ParcelForce Clearance Fee

custardy

CLEARANCE_FEE wrote: »

Firstly Hi, I’m new to the forum and think this may be inthe wrong place but it was the best I could find.

And now to the point. I recently imported a parcel from theUSA, the import VAT was £17.46 which I’ve got no complaint paying to parcelforce after all they don’t make anything from that however they also want tocharge me the outrageous fee of £13.50 for giving me a service I didn’t even askfor i.e. paying the import tax for me. And it turns out if the seller had writtenon the import form “goods to be custom cleared by importer” I could have dealtwith customs directly, so I’m being charge £13.50 for something I could havedone myself if it had been made clear.
I’ve been on the phone to them and sent email. It turns outin October or 2011 the postal services act (sections 83, 85,104 and 105) wasamended so parcel force can now allegedly withhold MY mail legally!

Does anyone have any ideas how to avoid paying for this service I never wanted? Even if extra administration costs more, £13.50 isgreatly disproportional to the actual cost incurred.

So the option was there to do it yourself,as you agree in your own post.
You're 'happy' to pay the VAT
well who is dealing with that?

Hintza

The whole post should be in the rant section.

It's firstly the seller's fault, then Parceforce's fault and probably now Customs fault. Personally I think it is the OP's fault for not checking what charges and taxes were payable and the options they had to enable importation of the goods prior to purchase from abroad.

99.9% of people making one off overseas purchases would be happy with the system.

Arg

Everyone else isn't.

custardy

Arg wrote: »

Implementing a simple prepayment plan would sort out this nonsense.

Arg wrote: »

Everyone else isn't.

many couriers offer a(more expensive) service which includes customs clearance

visidigi

custardy wrote: »

many couriers offer a(more expensive) service which includes customs clearance

You say that, but Parcelforce is expensive too, and the killer is, they get it for EVERY express postalpackage sent into the country.

Its quite a racket they have going on to be quite honest - after all, the stuff is sent from source with a postal service where the package is dropped off.

The courier collects it, transits it, clears it, pays it and delivers it. Parcelforce hold the package to ransom for payment.

Current fees...
UPS = £11 or 2.5%
FedEx = £10.50 or 2.5%
DHL (Business Customer) = £10 or 2.5%
DHL (Personal Customer) = £1.25 (if duties less than £62.50) or 2% (if greater than £62.50)

The ONLY saving grace is that Parcelforce don't currently charge a % rate...but give it time...

custardy

visidigi wrote: »

You say that, but Parcelforce is expensive too, and the killer is, they get it for EVERY express postalpackage sent into the country.

Its quite a racket they have going on to be quite honest - after all, the stuff is sent from source with a postal service where the package is dropped off.

The courier collects it, transits it, clears it, pays it and delivers it. Parcelforce hold the package to ransom for payment.

Current fees...
UPS = £11 or 2.5%
FedEx = £10.50 or 2.5%
DHL (Business Customer) = £10 or 2.5%
DHL (Personal Customer) = £1.25 (if duties less than £62.50) or 2% (if greater than £62.50)

The ONLY saving grace is that Parcelforce don't currently charge a % rate...but give it time...

every package with duty to pay that is

visidigi

no, they get packages over a certain value where TAX is required to be paid. Not all packages they handle incur duties.

custardy

visidigi wrote: »

no, they get packages over a certain value where TAX is required to be paid. Not all packages they handle incur duties.

sigh,and does every package they handle incur 'TAX'? no is the answer
since we are going into pedant mode

visidigi

excel wrote: »

Does anyone have any ideas how to avoid paying for this service I never wanted? Even if extra administration costs more, £13.50 isgreatly disproportional to the actual cost incurred.

There is a template letter somewhere on the net basically stating you never contracted with them in the first place.. [/QUOTE]

Yes, you're right, you never, as the sender contracted them, the contract lies with the sender.

Not sure what your point is?

martynbannister

I am currently disputing the £13.50 fee they charged me for an express parcel and, when I threatened to use the small claims court to get the fee refunded, got an email from their head office which, in part read thusly

I am sorry for any inconvenience this issue may have caused yourself.

I have taken into account your concerns and comments raised, but sadly on this occasion you are incorrect as Parcelforce Worldwide can hold parcels until the charges have been paid under Section 105(4a) (which was introduced by the Postal Services Act 2011)

The express right to hold the parcels pending payment of duty and fees is contained in Section 105(4a)

- customers are explicity required to pay all charges before the item/items are relased or delivered.

Parcelforce Worldwide have had two other claims, such as this that have gone to the small claims court and have won both cases as it is set out in the Postal Services Act that this can be done before the parcel is released or delivered, we are not holding onto parcels illegally.
........
Debby Reynolds
Managing Directors Office
Parcelforce Worldwide

SO, despite having never asked to provide this service, it looks like the law has been amended in 2011 to be on their side.