Customs....

[johnny02004976]

I have just contacted parelforce to arrange a redelivery on my items - which total about £40 + P&P, to my suprise the lady informed me that i had a customs charge of £145 to pay on the item

Not suprisingly i told her to send in back so i dont have to pay it...

Just wondered if anyone else has had this before?

[dave87]

What item was it?, sounds like theyve miscalculated somewhere....

[MD]

is the £40 an accurate relection of its worth?

If the sender sent it with NCV, Customs will examine and levy the duty as they see it, according to what they predict its worth.

Even if you send it back you will more than likely be liable as its passed through the hands of customs already and as they see it it has actually entered the country, even if you refuse it.

Matt.

[johnny02004976]

it was a radiator from alphacool, and a couple of bottles of distilled water so lookin about £50 tops including postage and packaging. The lady at parcelforce said that its done totally at random and some packages dont have to pay (as i had the same order same products etc delivered the week before problem free).

I did check with parcelforce and they advised that if i refused it there are no charges to pay at all

[BUFF]

Originally Posted by johnny02004976

it was a radiator from alphacool,

aren't they in the EU?
I wouldn't have thought that any Customs applied

[johnny02004976]

thats exactly what my mate said - there based in Hannover Germany i belive

[dave87]

They may be based in Germany, but it depends where their warehouses/manufacturing facilities are located as to where it is actually shipped from. That could be the reason behind the charges, but I doubt theres anything that the government has put over 100% tax on - regardless of what country it has come from.

Dave

[johnny02004976]

The lady at parcelforce said i was "unlucky" that i was one of the chosen people who was randomly selected to pay the charges she said she would send me a copy of the charges and their breakdown so if they come (hey this is parcelforce were talking about) i'll post them on here. Suprised to say im not to happy about this - especially as alphacool missed my payment, its been 5 weeks yesterday since my order was placed. I just want a refund and i'll order from a UK based firm.....so much for saving a few quid

[directhex]

£145 is obviously an error.

at worst, if it was shipped from outside the EU, you're liable for VAT (17.5%) and duty (varies, but should be 0% on this kind of stuff). plus a handling fee (£4 for parcelforce i think)

[johnny02004976]

Originally Posted by directhex

£145 is obviously an error.

at worst, if it was shipped from outside the EU, you're liable for VAT (17.5%) and duty (varies, but should be 0% on this kind of stuff). plus a handling fee (£4 for parcelforce i think)

i agree it must be an error - however they refused to ship it to me without paying it, so i had no real choice but to send it back

[Agent]

Originally Posted by Matt D

Even if you send it back you will more than likely be liable as its passed through the hands of customs already and as they see it it has actually entered the country, even if you refuse it.

Matt.

Parcel Force / RM generaly "pre-pay" the customs for an item, then just pass the charge onto the person. They loose millions by doing this though, as often the person wont pay it and just get it returned.

[MD]

To be honest, looking at the £50, all fees told it should be 22.5% all in including taxes, i suspect someone has misplaced the '.' and it should be £14.50.

Matt.

[Agent]

No doubt

[johnny02004976]

i just wanted to put a quick update about this on here.

After telling Parcelforce to send the package back over a week ago i decided out of interest to check the tracking report on the website. To my suprise it was still being held at our local depot. So i thought id test the water on the situation by requesting re-delivery via the website. To my suprise they did try to deliver it whilst i was out. So i rang the depot back, spoke to a really helpful guy who said he would redeliver it for me on a saturday (normally costs £11).

Well its saturday and my package has just turned up, firstly i didnt have to pay the £11 saturday redelivery cost, and also theres not even a mention of customs charges.

[XA04]

Wow, luck!

[shiato storm]

aren't administration cock-ups great sometimes...