Courier VAT and admin charges

TheBigBad

I hope that this is the correct forum for this....

Recently whilst in USA I had some custom made items made up and then sent to me here in UK.

When they were delivered, the courier simply asked for a signature as per usual. Then a week later they sent me 3 invoices (there were 3 parcels) for payment of the import duty and their admin fee for processing this for me.

The duty was around £5 but their admin fee was £15 plus vat per package!!!! :eek:

I appreciate that there can often be some import duty to pay when items come from abroad but the admin fee charged is outrageous.

Where do I stand on this? In my view this is merely a speculative invoice as I have never agreed to any of their charges. I would be prepared to pay the duty but not the admin fee.

bris

You have to pay it, you sent 3 packages so 3x the paperwork with 3 different customs clearances.

gik

No courier collects the duty for free. You could have arranged to pay it yourself.

visidigi

TheBigBad wrote: »

I hope that this is the correct forum for this....

Recently whilst in USA I had some custom made items made up and then sent to me here in UK.

When they were delivered, the courier simply asked for a signature as per usual. Then a week later they sent me 3 invoices (there were 3 parcels) for payment of the import duty and their admin fee for processing this for me.

The duty was around £5 but their admin fee was £15 plus vat per package!!!! :eek:

I appreciate that there can often be some import duty to pay when items come from abroad but the admin fee charged is outrageous.

Where do I stand on this? In my view this is merely a speculative invoice as I have never agreed to any of their charges. I would be prepared to pay the duty but not the admin fee.

Three shipments = three times fees.

You only got the shipments in the time you did because of their actions which triggered the fee.

You could import them yourself but it would likely cost you more in fees/effort yourself and you certainly wouldn't have got them in the time frame you did.

Buzby

Afraid it's a done deal. If you import you open your wallet unless you had the foresight to have your own importer who can do it all for you, this still costs, but on balance is less than bring hit with 'retail' rates. The cheapest way of all is to bring items back with you as it is a personal import.

TheBigBad

I couldnt bring them back with me, the shipping time was 4-6 weeks.

I just think that £15 admin fee is outrageous

shaun_from_Africa

TheBigBad wrote: »

I just think that £15 admin fee is outrageous

£15 wouldn't go very far in a large business once you take the staff wages for the time involved in processing the package.
The courier company will need to examine the package, fill out the paperwork ( or online forms for HMRC), then arrange for the vat to be paid.
Once this has been done any you have your package, there is more expense involved in the letter that you received asking for the payment, and then they have to process the payment when received.

The courier will also have to pay tax on any profits made from this service so in the end, I wouldn't be surprised if they are making very little from the service.

visidigi

TheBigBad wrote: »

I couldnt bring them back with me, the shipping time was 4-6 weeks.

I just think that £15 admin fee is outrageous

Would you be complaining if it was £15 for all three? I doubt it.

if these were all from the same place then blame the shipper for sending them individually.

If they were a single shipment then there should only be a single fee.

visidigi

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

The courier will also have to pay tax on any profits made from this service so in the end, I wouldn't be surprised if they are making very little from the service.

Couriers make no money on this whatsoever - the clearance process is a significant cost far beyond any fee revenue.