airport twice on December 30 and January 6, where I was assured that the package would be delivered to Mangaluru, but till today I have not received any call, and they are unavailable on phone."
He also alleged that a person named Vinod Prabhu from DHL was making him run from pillar to post and refusing to hand over the spare sparts. "I even spoke to the deputy commissioner of customs about the problem faced. He checked all my documents and gave me no-objection letter to deliver the spare parts, but still, for no reason, the DHL staff is refusing to deliver the parts even after producing neccessary documents. We have even paid Rs 2,000 as penalty through the Benz showroom on January 6, but still the package is on hold," he said.
The German couple however thanked the hotel manager Jaya Prakash and other staff for helping them out in this difficult situation.
In the meantime, daijiworld is coordinating with Mangaluru MLA Vedavyas Kamath to help sort out the issue. After being briefed on the matter, Kamath spoke to an official in the customs department and urged him to do the needful.
The couple's world tour
The couple has been on a world tour since May 1, 2019 in their Benz van, and have successfully covered up 15 countries including Poland, Iceland, Russia, Mongolia, Lithuania, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, before reaching India on November 24.
In India they visited places like Delhi and Agra. Once their van is fixed, they will proceed from Mangaluru to Kerala and then they move to Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia, Austrailia and New Zealand.