RM £8 Customs Charge on £10 order

aldredd

I know the £8 customs fee is an oft-queried fee, but I'm not even sure I should be paying it.

In total, I've been asked to pay £13.95 on an order than cost $15.85 (about £10) - of which $5 was the item & $10 was shipping.

I've asked the person who sent it what they declared as the value, as RM's website implies that if the value was declared incorrectly, then it's tough either way - which doesn't sound right, as there is no way on earth this shipment is worth more than what I can show I paid for it - it's a few lego parts!

Not only that, but whilst you can challenge the fee / customs charge, you have to pay the fee first.

The process stinks :mad:

maninthestreet

VAT is only payable on goods imported from a country outside the EU if they are worth more than £15, and there should be no duty to pay unless the goods are worth more than £136.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

aldredd

Exactly - so no idea where they got the idea that it was worth more than that - it's literally a dozen lego bricks - and yet you can't even challenge it without first paying the fee.

trukdiver

aldredd wrote: »

Exactly - so no idea where they got the idea that it was worth more than that - it's literally a dozen lego bricks - and yet you can't even challenge it without first paying the fee.

They may have read $15.85 as £15.85, but then there would have been £3.19 VAT as well as the fee.

I had that problem once but they wouldn't refund it (although they should have done because it was their mistake!). On another occasion, when the seller declared the wrong value, HMRC did refund, but RM wouldn't because it was the seller's fault.

Gavin83

Were you not able to purchase the bricks from the EU? I'd have though ebay or bricklink (wherever you ordered it from) would have offered a European store with the same selection which would have worked out cheaper and less hassle.

How do you know about the charge, have you already got the package or do you still need to collect? Have you asked them how they've come up with the charge?

aldredd

They were pretty hard to find parts, with few BrickLink stores stocking the right mix - and as shipping is usually similar from US vs EU, and having never had an issue before, there wasn't much else to consider.

I've been given a payment due card by RM - RM themselves won't discuss it - I'm to pay and raise a claim with BorderForce or reject the item.

Understand a mistake can be made, but to insist you pay before they'll consider a claim is outrageous in my opinion. Especially as it sounds like if there is any error on the declaration, they'll reject the claim (even if I can prove what I paid). grrr

Baggieboy_2

Was charged £35.65 for a guitar pedal from Japan worth £100. As I'm not in the UK right now it was delivered to my mother's house and she paid up. I think I'll follow this up now.

aldredd

Gah - so to turns out the sender entered the wrong amount - $45 rather than $5

which probably means i'll struggle getting my money back

custardy

Baggieboy wrote: »

Was charged £35.65 for a guitar pedal from Japan worth £100. As I'm not in the UK right now it was delivered to my mother's house and she paid up. I think I'll follow this up now.

Follow what up?
VAT is payable on a £100 item (plus the P&P paid)

Baggieboy_2

Oh, so VAT is 35% these days then? Thanks for that.

DoaM

What was the postage cost? VAT is payable on the total order value, including shipping (so I understand).