Beware of eurolens.co.uk

satokari

They are misleading selling and pretend to be in the UK whereas they are in Louisiana. I ended up paying an extra £48 pounds in customs charges and dollar transaction fees for the priviledge of waiting 4 weeks to recieve the lenses. Is there any way we can get the money back via the credit card company or repot it in some way to trading standards.
I am on a bit of a crusade as this seems so fraudulent.

satokari

After 2 emails pestering Eurolens customer services I was given the opportunity to phone and they have offered to reinburse half the customs charge and transaction fee and the other half is given as a credit against a repeat order in the future.
A partial win.
They didn't get heavy (after an initial attempt to point out that they have a get out clause hidden in the outreaches of their website).
Keep some record of your taxes and other costs if you have been stung already and mention that they were supposed to come from their New Romney in Kent address.
Good Luck Satokari :j

maninthestreet

As they are a U.S company, there is probably very little TS in the UK can do.

pickling

Very annoyed as the website states......


'Price is an estimate. Payment will be in US dollars. Final prices may vary according to exchange rate fluctuations. You may also be charged by your bank for an international payment. You will be liable for UK VAT at 20% on purchases over £15 and Customs Duty on goods over £135, in addition to any payments made to eurolens.co.uk.'

My order was £82..... even if you add the VAT, its still nowhere near £135

:mad:

Tarian

OK - so 2 years old....
I've used Eurolens 3 or 4 times.
The only issue I have with them is the less than transparent pricing.
Delivery time was OK (about a week)
After an incomplete order, they sent the mssing item quickly and without fuss.
The risk of a customs charge is reasonably clear. From a trawl of various forums it should become obvious that orders should be below £135.

The "handling charge" is a bit of an issue. They imply that it is about the exchange rate - but that would be dealt with if they stated the US$ cost of the lens.
If they want to charge for postage/handling they should do so - clearly.

Lastly, I think they are part of lens.com

Tarian

I used Eurolens a year ago. Although the handling charge was unspecified, the final cost was OK - so I tried them again - or rather I tried Lens.com.
It turns out that the login for Eurolens works with Lens.com - welcoming a returning customer.
On 27th June I ordered gas permeable lenses at $29.99 each plus shipping $19.99 plus handling $14.24 - all clearly laid out before committing.
So the only variable was the FX rate - but this would be the Mastercard wholesale rate. There was no mystery like on the Eurolens site.
The final cost would depend on the CC used. As elsewhere on MSE, Halifax adds no loading to the FX rate.
The total cost with Lens.com was slightly less than the with Eurolens - and with less uncertainty.
The lenses arrived on 10th July.

Of course there remains the matter of whether Customs adds charges, but keeping below £135 seems to be key.

For the avoidance of doubt I have no connection with any contact lens firm - and would jump on any rip-off.

kwikbreaks

Tarian wrote: »

Of course there remains the matter of whether Customs adds charges, but keeping below £135 seems to be key.

Customs charges are always a lottery. I've been caught on something costing £40 that came from US and got away with something costing well over £100. Some lie on the customs declaration label - not sure of any consequencies from that.

£135 is the correct amount for customs duty but you are still liable for VAT
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm

All other goods
If you order or purchase goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you have to pay:
Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £135
import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £15
Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £9 or under.

There's a handling charge too if it isn't pre-paid.