Weak dollar = rip off european consumers

[MadduckUK]

weird way of putting it.. but yeah, who decides the value of the stuff?

[Saracen]

So what is the approx value of a 24" LCD TV that is now scrap because 'the mainboard is broken' and you oh-so-unfortunately dont have any cables to prove it? and you are only bringing it back because you are acting as a courier for an elderly decrepid friend who happens to have an OCD for playing with broken hardware?

Well, my experience of HM Customs and Excise (as they used to be), based on 25 years of going to and from the USA (up to six or seven times a year, in a busy year), and on >20 years as a VAT-registered business, is that if they are in doubt, they're likely to assume they're right and it's then down to you to prove otherwise. So my suspicion is that if you tried that, they'll require you to prove it or assume it's working. At the very least, you run a good chance of them taking that line. This is not a claim of certainty, but an opinion.

And personally, the last thing I want to attract is suspicion from either the C&E or Inland Revenue side of what is now HMCE (HM Customs and Revenue), since even someone with absolutely nothing to hide can do without the considerable inconvenience of either a tax or VAT audit going through their accounts, bank statements and so on .... for the last six years.

Me? I don't mess with HMCE. It ain't worth it.

Oh, and of course if you do lie to them and they catch you at it .... Suffice to say they have an interesting arsenal of confiscations, fines, charges and jail sentences at their disposal. But if you or anyone else wants to try that line on them, go right ahead. Just let us know what visiting hours are.

[rjpearce]

We have kind of gone a bit of topic with talk of customs etc.. but I suppose the main thing underlying the whole topic is why is Dell charging so much more in the UK then the USA?

[kalniel]

Well, not just dell, but MS, Amazon etc. etc. It's no one company.