Unknowingly bought Fake Duty Free Jewelry whilst abroad

shaun_from_Africa

I did wonder about this, but as you can now bring in goods valued up to £390 before being liable for any duty/VAT, the OP shouldn't have a problem.
The bracelet in question works out at about £190 so even if they had another £200 of goods then they would still be okay.

aimee21j

wealdroam wrote: »

OP says they used "the tiffany.co.uk website".

Enter Jamaica in this screen and you will see four stores.

All four stores are marked as "Owned and operated by an authorized Tiffany & Co. retailer".

Thanks, nothing came up for me yesterday. I can't have been searching correctly.

gnasher18us

Can I just say, if you are buying ANYTHING (that's anything from ANYWHERE, from ANYONE) over £100 ALWAYS use a credit card.

There are some excellent credit cards available to use abroad, with no fees or loading (I like the Halifax Clarity, but there are others).

Never use anything else, and these pre-paid cards are a rip off because they are always littered with loadings, extra charges and even putting money on them often costs you!!!!

shaun_from_Africa

Never use anything else, and these pre-paid cards are a rip off because they are always littered with loadings, extra charges and even putting money on them often costs you!!!!

A bit of a sweeping statement there.
I use a Travelex prepaid visa card (a $US one) on a regular basis.
These are free to obtain, free to top up by telephone or on the internet and there are no charges when taking $ out of an ATM.
As it is loaded with $US, there are also no transaction fees when making a purchase in Dollars.

Yes, real credit cards do offer more protection than prepaid cards, but when overseas why bother using a credit card for small purchases or for getting money from an ATM when you may get charged for these transactions?

Another point to remember is that even if cards like the Halifax one you mention don't charge a fee for cash advances from an ATM or over the counter, you will still be charged interest of about 12 or 13% on this money.

Neomi

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I did wonder about this, but as you can now bring in goods valued up to £390 before being liable for any duty/VAT, the OP shouldn't have a problem.
The bracelet in question works out at about £190 so even if they had another £200 of goods then they would still be okay.

Yeah, that's why I did not have to declare the piece.

Neomi

browneyedbazzi wrote: »

If you had purchased the item with a credit card they would have refunded you but prepaid cards won't (correct me if I'm wrong but as credit isn't involved the usual rules don't apply).

You could complain to Tiffany, explaining that you purchased from the store because it was listed as an approved seller and they may be willing to give you something as a goodwill gesture - I don't believe they are obliged to do anything but they might in order to protect their reputation and brand image (they may delist the store or take action against them to prevent others being affected as well).

Thanks for your post. I have emailed Tiffany twice regarding my problem and have not received a reply. Quite frustrating - going to call them and try to scare them into giving me an answer.

Enfieldian

Hintza wrote: »

That might require a bit of lateral thinking. Keep trying!

So, not relevant at all then.........

Neomi

Just an update:
Managed to get a refund for the Jewelry all thanks to Tiffany’s Customer Services and co. Thus, I highly recommend this company for their swift response, professional service and fantastic customer care. I would urge anyone who wants a nice piece of branded jewelry to just buy in the UK. - A lesson I have learnt.