Lost parcel- out of pocket fees

Erneye

Hi
I placed on order with the crowd ordering website Massdrop who ship from the US. The item I ordered worked out about 100 pounds cheaper even with customs fees vat import duty
All was going well the item shipped to the UK ok by DHL, I paid the customs fees when requested and it was handed to Yodel to complete the delivery.
While in their possession it disappeared, it got as far as the local depot never made it out for delivery
I contacted Yodel “customer services” several times and after a week they started an investigation which concluded I hadn’t received they item
They then ‘admitted accountability’ and told me to contact the vendor to claim on my behalf
I did and they have issued a refund for the purchase price and shipping
This currently leaves me about £45 out of pocket for the import duty vat etc not to mention time chasing this up
I contacted Yodel again about this by email online complaint and by online chat. I’ve not phoned them as they charge for their customer service phone line and I don’t believe I will get any different response than I receive from the other methods of communication wasting more money
They haven’t responded to email , customer compliant form and the online chat staff say I have to take it up with the vendor they can’t answer any of my questions
The vendor Massdrop is not responding either
Where does the responsibility lie for recovering these costs
In my eyes it lies with yodel as they lost the parcel and the vendor has repaid everything I paid to them
Or have I just lost the money?
Hoping someone can point me in the right direction
Ernie

DCFC79

Have you tried contacting Yodel on social media ?

How did you pay ?

CoolHotCold

If Massdrop was the only company you paid money to/organised all delivery, then any rights you have are against them.

If you just want to claim a refund on your import duty and fees you will either follow https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty or contact whoever (probably DHL) you paid to process and they should have a similar form.

sheramber

Duty and fees are payable on the goods entering the country, which they did so there will be no refund due from HMRC.

They are not responsible for the goods after they clear customs.

If the courier lost the parcel then they are responsible.

Were the goods insured for transit by the courier? I would think any claim would be on that insurance.

CoolHotCold

sheramber wrote: »

Duty and fees are payable on the goods entering the country, which they did so there will be no refund due from HMRC.

They are not responsible for the goods after they clear customs.

If the courier lost the parcel then they are responsible.

Were the goods insured for transit by the courier? I would think any claim would be on that insurance.

Thats not how it works.

You are absolutely entitled to a refund on import duty and VAT if the goods are lost OR your return the goods, as per the gov website I linked to.