Hong Kong - customs charges?

BellaBargains

Hi,
Hopefully someone can help - I recently purchased a screwdriver from a HongKong seller - £4.99 including delivery. Today I have received a card from Royal Mail stating that I owe £13.97 (incl £1 handling fee) for Customs Charges. How can this be - the item is under the limit - and the price paid included delivery.

Thanks in advance
BB

choc_mouse

What was written on the customs label?

steven_garner

If the value is under $20 (i believe) then it should be ok - Customs randomly check packages and if they feel the value is over $20 they will flag it up.
Im sure you can dispute it but im not sure how.. sorry i could be more help.

Maybe RM customer service (if you cal call it that...) study the packaging well and see if it has any other stickers / stamps other then the customs label (sometimes the label is printed on the packaging) and original postage stamps.

deanos

£18 is the customs limit ($28 ish), maybe they put the wrong amount on the customs label ?

PinheadSK

The problem you have here is who are you going to negotiate/complain to?

The limit is inclusive of the item value AND any posatge costs. If the sender declared the value and the cost of their postage, then the charges will be estimated on the total figure. I recently imported something from the States. The item cost $135... but shipping was $260! I got hit for charges on the full amount.

Customs can pretty much decide what an item is worth and therefore what you owe. However, they won't care because they have already been paid their 'dues' by Royal Mail. Customs have their money and now, as far as they are concerned, the matter is closed.

Royal Mail have paid the charges on your behalf (it's somewhere in the couriers agreement that you automatically give consent to) so they are now out of pocket. They paid it because Customs said it was due. They will also have added a charge (usually around £11) for the service.

So, Customs are finished with it and Royal Mail is out of pocket. Neither of them will entertain a complaint about it though!

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it's a risk you take when importing anything. This time you were really unlucky and will have to chalk it up to experience I fear.

Sean

deanos

probably best not paying anything and lose the £5

waqasahmed

complain to royalmail. Show them proof of purchase(paypal letter).
Complain to customs. Show them proof of purchase(paypal letter).

If you dont get anywhere, Im not sure if you can complain to the FSA?
Or

Dont pay. Lose the £5 item.

I dont understand how customs came to think that a screwdriver was worth more than a fiver. You can get them cheaper here, but if yours was branded, it still would be worth less than the limit

PinheadSK

waqasahmed wrote: »

I dont understand how customs came to think that a screwdriver was worth more than a fiver. You can get them cheaper here, but if yours was branded, it still would be worth less than the limit

Not if they've declared the shipping cost on the invoice... that may well push it over the limits. As I posted earlier, it's the value of the item plus the shipping cost that the duty is calculated on.

Sean

waqasahmed

BellaBargains wrote: »

Hi,
£4.99 including delivery.

Well, the OP did say £4.99 including delivery

PinheadSK

I understand that but there would still have been some cost for the delivery. If they declared that in addition to what the OP paid, then it will be taken into account by customs.

Customs will also look at the declared value and make a decision on whether they feel it is accurate or not. If they think it is, then they'll base any charges on that. If they feel it's been undervalued, then they'll decide what they think it should be and then charge on that figure.

Sean

Heliflyguy

Is it a Sonic srewdriver?

I had a simalar problem with an item from the USA the seller had upped the value of the item to reflect the retail cost rather than how much I paid on Ebay and I paid more VAT than I should have, only happy to pay whats due
In the end I emailed someone at HM customs who pointed me in the right direction.
What you need to do is to write to them (I dont have the address here at present but will post it when I get home) outlining the purchase details.

UK Border Agency
Coventry International Hub
Siskin Parkway West
Coventry
CV3 4HX

Tel 02476 212860


You need to include a copy of your original invoice/payment from EB and PP and include a copy of the red sticker from the package and/or the letter from RM, you will also need to include one of the shipping docs.
In time you will recieve a refund of the overcharge, I got the whole lot back (excluding the RM charge) when I should have paid a couple of pounds, it wasnt a huge amount in the first place.
I did post the problem here but got the same advise that nothing can be done, well it can!

You will need to pay RM first though and if you can post a breakdown of the shipping document to see what charges were put on it may help.
I thought the RM handling charge was £8.00? You can pay online and then RM will deliver.