Parcel Force Custom Charges???

mazza111

I actually think he misread your post UnholyAngel and meant the customer prepays before the goods are released by courier. Well that's my interpretation anyhoo.

texranger

mazza111 wrote: »

I actually think he misread your post UnholyAngel and meant the customer prepays before the goods are released by courier. Well that's my interpretation anyhoo.

how it works

you the buyer, pays for goods with a NON EU seller, you pay the item cost and the delivery costs ( these DO NOT include any custom fees). the goods are then sent to the UK, on entering the UK you may be lucky and the container with your goods in is not stopped at customs for a check ( they cant cheak all containers arriving in the UK), but if your container is stopped and checked then the courier will be charged a custom fee for your item. to make life easier the courier WILL pay these to have the goods released to them. the courier will then contact you the reciepient with an invoice to pay this before they deliver or in peek times they may deliver and then invoice later. these fees have no bearing to the seller and are 100% the responsibility of the buyer. the courier will also include an admin fee in the invoice.

visidigi

unholyangel wrote: »

And how exactly is my post "not true"? As mazza below you states, they pay them upfront for you. Then get you to pay it. Whether they want paid before or after they deliver it is entirely a different matter!

Its not as clear cut as you make out anymore - some of the major carriers no longer prepay the amounts - they have deferment accounts which allow buyers to pay the duties direct without delay on clearance or fees.

unholyangel

visidigi wrote: »

Its not as clear cut as you make out anymore - some of the major carriers no longer prepay the amounts - they have deferment accounts which allow buyers to pay the duties direct without delay on clearance or fees.

That doesn't tie in with what you said in your earlier post though.

I think perhaps you're misunderstanding what i'm saying. It would be idiotic for anyone to assume - let along suggest - that Royal Mail take cash and pay per package.

What I mean by paying upfront is that they accept the costs in advance of billing you for them. HMRC wont release the package to them without this. Now while i cant comment on all courier companies, I know Royal Mail will pop a card through your door telling you that there is a package waiting but they can't allow you to collect it or arrage delivery until the fee's have been paid. At the time they put this card through your door, your package is in your local PO. And I know at least one courier company will call and ask you to pay by card so they can arrange delivery from their local distribution centre.

You're quite free to call HMRC and check the info i've given as that info (about not releasing the package until the delivery company has accepted the charges) was given to me by HMRC.

mazza111

The courier pays the custom charges and/or any VAT that's incurred. That's why RM and Parcel Force charge a handling fee for this. Trust me I worked for RM and my daily duties included dealing with Custom charges. The only way around this, is to declare the goods before they are sent and deal with customs directly yourself.

visidigi

unholyangel wrote: »

That doesn't tie in with what you said in your earlier post though.

I think perhaps you're misunderstanding what i'm saying. It would be idiotic for anyone to assume - let along suggest - that Royal Mail take cash and pay per package.

What I mean by paying upfront is that they accept the costs in advance of billing you for them. HMRC wont release the package to them without this. Now while i cant comment on all courier companies, I know Royal Mail will pop a card through your door telling you that there is a package waiting but they can't allow you to collect it or arrage delivery until the fee's have been paid. At the time they put this card through your door, your package is in your local PO. And I know at least one courier company will call and ask you to pay by card so they can arrange delivery from their local distribution centre.

You're quite free to call HMRC and check the info i've given as that info (about not releasing the package until the delivery company has accepted the charges) was given to me by HMRC.

Some misunderstanding on both sides I beleive - your comments are based on the clearance of the goods by the carrier, but this does not happen all the time, indeed many brokers are used with other carriers - the reason why Im talking about other carriers here is from your reply...

unholyangel wrote: »

Usually the delivery people (whether royal mail or private company)

I'm aware of the HMRC regulations, I don't need to call them...I just commented as the statements were very 'sweeping'

mazza111 wrote: »

The courier pays the custom charges and/or any VAT that's incurred. That's why RM and Parcel Force charge a handling fee for this. Trust me I worked for RM and my daily duties included dealing with Custom charges. The only way around this, is to declare the goods before they are sent and deal with customs directly yourself.

Firstly, RM are not the only people to import - there are thousanrd of companies who do this - they all do it differently - I was commenting because the first reply detailed private companies, which don't work int he same way as RM.

As for the last sentence, thats not the only way, there's brokers, individual clearance, inbound processing relief for repair and return etc etc etc etc etc.

unholyangel

*sigh* And this is relevant to the OP's situation how exactly?

I'm referring to your original post btw:

visidigi wrote: »

Not true.

Royal Mail Group (RM and Parcelforce) require prepayment - some of the private companies now also require prepayment if the duties and taxes are above a certain amount - I suspect in the OP's case that this has simply been delivered ahead of payment due to the amount of deliveries ParcelForce are making at the moment.

Unfortunately a number of private companies have lately enforce greater volumes of prepayment due to the number of people refusing or disputing taxes payments at a later date.

mazza111

Totally agree

mattyprice4004

xxJudexx wrote: »

Check the ebay post and see if the seller states they will pay the customs charges. If they don't say you could contact them and see if they will pay. You were obviously under the assumption that you had paid the huge delivery prices to pay for customs too so maybe the product wasn't as described (I don't know if delivery charges are included in SOGA). Its worth a try!

Erm, no. Wrong on so many levels.