Amazon Marketplace - Hidden Customs Charges

Jebonicus

Hi,

I recently purchased an item (a barometer) from a private seller via Amazon Marketplace. On checkout, amazon showed the subtotal as £78 and shipping £3.99. However, shortly after the item arrived, a fedex invoice for £15 was sent to me for customs charges.

It turns out the seller is US-based, and thus customs charges were imposed on the item. I have re-checked the advert page for the barometer, and there was no mention of the fact that the item was being shipped from the US. The fact all charges were in pounds and delivery said '2-3 days' strongly suggested that the item must be coming from the UK.

After checking the amazon policies, buyers (me) are responsible for all customs charges, so its not looking good for me.

I cannot believe that amazon/the seller can get away with allowing these 'hidden' charges to be imposed on buyers. I wouldn't have minded if this £15 charge was clearly specified in both the original advert and the Total when checking out via amazon marketplace - but for this charge to just appear with no warning is pretty unacceptable.

Now, finally, to my question: Does anyone know if imposing this charge on me without my knowledge/agreement is legal (under something like the distance selling regulations, etc), or against any kind of amazon policy?

I've had no luck with google/amazon website/amazon customer support/contacting the seller so far.

Thanks!

soolin

Personally I would wait until they re open tomorrow and phone Amazon customer services and moan at them. It clearly states under the details of the item on the marketplace page where seller is based, if they are saying UK when they are not then Amazon take a very dim view of that.

Jebonicus

Maybe I'm missing it but I can't see anywhere that says where the seller is based. Here is the URL of the item on amazon if anyone would like to take a look:

amazon.co.uk/dp/B005K2LXH2

Crowqueen

This is the seller's personal page and it doesn't say where the item is coming from at all.

Jai_M

oh its on there....

shipping rates... scroll to bottom....
"Goldia Dispatch Policies

We ship from our warehouse in U.S.A via FedEx International Express. Most orders are delivered within 4-5 business days. (If your order needs resizing or engraving please allow 3-5 more business days for the processing)."

Obviously_the_best

On their shipping rates page, it says they ship from the US, so I suggest you remove your feedback as it is false, otherwise you could be punished by amazon instead of the seller

shaun_from_Africa

The fact all charges were in pounds and delivery said '2-3 days' strongly suggested that the item must be coming from the UK.

I couldn't see anywhere where it stated 2-3 day delivery.
What it actually states is

Usually dispatched within 2 to 3 days

The delivery time given is

Standard Delivery 7 - 23 days

soolin

I agree with the above, remove the feedback as Amazon will usually protect a seller from false or malicious feedback if challenged and mistaking despatch time with delivery time is not something the seller should be punished for.

You do need to take care when using any site as cross border selling is so quick and easy now you do need to double check where goods are coming from before you place an order.

martindow

I suppose it is a warning sign when the price is not a round figure. 78.92 is presumably a conversion from a price in USD.