Customs Charge from Amazon.co.uk

Twisted_Spirit

Morning Folks

Just a quick query with you guys.

I was going to order a friends birthday present from Forbidden Planet but as I was ordering from Amazon.co.uk anyway I decided to get it from there instead.

Went to the store page and clicked add to basket £9.59 + free UK delivery. (I ordered 4)

It didn't turn up in the first week so I emailed the seller and found it was shipping from America. It was at this point I was worried that my decision to order from Amazon would end up costing me more because of Customs Charges and Admin Fees for said charges.

On Saturday I got a card through the door saying I would have to pay £15.21 customs charges to get my parcel. £7.21 VAT + £8 Admin Fees for Royal Mail.

Amazon told me I would not be liable for the costs as mentioned in the Amazon Participation agreement:

2. Fixed Price Sales

2.1 Under the Service, items are offered by sellers for sale at a fixed price ("Fixed Price Sales"). Unless otherwise agreed by us with the seller in advance in writing, the price of any items sold using the Service (including the applicable delivery charge) are displayed inclusive of any customs, import, export, and excise duty, VAT and other taxes which may be applicable and sellers may not charge or seek to charge the buyer, or allow the buyer to be charged, for any customs, import, export, and excise duty, VAT or other taxes which are additional to the price displayed for the item on the Site.

I spoke to the seller and he said he wasn't liable even though Amazon emailed him on my behalf.
His seller page also states:

tunesonline Dispatch Policies

Items ship via FedEx international from New Jersey, USA. Please allow 7-14 days for delivery.

tunesonline Tax Information

Prices are displayed inclusive of any applicable VAT.

Items ship via FedEx international from New Jersey, USA. Please allow 7-14 days for delivery.

tunesonline Tax Information

Prices are displayed inclusive of any applicable VAT.

I spoke to HMRC who told me the parcel had come via normal postage and packaging and that if it had been delivered by FedEx as was stated the seller would have received an invoice for import VAT.

Bottom Line is
I am £15.21 extra out of pocket
Amazon refuse to do anything as this is not covered by their claims "requirements"
the seller is adamant it is not his responsibility despite evidence to prove otherwise

Am I wrong?

Thanks in advance.

OlliesDad

Twisted_Spirit wrote: »

Morning Folks

Just a quick query with you guys.

I was going to order a friends birthday present from Forbidden Planet but as I was ordering from Amazon.co.uk anyway I decided to get it from there instead.

Went to the store page and clicked add to basket £9.59 + free UK delivery. (I ordered 4)

It didn't turn up in the first week so I emailed the seller and found it was shipping from America. It was at this point I was worried that my decision to order from Amazon would end up costing me more because of Customs Charges and Admin Fees for said charges.

On Saturday I got a card through the door saying I would have to pay £15.21 customs charges to get my parcel. £7.21 VAT + £8 Admin Fees for Royal Mail.

Amazon told me I would not be liable for the costs as mentioned in the Amazon Participation agreement:



I spoke to the seller and he said he wasn't liable even though Amazon emailed him on my behalf.
His seller page also states:



I spoke to HMRC who told me the parcel had come via normal postage and packaging and that if it had been delivered by FedEx as was stated the seller would have received an invoice for import VAT.

Bottom Line is
I am £15.21 extra out of pocket
Amazon refuse to do anything as this is not covered by their claims "requirements"
the seller is adamant it is not his responsibility despite evidence to prove otherwise

Am I wrong?

Thanks in advance.

I think that you are right, however I doubt that pursuing this will be worthwhile. The contract you have is with the seller, so to pursue this you would need to take action in America.

For the sake of £15, I would take this as a lesson on the dangers of using a marketplace like Amazon.

Twisted_Spirit

An Amazon employee suggested I contact my bank in regards to a Chargeback. I have never requested anything like this before. Is it just a case of contacting my banks CS team?

OlliesDad

Twisted_Spirit wrote: »

An Amazon employee suggested I contact my bank in regards to a Chargeback. I have never requested anything like this before. Is it just a case of contacting my banks CS team?

I'm no expert, however i think the bank would not do a chargeback on the original purchase as the items were received and in the condition expected. You also wouldn't be able to do a chargeback on the customs payment as it was due and you willingly paid it, although you dispute who should pay it.

visidigi

Chargeback wouldnt work.

The terms of their page said they would send FedEx, if they had you would still have been potentially charged the duties and taxes, although the sender is ultimately liable if you had refused.

It does seem that you state the seller has a page which makes it clear items are shipped from the US, it seems to be therefore that you missed this when ordering. So this particular mistake would be down to you.

In saying that, the seller has sent it via US Post, not FedEx and as a result you had to pay the fee before you could get the package - the seller should be picking up the tab for this IMO.

shaun_from_Africa

I think that there is a good possibility that a chargeback will work.

I say this because the terms and conditions shown by the seller clearly stated that the prices were VAT inclusive:

Prices are displayed inclusive of any applicable VAT

which should mean that nothing extra would have to be paid on delivery.

visidigi

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

I think that there is a good possibility that a chargeback will work.

I say this because the terms and conditions shown by the seller clearly stated that the prices were VAT inclusive:

which should mean that nothing extra would have to be paid on delivery.

It doesn't state which countries VAT, the exporter applies all his applicable VAT, it does not state destination VAT.

Additionally how can you chargeback on a consequential amount? I can't see how the bank can be held liable for the destination delivery clearance costs (especially when they can sometime be much higher than the actual product cost being purchased)

shaun_from_Africa

visidigi wrote: »

It doesn't state which countries VAT, the exporter applies all his applicable VAT, it does not state destination VAT.

But as there is no such thing as VAT in the United States, I think it's fair to expect that the seller was referring to the destination country.
They do have sales tax but this isn't normally charged on mail order goods that are delivered out of state.

I can't see how the bank can be held liable for the destination delivery clearance costs

They can't, but as a chargeback takes the money back from the sellers account, the bank isn't being held liable.

The chances are that the OP's bank/credit card issuer will agree with you, but there is no harm in trying.

eskimo26

For future reference anything under £15 including postage won't be charged as it's below the threshold, so ironically if you had ordered the items in 4 separate lots rather then a single transaction you wouldn't be paying anything.

Obviously if their was a postage charge it may potentially cost you more but in this case postage was free.

I find if you lean on Amazon hard enough they usually give in but take that with a pinch of salt.

pinkshoes

Have you actually picked these up yet and paid?

If not, cancel the sale under DSRs.

Twisted_Spirit

An update.

I went back to Amazon again and as a "goodwill one-off" gesture they have refunded me £15.21 against a previous order.

I didn't know the seller was in the US until after it hadn't arrived promptly and had I known that all this would happen I would've chosen a UK seller. It was no cheaper to buy from Amazon but as I was ordering a book that wasn't sold on forbiddenplanet.co.uk I just ordered everything in one go.

Also, to sell on Amazon.co.uk you have to agree to a participation agreement which states clearly in section 2 (posted in OP) that seller is liable.