Tahiti Dutyfree and the Rum Bottle Scam
FR

Translated into English.

Original post
SC
Hi everyone,

I’d like to share the misadventure I had a few days ago when returning from French Polynesia.

It’s 10:30 PM on October 29, 2024. My wife and I just had an incredible trip and are about to face the gray skies of Paris again. We decide to buy two bottles of Mana'O rum as a souvenir from the Tahiti Dutyfree shop. The staff is charming, the price attractive, everything goes smoothly. They give us our products in a special customs bag—all good. Then my wife has a doubt: we’re transiting through the US, will the bottles make it through customs?

That’s when the trouble starts. I go back to the counter to confirm everything is in order and the products will pass through. They reassure me, explaining that with the special bag, there won’t be any issues. My wife checks customer reviews that say otherwise, so I go back. Again, they tell me there won’t be a problem and that they’ve never received complaints or negative feedback. After half an hour, I return, thinking I’d rather not take the risk. This time, they insist there won’t be a problem and even tell me that if US customs confiscate the bottles, they’ll refund me in full upon presenting the receipt and proof of confiscation: “contact us on Facebook, we’ll refund you.”

Ten hours later, I’m standing in front of a customs officer who opens the hermetically sealed bag and runs my bottles through some kind of obscure machine. Each bottle is tested three times—each fails. I’m not the only one; many other travelers have their bottles confiscated too. Without hesitation, I grab my phone and document the scene with the officer’s permission.

A few days later, I contact Tahiti Dutyfree, and they refuse to refund the products, claiming responsibility lies with US customs. A misleading response, since it would mean absolving themselves of the responsibility of selling products banned from entering the US to customers who are *required* to bring these purchases into the country.

For the record, it’s impossible that the management of this shop isn’t aware of the issue. They continue selling these items to customers, fully knowing they’ll end up in a trash bin at Seattle or Los Angeles airports.

I’d like to warn Tahiti Dutyfree customers and travelers who might want to bring back this kind of souvenir from French Polynesia, so my experience can help others avoid getting scammed.

If you’ve also been a victim of this, don’t hesitate to reply to this post :) My poor bottles that will end up alone

The official ICAO-STEB duty-free bag

The US customs officer who let me capture this sweet moment
PR Protege Globetrotter ·
Hi there, Sorry to hear about your misadventure. From what I can see, it wasn’t U.S. customs but the TSA that confiscated your bottles. The same full-bottle verification machine is also in use at Frankfurt Airport, and occasionally they check bottles bought at the airport’s duty-free shop.
FR Fredetludo ·
Hi there,

Having lived in French Polynesia for several years, we regularly returned to mainland France with bottles of rum. Never had any issues, even with those bought at Duty Free. That said, your story reminds me of a problem we had clearing US customs after arriving from mainland France with a shower gel purchase—the customs officers confiscated it because it tested negative in their machine... Go figure! !
SC Scllr ·
Hi,

Since I posted this message, I’ve found many other accounts from people who’ve had the same experience. My disappointment isn’t even with US customs or the TSA—it’s really with this person who looked me straight in the eye and said, "There’s never been any problem. Anyway, if your bottles are ever confiscated, we’ll refund you, don’t worry." On our flight alone, at least five people were affected. I can’t even imagine how many people get scammed by this every year!

Thanks for your feedback.

Have a great day.

Clément
SC Scllr ·
Hi,

Thanks for the clarification!

Have a great day.

Clément

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