Any shipments which come to us from outside of Italy (eg. from the U.S.)
always arrive with many extra hidden costs and taxes which we end up paying
here. Frequently, these extra costs are significantly more than the original
shipping costs and can even substantially exceed the value of the items being
shipped.
In order to avoid this, items to be transported to Italy should, whenever
possible be sent with shiftworkers or others coming to Italy. Those at the
Gran Sasso, should not request that *any* item be shipped here from outside
of Italy without my explicit OK. Likewise, people wishing to ship something
from the U.S. should wait for a shiftworker to go or contact me prior to
shipping an item. These extra costs get paid out of our maintenance budget
and in the future we will refuse delivery on any package which arrives without
my prior OK.
Thanks for your cooperation.
Doug