Advice sought customs charges

growlley

If this is in the wrong section I'm sorry I just couldn't see where else to put it.

I bought some items from an American company and selected the postal option of having them shipped from their European Depot and paid the amount they asked for this service.

This is an option companies use because they can pay the import duty + vat for the item as part of an entire consignment at entry into the EU and then buyer should not be have to pay these charges.

However according to the Post office the items were shipped from the US and the post office have added a fee for paying the customs charge and are holding my item to ransom until I pay the fee.

That isnt the part I am disputing,

The American company so far has been unhelpful in replying to emails just a boiler plate customer is responsible for customer charges and no refunds etc I am currently awaiting a response to my follow up email.

I certainly paid for goods and a service I didnt receive

As ultimately I paid for the items via my debit charge card through paypal I was wondering can I make a charge back and if so thru whom Paypal or my bank?

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

growlley wrote: »

If this is in the wrong section I'm sorry I just couldn't see where else to put it.

I bought some items from an American company and selected the postal option of having them shipped from their European Depot and paid the amount they asked for this service.

This is an option companies use because they can pay the import duty + vat for the item as part of an entire consignment at entry into the EU and then buyer should not be have to pay these charges.

However according to the Post office the items were shipped from the US and the post office have added a fee for paying the customs charge and are holding my item to ransom until I pay the fee.

That isnt the part I am disputing,

The American company so far has been unhelpful in replying to emails just a boiler plate customer is responsible for customer charges and no refunds etc I am currently awaiting a response to my follow up email.

I certainly paid for goods and a service I didnt receive

As ultimately I paid for the items via my debit charge card through paypal I was wondering can I make a charge back and if so thru whom Paypal or my bank?

What's a debit charge card?

Anyway, if you used PayPal you have broken the link between the card and the supplier so you are stuffed.

g6jns_2

growlley wrote: »

If this is in the wrong section I'm sorry I just couldn't see where else to put it.

I bought some items from an American company and selected the postal option of having them shipped from their European Depot and paid the amount they asked for this service.

This is an option companies use because they can pay the import duty + vat for the item as part of an entire consignment at entry into the EU and then buyer should not be have to pay these charges.

However according to the Post office the items were shipped from the US and the post office have added a fee for paying the customs charge and are holding my item to ransom until I pay the fee.

That isnt the part I am disputing,

The American company so far has been unhelpful in replying to emails just a boiler plate customer is responsible for customer charges and no refunds etc I am currently awaiting a response to my follow up email.

I certainly paid for goods and a service I didnt receive

As ultimately I paid for the items via my debit charge card through paypal I was wondering can I make a charge back and if so thru whom Paypal or my bank?

It sounds as if the goods were sent with the duty and VAT paid but if so you may still owe the accustoms Clearance fee to the Post Office. There is no way round this.

grumbler

growlley wrote: »

....the post office have added a fee for paying the customs charge...

This makes very little sense. Who paid the charge then? Or is it the fee plus the charge?

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

Anyway, if you used PayPal you have broken the link between the card and the supplier so you are stuffed.

The link is important for s75 case. Chargeback is reportedly possible against Paypal.

Also, Paypal offer their own protection.

growlley

My understanding is Customs and Excise have levied a import fee , the post office have paid this as a 'courtesy' and added an admin surcharge on for doing so . Which they claim they have the right to do so under an act of parliament from 2011 section 105 2c. I dont know the acts name I didnt get chance to write it down.

I'm not disputing that as I have ordered things before and knew about the customs charges etc and paid them but have also used this sort of service before and had no problems.

The problem is I paid for a service to delivery the item from a EU location so import duty and customs fees should already have been paid and the seller shipped from their American depot and now expect me to bear the cost of their mistake

ste_wilko

It all depends on if the American company declared them into the UK under the relevant Customs Procedure Code (In the UK it would be 4000000) to declare them as 'Home Use', this is a term simply used to denote full taxes and duties are payable.

If the goods have gone into a central warehouse in the UK but not been declared as Home Use (this can be done so that taxes aren't charged until they are distributed to buyers) then the taxes will be applicable as if the goods originated in the US.

The admin fee for the Post Office is completely correct. To pay HMRC import taxes there are two options. One being through a Defermnet Approval Number (DAN), and the other being via a banker's draft. The latter costing you more to arrange.

The reason that couriers & postal services charge you to use their DAN is because they have to physically transfer millions of pounds to it every month and it is a non-interest bearing account. So they re-claim the money that they have lost on potential interest back from the importer.

I worked in the import/export sector for nearly 10 years and have never known deferment fees not be charged

InsideInsurance

grumbler wrote: »

This makes very little sense. Who paid the charge then? Or is it the fee plus the charge?
The link is important for s75 case. Chargeback is reportedly possible against Paypal.

The OP says they paid with a "debit charge card". Whilst this doesnt exist it sounds like its either a debit card or a charge card in which case S75 doesnt apply to either.


1) Which company is this?

2) Does your invoice/ confirmation email etc confirm that you paid for shipping from Europe rather than USA?

3) What does the site T&Cs say about this option if the goods arent in the region etc?

Ultimately you could attempt a chargeback via your card issuer or raise a dispute with PayPal. If you have no evidence of having selected a european source then it may be difficult to win either

growlley

You are correct it is a debit card - sorry for the incorrect terminology.



The postal option chosen when I paid is one the company specifically added as a service so the customer wouldn't have to pay vat, import and postal admin fee for importing these items into Eu and made a great deal of noise about them setting up a European distribution point in th e uk to do so.

The invoice clearly states 'ninja ship' which what they call this service.

I havent named the company because Im giving them a reasonable amount of time to respond to my follow up email to their boilerplate reply just in case its a simple case of an ill thought out system ie an automated reply and then human intervention. So I sought advice because searching didnt return any information that seemed to match my circumstances,

I will take your advice and raise a claim with paypal - unfortunately whilst Paypal state to open a dispute first to allow a response from the company , their system states it is unable to do when I try so I will have to escalate it immediately in order to even get any action considered and the issue documented which is a little futher than I wanted to go quite yet.


Thanks for all the helpful responses.

ste_wilko

What was the web address of the company you ordered from?

growlley

it would appear Sodapop miniatures response was to give me a refund If requested one or not.

thanks for all your help

g6jns_2

growlley wrote: »

My understanding is Customs and Excise have levied a import fee , the post office have paid this as a 'courtesy' and added an admin surcharge on for doing so . Which they claim they have the right to do so under an act of parliament from 2011 section 105 2c. I dont know the acts name I didnt get chance to write it down.

I'm not disputing that as I have ordered things before and knew about the customs charges etc and paid them but have also used this sort of service before and had no problems.

The problem is I paid for a service to delivery the item from a EU location so import duty and customs fees should already have been paid and the seller shipped from their American depot and now expect me to bear the cost of their mistake

That does not sound correct. Certainly the Post Office are legally entitled to charge the standard fee for Customs Clearance. The sensible thing is to pay it and then go about claiming it back from the seller. You are wasting your time arguing with the Post Office since they have acted correctly.