Customs charge

dombanks

Hi

I purchased a phone case through punkcases.co.uk after seeing an advert on social media. I paid in GBP and they've sent the case. I now have to pay the a customs charge as it came from the US. I wasn't aware of this as I got it though a UK website. They won't refund the charge (I haven't collected it yet). Can I get a refund? I paid through PayPal. Thanks.

Nick_C

You've paid for the case, they have sent it. What are your grounds for asking for a refund?

You say the case was sent from the US. Where is the company that you bought it from based? In what country did the transaction take place?

You are bound by the law of whichever country you did business in.

Probably best to just pay the customs charge and handling fee, or your goods will be returned.

Surprised you weren't aware of this issue. It comes up on these forums every couple of weeks.

Fosterdog

Next time be more careful and do more research into a company before buying from Facebook ads, there are a lot of scams on there and if this one has actually sent what you've paid for you've been lucky this time.

Their website makes it clear that they are US based, Brooklyn, NY to be exact. Their address is published on there in a few different places and their phone number is very obviously a US number not a U.K. one. Just 30 of reading their website would have shown you that.

You don't have to pay the customs charge, it will eventually get returned to the sender, however you may not be entitled to a refund if that happens so you need to decide whether it's worth paying the extra to get the case (and no you won't be entitled to a refund of the customs fees) or forfeit what you've already paid and let it get returned to the sender.

KatrinaWaves

A co.uk address is no indication of location. Anyone can get one.

Many sites also dynamically price to local currency so GBP isn’t an indicator either, you can usually tell as prices are unusual, £7.32 for example rather than a more normal amount of £7.50/7.99

If you want the item you’ll have to cough up the customs, and there is no one you can claim it back from

London50

Taken from their UK website {t & c's}


SECTION 14 - TAXES AND DUTIES

All products are shipped from the USA and may incur import duties and taxes.

We are bound by customs authorities to state your order's value on your package or packages. The customer is responsible for all of the applicable taxes, fees, customs, import duties, and all other charges, regardless of whether you reject any or all shipments on delivery.

davidmcn

dombanks wrote: »

I now have to pay the a customs charge as it came from the US. I wasn't aware of this

It's pretty clear from the shopping cart before you check out:

Total (excluding Import Duties and Taxes). Shipped from the USA.

as well as the fact that their return address and phone number are American. I doubt you have a claim just because they use a .co.uk address.

soolin

The US rules around online sales favour the seller slightly more than it does in the U.K. As above if you don't pay the charge then you lose your money and the phone case.