Fed Ex Charges

EeViL_WeEvil

My fiance bought something from lightinthebox.com and paid (a rather hefty £12) postage.

She has since received a letter from fed ex claiming she owes them £22.39 in duty and tax.

Can this be right?

texranger

EeViL_WeEvil wrote: »

My fiance bought something from lightinthebox.com and paid (a rather hefty £12) postage.

She has since received a letter from fed ex claiming she owes them £22.39 in duty and tax.

Can this be right?

was this ordered from overseas, if it was then i am afraid your item must have been in a container stopped and checked by customs on entering the country.

this will be a fee that customs have charged Fedex and naturally they will want this fee back from you the recipient as you are liable for any custom charges applied when goods enter the country.

I would ask fedex to show you the customs sheet of charges to prove that you item was checked by customs.

but if you want the item you will need to pay this I am afraid

visidigi

FedEx clear, deliver and then send a letter for duties and clearance fees.

The £12 you paid (cheap!) was for shipping, FedEx had to pay duties, its the value of the product that dictates the duties and taxes - it is totally right to recieive a delivery from outside the EU and be charged duties and taxes if the goods are dutiable and a significant enough value.

You owe the amount to them and should pay it, otherwise it will get passed to debt as they have already paid this for you to get the delivery to you...

Flyboy152

Was the item ordered via Amazon?

texranger

visidigi wrote: »

FedEx clear, deliver and then send a letter for duties and clearance fees.

The £12 you paid (cheap!) was for shipping, FedEx had to pay duties, its the value of the product that dictates the duties and taxes - it is totally right to recieive a delivery from outside the EU and be charged duties and taxes if the goods are dutiable and a significant enough value.

You owe the amount to them and should pay it, otherwise it will get passed to debt as they have already paid this for you to get the delivery to you...

The OP has not said if the item was delivered before they received the letter from Fedex.

i had a similar thing but with DHL when i ordered some goods from a wholesaler in the USA, but it was a phone call i received and i asked them to fax me over a copy of the custom fee request form, which they did and i confirmed with the customs at the port. i was given 2 options from DHL, pay them over the phone with my card and they would arrange the delivery once payment cleared or they could deliver them that day if i was willing to pay the fees on delivery (only offered this as i have regular deliveries through them).

EeViL_WeEvil

Yes the item had already been delivered, this was sent after the event.

I suppose I'll have to pay it then. Bit annoyed as no mention was made of this on the order page, however on further inspection it is stated in an obscure help section on the website.

Lesson learned. Or, rather, Fiance's lesson learned!

Cheers for the replies.

zax47

If you import items valued at above £18 (or £36 if marked as "gift" on the customs documentation) then you become liable for paying the appropriate level of duty and VAT on that item. Simple as that. Fedex paid HMRC on your behalf, now you owe them.

These thresholds will reduce to £15 and £30, respectively, shortly.