My rights?

kriss_boy

I imported a guitar which my mum signed for at our doorstep.

8 months later the courier company DHL bill me for import duty. Is 8 months a reasonable time to do this? Ive now sold the guitar which due to this bill Ive now sold it at a complete loss.

The bill is for 250 quid.

I didnt sign for the guitar so why should I pay?

I eventually paid and now months later they are still sending letters demanding the money.

They are a bunch of incompetant fools and now Im tempted to claim the money back. Do I have a case?

dmg24

If you imported the item then you should have accounted for import duties, and so the fact that they didn't bill you for some time is irrelevant.

Who else do you expect to pay them? Your mum?!!

If they are still sending you letters then give them a call to ensure that they haven't incorrectly allocated the money you sent them. Am sure if you speak to them you can get it resolved.

Silent_Bob_3

DHL are renowned for sending import fees late. They are also renowned for overvalueing items especially shipping. If you keep all documents and any proof of postage costs you can get those refunded or taken off the bill. However you do still have to pay the charges otherwise you are avoiding import duties that are due. 8 months is ridiculous though and something should be done about it. Maybe a letter to HO to point this out is required?

kriss_boy

dmg24 wrote:

If you imported the item then you should have accounted for import duties, and so the fact that they didn't bill you for some time is irrelevant.

Who else do you expect to pay them? Your mum?!!

I did account for them, but when the duty invoice didnt come i sent the guitar accordingly. Then like I say, 8-10 months later I get this bill.

Its paid and in the past now. Still very annoyed at DHL.

Turning_into_scrooge

Silent_Bob wrote:

DHL are renowned for sending import fees late. They are also renowned for overvalueing items especially shipping. If you keep all documents and any proof of postage costs you can get those refunded or taken off the bill. However you do still have to pay the charges otherwise you are avoiding import duties that are due. 8 months is ridiculous though and something should be done about it. Maybe a letter to HO to point this out is required?

Fed ex do this as well, we always put gift on the customs label to avoid this.Having said that the only things sent from abroad are actually gifts :rolleyes:

Astaroth

Of cause putting gift on a non-gift item is fraud for the sender and also the receipient (if they requested the sender do this)

They have up to 6 years to ask you to pay the import duty back so whilst 8 months is a fairly long length of time it is well within the limits

sainthalo

i had the same problem with DHL after they didnt bill me for nearly 8 months. i paid them and asked them to refund their admin charges. they refused and so i threatened to issue proceedings by getting a friend of mine to send them a legal letter. they refunded their admin fees immediately!