FedEx Admin Charge of £12 (min)

HappySpaceInvdr

I have just received an invoice from FedEx for £22.49 for an item on which only 10.49 of Import Duty was payable.

Currently, the admin fee they charge is 2.5% of the duty or £12, whichever is higher. The value of the item I bought was only $70, which Customs then valued at just over £50.

I phoned FedEx customer service and it was explained to me that where the sender offers an express service, FedEx will ensure the item is processed quickly through customers for rapid delivery. However, surely then, the admin fee should be billed to the sender, not the recipient?

I am happy to pay the duty, of course, as FedEx have paid that on my behalf. In fact, credit to FedEx's customer service, they have allowed me to do that, and dispute the rest. I argued that if I had been presented with the option to pay £12 for rapid delivery, or any other option that was cheaper, I would have chosen the cheaper option.

So... I have paid the duty, and all that remains is the admin charge. What's my position now? Do I have a contract with FedEx? Can they enforce payment of a service I did not ask for?

Hintza

So you think it didn't cost time and money for this parcel to clear customs.

Pay the company the money you owe. Next time you can go to Harwich and clear it in person thus saving the charge. Make sure it is marked FOB.

powerful_Rogue

From previous threads. The below although relevant to Royal Mail, similar sort of actions would be carried out by FedEx.

As you may be aware, we are required by law to cooperate with Border Force and to work under their directions. We therefore have an obligation to present all packages entering the UK from outside the European Union (EU), which attract customs duty, to Border Force.

If an item of mail then goes on to have customs charges attached to it by Border Force (valued over £15 for Merchandise or £35 for gifts - based on the value noted on the customs declaration), we will pay these fees (VAT of 20%) on behalf of the addressee in order to speed up its release for delivery. Royal Mail then collects these monies from the addressee, along with a charge to cover the additional handling and administration incurred by us, before the item can be released.

I am sorry, but it is impossible to give an actual breakdown of the handling fee as this is a standard fee that is attached to all customs charged items. It is an accurate reflection of the costs involved in most cases.

The £8 fee covers handling costs involved in:

Operating the postal customs depot
Handling the package for customs examination
Opening, repacking and resealing the package if required
Paying the charges to HMRC on a recipient’s behalf

Unless you specfically asked the sender to write "Goods to be customs cleared by sender" on the declaration form, then you have no comeback.

For future reference:

Declaring the goods yourself

As the importer you can carry out your own Customs procedures. If you want to do this, you will need to ensure the sender clearly marks the Customs declaration form (CN22 or CN23) 'goods to be Customs cleared by the importer'. Do not write on the wrapping. If the Customs declaration form (CN22 or CN23) is not marked in this way by the sender, the goods will be cleared by customs in the normal way; once goods have been Customs cleared you cannot then retrospectively apply to self clear them.

For items that have been marked for clearance by the importer, a full declaration will be sent to you to complete and return to the appropriate customs postal office.


They will calculate any import charges and write and advise you of your tax liability.


When you have paid this and the funds have been cleared, your goods will be released for delivery.


However, as a manual procedure there could be a considerable delay in the receipt of your goods.


https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/how-declare-goods-when-importing-post

bris

Import is your problem not the senders, just because you don't know the procedure is not the sellers fault, it's for you to know your countries import laws not them.


As for the charge it's for clearing customs for you, you can do it yourself but could you do it yourself?


The charge is reasonable and means your parcel isn't held up at customs waiting for you to fill in and correctly complete the paperwork.

custardy

HappySpaceInvdr wrote: »

I have just received an invoice from FedEx for £22.49 for an item on which only 10.49 of Import Duty was payable.

Currently, the admin fee they charge is 2.5% of the duty or £12, whichever is higher. The value of the item I bought was only $70, which Customs then valued at just over £50.

I phoned FedEx customer service and it was explained to me that where the sender offers an express service, FedEx will ensure the item is processed quickly through customers for rapid delivery. However, surely then, the admin fee should be billed to the sender, not the recipient?

I am happy to pay the duty, of course, as FedEx have paid that on my behalf. In fact, credit to FedEx's customer service, they have allowed me to do that, and dispute the rest. I argued that if I had been presented with the option to pay £12 for rapid delivery, or any other option that was cheaper, I would have chosen the cheaper option.

So... I have paid the duty, and all that remains is the admin charge. What's my position now? Do I have a contract with FedEx? Can they enforce payment of a service I did not ask for?

So what was your plan for customs clearance?