DHL Charges Forced

soolin

I've just paid for a DHL delivery online, I got a text to say my goods had arrived at Gatwick, and then a second text to say I needed to go online to pay the charges.

I've paid my £15 but it didn't give me a breakdown of how they arrived at £15 . I paid around £62 for my items and based on what I have paid for duty and handling before £15 seems a little on the cheap side- but there is no other parcel it can be.

ilovepeoplesoverymuch

My main question was whether I can refuse the delivery and all of the charges. Of course I'm not asking if I can keep the packages without paying anything. I wish people would read the OP properly.

Again, DHL told me I had to pay the charges even if I refused the delivery. I don't see this is just because I was not asked whether I wanted to pay. They say they've already paid the taxes but this was not confirmed with me, it has been placed onto me without my say.

..Thank you, if you can help me.

wealdroam

ilovepeoplesoverymuch wrote: »

My main question was whether I can refuse the delivery and all of the charges. Of course I'm not asking if I can keep the packages without paying anything. I wish people would read the OP properly.

Again, DHL told me I had to pay the charges even if I refused the delivery. I don't see this is just because I was not asked whether I wanted to pay. They say they've already paid the taxes but this was not confirmed with me, it has been placed onto me without my say.

..Thank you, if you can help me.

Please re-read post #14. Your answer is there:

visidigi wrote: »

You can refuse delivery - they will be held - they will then ask the shipper what they want to do. If you refuse them the shipper will need to pay for the goods to be returned, you should not have to pay DHL for the clearance but the shipper may charge you the cost of the return. If the shipper refuses the return the goods the goods will likely be destroyed - the shipper wouldn't have to return what you paid for the goods as you declined to receive them (remember this is also an international transaction).

So you either pay and receive your goods. Or you refuse and potentially pay for goods you did not receive.

zax47

ilovepeoplesoverymuch wrote: »

My main question was whether I can refuse the delivery and all of the charges. Of course I'm not asking if I can keep the packages without paying anything. I wish people would read the OP properly.

Again, DHL told me I had to pay the charges even if I refused the delivery. I don't see this is just because I was not asked whether I wanted to pay. They say they've already paid the taxes but this was not confirmed with me, it has been placed onto me without my say.

..Thank you, if you can help me.

Regarding the bit I highlighted - you really need to be aware of your responsibilities if you are going to import goods (for yes, you are an importer whether you like it or not). The shipper handling the clearance will always charge for the work they do - they aren't a charity - whether you then accept the goods or not isn't their concern but you won't avoid your liability for their charges by doing so.

You can clear it yourself in future - get the sender to clearly write "Goods to be cleared by Importer" on ALL paperwork and parcel(s), but this will cost you even more in time and effort that letting the shipper (who have bonded stores and systems for dealing with HMRC) do it.

Your sender must complete shipping paperwork properly - including declared value. If HMRC feel it's been deliberately mis-described or undervalued to avoid VAT or duty then they can levy those based on their own valuation of the goods.

I don't believe you've yet told us what the goods were, or what value was put on the parcel(s).

varunadas

I think nobody is disputing of the payment of VAT but charging a minimum fee is the issue over here.
An international shipment has to be cleared by the carrier irrespective of whether a duty/VAT is payable and this administrative work cost is included in the shipping cost which is the reason of higher international shipping costs.
For residential customers the shipment value is generally small (often less than £135 dutiable threshold) so charging £11.25 for a small amount of VAT paid is not justifiable.
The reality the carriers work as a cartel so DHL has simply got their charges on par with others.
My only grudge against DHL is their reluctance to generate a proper invoice with the SAD copy to show transparency to customer as to what VAT has been paid.
Recently I ended up paying RM £8 for £3.25 VAT and that too because RM decided to clear my parcel on 2 August instead of in July so the huge drop in exchange rate meant my parcel exceeded the £15 threshold.

unholyangel

Can I ask why you resurrected a year old thread?

shaun_from_Africa

unholyangel wrote: »

Can I ask why you resurrected a year old thread?

Apart from why it's been revived, I've often wondered how someone actually comes across it in the first place.
A thread that had been dormant for 13+ months must have been well buried in depths of the forum and it's extremely unlikely that someone would stumble upon it by accident.

unholyangel

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

Apart from why it's been revived, I've often wondered how someone actually comes across it in the first place.
A thread that had been dormant for 13+ months must have been well buried in depths of the forum and it's extremely unlikely that someone would stumble upon it by accident.

I was wondering the exact same - how they manage to come across random old threads and why.

powerful_Rogue

Especially as the last time the resurrector posted on the forum was back in March 2015.

Very random.

Zero_Gravitas

Just think how much more of this there's going to be after we leave the EU :-)