Parcelforce 'Clearance fee'

cyberbob

5couse wrote: »

Im not going to argue with an EX postie , what i will do is post everything i receive and everything i send to do with this up until i resolve this matter.

but you might want to read this

"IN DETERMINING THE EFFECTS OF THE DUTY ON THE FREE MOVEMENT OF GOODS , IS IT OF ANY IMPORTANCE THAT A DUTY OF THE TYPE AT ISSUE IS PROPORTIONATE TO THE COSTS OF A COMPULSORY PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTION CARRIED OUT ON ENTRY OF THE GOODS . THE ACTIVITY OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE STATE INTENDED TO MAINTAIN A PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTION SYSTEM IMPOSED IN THE GENERAL INTEREST CANNOT BE REGARDED AS A SERVICE RENDERED TO THE IMPORTER SUCH AS TO JUSTIFY THE IMPOSITION OF A PECUNIARY CHARGE . IF , ACCORDINGLY , PUBLIC HEALTH INSPECTIONS ARE STILL JUSTIFIED AT THE END OF THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD , THE COSTS WHICH THEY OCCASION MUST BY MET BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC WHICH , AS A WHOLE , BENEFITS FROM THE FREE MOVEMENT OF COMMUNITY GOODS

Which in laymen’s means that where the service isn't conferring any benefit to the importer, but is benefiting the state then those fees should be met by the general public as a whole, or in other words we shouldn't be paying the 'clearance fee,' HMRC should.

So where did you find this bit in capitals? Did you just make it up without any reference of source it makes your point useless. Also the fact its quotes public health makes me wonder the validity and appropriateness of the statement.

Anyway it makes no difference you can rant stamp your feet at this but no matter what if you order goods from abroad that require duty and go through parcelforce you pay their fee or you don't get your items.

It's as simple as that. So I'd put your toys back in your pram

5couse

I have already said i am not allowed to post links , the quotes are direct from moneysupermarket forum website regarding the same matter from a different person.

Like i said we will see.

custardy

5couse wrote: »

I have already said i am not allowed to post links , the quotes are direct from moneysupermarket forum website regarding the same matter from a different person.

Like i said we will see.

many say the same,most rant at the courier
however the system wont change unless HMRC change their system
why would the courier deal with HMRC for free?
as it stands HMRC get their tax/fees with little admin costs

5couse

Custardy i understand that completely , and as you say it is HMRC system which wont change ,, until like everything else enough people stand up and question the process which is all i am doing, i donot believe the charge is fair and i donot believe it is legal to hold back the item until the PF charge is paid ( customs and excise charges must be paid of course i have no argument with that)

Lets just agree to differ, i will post everything i can whilst persuing this as it may help others ( or not as the case may be) and we will see what happens in the final outcome . I am not out to discredit PF or to make ridiculous claims against them , i simply believe that the charges they issue are not legal and do not conform with the governing bodies agreement , either the legal docs are right or completely fabricated , who knows this is the internet afterall (all my quotes are real though as far as i am aware) all i can say is again lets see what happens but lets agree on something if they refund the charges ( not including the c&e ones) then something is not right.

r4xkx

After reading all the comments I thought ok I guess ill just pay, went down to the depot to collect my parcel paid £46 looked a bit shady as it seemed semi opened thought it might have been customs. Got in my car thought id have a quick look and guess what? No Phone ! Talked to Customs they said if they had opened the package they would use there own tape with HM Customs written all over it not some cheap tape that didnt even seem to stick! So some theif ratbag stole my phone from the parcel and thats what I have to pay £8 for handling charge ??? Thats what they call handling! And whats even better parcel force guy just shrugged it of and said just sort it out with the place you bought it from :mad: !! Spent the last 4 hours trying to sort it out and seems like nobody is willing to do much about it just said sort it out with the sender and write a letter to customs :S And if customs dont refund ALL my money, I wont get my £8 stealing my phone charge from parcel force . Waiting to see what happens police are involved hope for once they catch the person and he gets what he deserves or even better forward him onto me

elz7173

I have just been stung by a £13.50 fee.
The VAT for a hard drive was £13.83 and on top of this was the £13.50. The VAT duty I feel is very fair, the handling fee pure daylight robbery.
A phone call to Parcelforce customer services brought little sympathy and when I posed the question..."had the VAT been £1 would the fee be £13.50?" the answer was yes.
On top of this the damn thing has sat for 3 days in the local office whilst they wrote to me to request payment and will not be delivered until tomorrow......It took less time to arrive in this country from Texas than it takes Parcelfarce, (pun intended),to deliver 40 miles !

coresnfx

Hello all...

I too have bought an item from the usa... its a venitan mask which i could not buy in this country.. an american company has been to italy and stocked up and is selling them online ... I paid for the mask and for it to be shipped to my doorstep. Like others ive not got an issue with paying for vat however i really dont understand who is going to rebate me for the cost of shipping for the 2nd half of the journey.. have i not already paid for it by paying for the shipping from the address in the states to my address here..

so when do i get my rebate for the part of the journey ive paid for which is now not being fulfilled becasue im paying for it again????

the mask and the shipping cost 70 quid and now i have to pay 13.00 vat and 13.50 to pacel force - that means im now paying nearly 50% again... this is madness to me... i could understand if the item was massive, weighed lots or cost hundreds or thousands of pounds but 70 quid incl shipping is indicative of my little light weight mask...

from 'fed up with a greed driven corporate society'..

custardy

coresnfx wrote: »

Hello all...

I too have bought an item from the usa... its a venitan mask which i could not buy in this country.. an american company has been to italy and stocked up and is selling them online ... I paid for the mask and for it to be shipped to my doorstep. Like others ive not got an issue with paying for vat however i really dont understand who is going to rebate me for the cost of shipping for the 2nd half of the journey.. have i not already paid for it by paying for the shipping from the address in the states to my address here..

so when do i get my rebate for the part of the journey ive paid for which is now not being fulfilled becasue im paying for it again????

the mask and the shipping cost 70 quid and now i have to pay 13.00 vat and 13.50 to pacel force - that means im now paying nearly 50% again... this is madness to me... i could understand if the item was massive, weighed lots or cost hundreds or thousands of pounds but 70 quid incl shipping is indicative of my little light weight mask...

from 'fed up with a greed driven corporate society'..

the clearance fee has nothing to do with shipping
you say you agree with others
so im sure you have read me saying this before?
so you are happy to pay the VAT?
perhaps you should now contact HMRC and ask to pay it then?
ask them why they dont offer the service.
then you understand that if another organisation is dealing with and collecting their duty then it must have a cost?

molerat

You are not paying for the delivery again. You are paying for parcelforce to handle the item through customs and pay the customs charge for you. This is something that is not covered by the normal postage charge.

You could of course avoid all this hassle by personally importing the item and getting an agent to clear it through customs for you. You would not get much change out of £250 no matter how small the item is but would avoid the £13.50 parcelforce charge.

bad_roo

The sign in the Parcelforce call centre notes "The Clearance Fee charges are pursuant to Section 89 of the Postal Services Act 2000 and as such do give Parcelforce the legal right to raise these fees."

It also says "We will not levy a charge if we have to hold your parcel while Customs process it, so we would recommend you respond promptly to any Customs queries to avoid these charges. We will not levy a storage fee for the first 10 days, however, for more than 10 days and up to 20 working days storage will becharged at £5.50 per parcel. For each subsequent working day over 20 days - £1.35 per parcel per day."

I have never heard of this storage fee being levied.