Parcelforce 'Clearance fee'

Nilrem

Xaphania, all items are processed through customs, yes.

But items with outstanding taxes are then handled completely differently. For one thing, items that don't have outstanding fees are likely simply rubber stamped/a simple tick box, whilst items with taxes have to be categorized, with the Duty amount worked out for every part of the package value if applicable...

IIRC until the fee is paid they then have to be kept securely, and then they are tracked through RM almost like SD until the point at which they are paid for.
This is regardless of if when you opted for your chosen shipping option at "Acme of America" you went with "el cheapo surface shipping" or "Expensive fully tracked and insured air".

So yes it does cost the couriers/RM more to handle mail that has outstanding fees.

From memory a few years back when I had a package to collect (and pay taxes on) at my local sorting office, there was a slight delay whilst someone who was allowed to access the locked room where they kept the items with outstanding customs fees were kept.

I've never had any such issue when it's been for any other fees (indeed I think they kept the under paid postage on a set of shelves to one side of the "undelivered" stuff).

mazza111

You're right Nilrem. They are kept securely. They also have to be scanned as collected, then found in the customs book, then marked as paid in the customs book. Then at the end of the day added to the cash sheets. All extra work that RM have to do to handle these items, and that's just at delivery office level, not to mention the paperwork to be completed before they reach that far.

MaD2ko0l

Hi there,

sorry to kinda hijack the thread, but im am a little peeved about parcel force.

I just wanted to know if i can get out of paying a clearance fee.

basically, i ordered some rc parts from hong kong and received the parcel force letter today about paying to get my parcel.

it reads:

Customs duty = £0
Excise Duty = £0
Import VAT = £6.44
Other = £0
Clearance Fee = £13.50
Total = £19.94

i just dont get how they can charge this fee for a small lightweight package. the parts value in the package is around £50.

so i feel like they are trying to rip me off.

can anyone shed some light on this for me?

pogofish

You should have had the sender mark it for your attention for clearance before sending. Chapter and verse is here somewhere. Off to look.

ETA - here you go. You would still have had to pay the VAT but avoided the "clearance" fee. Chapter and verse from HMRC themselves:

Dear Mr ******,


As the importer you can carry out your own customs procedures. If you want to do this you will need to ensure the sender clearly marks the parcel with the following statement; "goods to be customs cleared by importer" Where the above procedure is invoked a notice of arrival letter will be sent by the UK Border Agency to you along with a form C88. This needs to be completed in full and sent to the UKBA at the office of exchange (this should be detailed in the letter). The office of exchange will then forward the C88 to the Customs team in Salford who will manually enter the C88 to Customs' computerised import entry system (CHIEF). CHIEF will then allocate an import entry number to the parcel and calculate the customs charges due which will then be communicated to you. You must then make a payment to the UKBA and once these have been been paid and the funds cleared the goods will be released to either Royal Mail or Parcelforce to be delivered. This manual procedure is fairly long winded and will be further delayed if any part of the submitted C88 is incorrect. It is not recommended where fast clearance is required.

Yours sincerely,
Robert White

Scarpacci

I do have one minor complaint about the Parcelforce clearance procedure. To be clear, I have no problem at all paying the tax or the fee.

I'm waiting for a parcel from the US and have been tracking it online. It got to the local depot on Thursday, after clearing customs, and is being held there until I pay the fees. I know this because it says so on the PF tracking page - but for some reason, PF have not connected the tracking system and the payment system for fees. I have to wait for a letter they've sent with an all together different code, which will come no earlier than Monday, before they will release it for delivery the day after.

Surely it should be possible to pay the bill online with the same code I use to track the parcel?

lovinituk

Scarpacci wrote: »

I do have one minor complaint about the Parcelforce clearance procedure. To be clear, I have no problem at all paying the tax or the fee.

I'm waiting for a parcel from the US and have been tracking it online. It got to the local depot on Thursday, after clearing customs, and is being held there until I pay the fees. I know this because it says so on the PF tracking page - but for some reason, PF have not connected the tracking system and the payment system for fees. I have to wait for a letter they've sent with an all together different code, which will come no earlier than Monday, before they will release it for delivery the day after.

Surely it should be possible to pay the bill online with the same code I use to track the parcel?

Phone them up, give them your address and pay by card over the phone. I never wait for the letter to arrive. I usually go to the depot to pay and collect and only ever give my address. They take far too long to send those letters out!

hyderpotter

For me I have to pay Customs charge and clearance fee payment is required of £72.65 before it can be released for delivery.

drsquirrel

mazza111 wrote: »

You're right Nilrem. They are kept securely. They also have to be scanned as collected, then found in the customs book, then marked as paid in the customs book. Then at the end of the day added to the cash sheets. All extra work that RM have to do to handle these items, and that's just at delivery office level, not to mention the paperwork to be completed before they reach that far.

All this "kept securely" and "paper work" is part of the main postage fee that they are already paid. They don't have to store it before the fee is paid, they can send it straight on and invoice later.

There is a little more work for them to do, but its a very small amount... why do other companies charge 10% of what PF does? DHL is £1.25 or 2% of the duty (duty would need to be above £62 to go above the base £1.25 and £672 in duty to cost as much as PF).

Some how people think this mark up is reasonable, on a money saving site!

custardy

drsquirrel wrote: »

All this "kept securely" and "paper work" is part of the main postage fee that they are already paid. They don't have to store it before the fee is paid, they can send it straight on and invoice later.

There is a little more work for them to do, but its a very small amount... why do other companies charge 10% of what PF does? DHL is £1.25 or 2% of the duty (duty would need to be above £62 to go above the base £1.25 and £672 in duty to cost as much as PF).

Some how people think this mark up is reasonable, on a money saving site!

surely the 'money saving' option is to do it yourself?

Nilrem

drsquirrel wrote: »

All this "kept securely" and "paper work" is part of the main postage fee that they are already paid. They don't have to store it before the fee is paid, they can send it straight on and invoice later.

There is a little more work for them to do, but its a very small amount... why do other companies charge 10% of what PF does? DHL is £1.25 or 2% of the duty (duty would need to be above £62 to go above the base £1.25 and £672 in duty to cost as much as PF).

Some how people think this mark up is reasonable, on a money saving site!

I note you only refer to DHL who are very much the exception in regards to "handling fees" (and even they make mistakes on occasion - the 2% is only for home deliveries, business deliveries cost £10+), Fed-EX, UPS etc all charge at least as much as RM does, and for a long time charged a lot more despite their job being far easier (fully itemised before the parcel ever reached them, unlike RM who have no idea of the value of most parcels until they reach the UK and a human reads the declarations).

I remember being charged a tenner for a UPS delivery nearly a decade ago for their "handling fee".