DHL made me pay for someone else's duties/tax

selinajuly

Hi everyone, I was hoping to get some advice here.

I was expecting a shipment from India in June 2019. I received a text from DHL saying that they have my package and that I needed to pay the duties and tax on it before they can release it. I paid promptly as I knew I had to pay customs, that's fine. I received my package soon after.

I then received a letter from Fedex saying that I owe them duties and tax. I said that I have already paid it (to DHL) but Fedex ignored me and kept demanding payment.

After doing some investigating, it turns out that DHL charged me for someone else's duties and taxes (they sent me an invoice as evidence but it wasn't in my name and I had absolutely no idea who that person was) and it was Fedex whom I owed legitimately (the sender told me they didn't use Fedex but the Indian delivery service they used do use Fedex - which added to the confusion). I paid Fedex the duties and tax owed.

I've asked DHL to refund me back my money that they incorrectly charged me and seek payment from the other person. It's nearly the end of October and they are being extremely slow. I have all the evidence to show that they charged me incorrectly, that I am not the person they think I am and that I have correctly settled the duties and tax with Fedex.

As they are taking so long, I'm worried they will just ignore me forever. What are the next steps to get them to give me back my money?

Thanks!

[Deleted User]

It depends on what they've said. Your post is unclear.

Have they acknowledged that they owe you a refund? Not replied? Said they won't refund you?

If they're just being slow, they clearly they won't 'ignore you forever'. You would just need to chase them up.

If they've not replied, you need to escalate it.

CakeCrusader

It's not DHL who deal with customs charges. It's added at the port/airport by customs. They send documents to DHL requesting payment. DHL send the request to you, they collect it and they send it to HMRC. You could do with contacting HMRC and asking for a refund. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/refunds-and-waivers-on-customs-debt

visidigi

CakeCrusader wrote: »

It's not DHL who deal with customs charges. It's added at the port/airport by customs. They send documents to DHL requesting payment. DHL send the request to you, they collect it and they send it to HMRC. You could do with contacting HMRC and asking for a refund. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/refunds-and-waivers-on-customs-debt

Normally yes.

But this is not duties and taxes the OP owes - they have paid the D&T to FedEx - therefore this is a pure administrative error by DHL which DHL need to resolve.

OP did you settle by debit or credit and if so how much of a balance did you pay to DHL?

selinajuly

Deleted_User wrote: »

It depends on what they've said. Your post is unclear.

Have they acknowledged that they owe you a refund? Not replied? Said they won't refund you?

If they're just being slow, they clearly they won't 'ignore you forever'. You would just need to chase them up.

If they've not replied, you need to escalate it.

Thanks for the reply. Every department at DHL I've spoken to has just given me a spiel about having to pay customs and tax. Otherwise, no word of a refund or acknowledgement that there has been an admin error or that there has been a fault on their part. Looking back at my correspondence with the accounting department (who took the case after I spoke to customer services), they have been investigating the matter since August. I have been chasing since then, and when they do bother to reply, they have told me they are still investigating.

I guess my patience is just running thin. I have escalated this to the manager and manager's manager but still waiting on a sufficient response.

selinajuly

visidigi wrote: »

Normally yes.

But this is not duties and taxes the OP owes - they have paid the D&T to FedEx - therefore this is a pure administrative error by DHL which DHL need to resolve.

OP did you settle by debit or credit and if so how much of a balance did you pay to DHL?

Thanks for the reply! I settled 100% with credit card - perhaps naively I thought it would be easier to get a refund from DHL directly but this wasn't the case. I raised the dispute with Amex already so I'll just get back in touch with them and try and resolve it that way.

TrickyDicky101

How much was this 'duty' that you've paid to DHL?

stragglebod

How did DHL get your contact info? There must be a reason they sent the request to you, do you know how your details got mixed up?