Customs Clearance Charges charged after delivery - DHL

Manxman_in_exile

Well I'll start off by saying I have no experience in this area whatsoever.


Why don't you just ignore DHL and their letters (and letters from their debt collectors)? Or why not write to them explaining that you have never authorised them to pay the charges on your behalf and you won't be reimbursing them?


The two points I would be uncertain about are: (1) the government website you link to uses words like "normally". That's not a word that's usually employed in a definitive statement - sounds more like general purpose guidance to me and may not always be strictly reliable. (2) the DHL link you give goes on to say: "The payment of duties and taxes is typically the responsibility of the receiver, although DHL Express does offer the opportunity for DHL account holders to pay for them on behalf of the receiver". Is it at all possible that this "offer" has been taken up at some time? (Presumably by the shipper as you have not asked them to indicate that you would deal with clearance etc yourself).


I think I'd want to satisfy myself on these points first.

[Deleted User]

Manxman_in_exile wrote: »

Why don't you just ignore DHL and their letters (and letters from their debt collectors)?

Because the OP probably doesn't want to end up in court, I imagine?

Why the OP sought advice on an internet forum and then roundly chose to ignore and, indeed roundly reject the advice from the most knowledgeable and experienced posters on this subject is beyond me. Accusing those same posters of being employees of interested parties is beyond the pale in my opinion.

If I were a suspicious person, I might think the OP is posting solely to get a rise out of those posters. It's remarkable how often this topic comes up and how similarly the threads seem to progress...

Manxman_in_exile

Moneyineptitude wrote: »

Because the OP probably doesn't want to end up in court,... QUOTE]


No. I think they'd be quite happy to argue the point.

Selector

custardy wrote: »

So which couriers have you used before.
The only one I know that doesnt invoice after delivery is Parcelforce.
However its moot.
You are the same as the hundreds before you whining after the fact you didnt know,didnt have a contract yada yada.
Imagine if HMRC were to deal with the clearance themselves. Oh the uproar.

I don't use/choose any particular couriers. I/we simply order and stuff arrives and we pay any duty due when informed beforehand.
Strangely, you have put service above the law and yet, like all other posters agreeing with you, offer absolutely no evidence whatsoever to support your position outside of, 'that's just the way way things are done'.
Please tell me you have something more concrete to proffer....

Selector

custardy wrote: »

Did you pay VAT on your takeaway?
Yes.
So just like the OP except they chose to order from outside the EU and are liable for the VAT on import.

What, the heck, are you on about??

custardy

I do love the warped way you reply to a thread
Explains a lot on your thought processes.

scorsagian

So, Selector. What happened in the end? Did you come to an agreement with DHL?

Selector

Moneyineptitude said:
Why the OP sought advice on an internet forum and then roundly chose to ignore and, indeed roundly reject the advice from the most knowledgeable and experienced posters on this subject is beyond me. Accusing those same posters of being employees of interested parties is beyond the pale in my opinion.
If I were a suspicious person, I might think the OP is posting solely to get a rise out of those posters. It's remarkable how often this topic comes up and how similarly the threads seem to progress... – end quote.

“It's remarkable how often this topic comes up and how similarly the threads seem to progress...”

Isn’t it just?
This matter has been resolved with DHL despite DHL or their collections people Control Account Plc or HMRC providing any reference, in law, that allows a third party on behalf of another to create an enforceable debt in the name of that other – precisely what DHL had claimed to have done.

My initial letter to DHL included the, plain English question;

‘under what authority and legislation you have paid UK customs, without prior reference to me, ‘on my behalf’ and subsequently created an unsolicited debt in my name’?

DHL’s first written response did not touch on answering my question but, instead, included evidence that they'd paid HMRC and almost paraphrased from the Help/Faqs section of their website closing with a referral to HMRC’s website along with a contact telephone number for HMRC. So I telephoned the HMRC number and a recorded message mirrored what the HMRC website said; that a courier will first tell you how much duty is due, prior to delivery, and if unable to collect the duty due, goods would automatically be returned to sender after a period of time.

So I wrote back to DHL, during which time I received a first letter from their collections agent (including an addition fee for the agency’s time) pointing out that they had failed to answer my plain English question and stating that their invoice was being contested. At the same time I wrote to Control Account Plc stating that I was not prepared to engaged with them whilst their client had failed to provide an answer to a plain English, reasonable invoice query.

DHL then wrote back and along with protracted, unrelated bluster reduced what was a claim for £72 to £15, which I was happy to pay and paid immediate.  It is important to note that at no time, at any stage, anywhere did anybody provide proof or evidence of any law allowing anyone to create a collectable debt for another, without reference to that other. I strongly suspect that is because, rightly imho, no such law exists. (Although I’d be happy, and grateful, even now if anybody knows of such a law and can provide a government/Justice Dept reference).

I’m catching up because I have time today (may you all stay safe from COVID-19), so hope that site moderators will not consider it spam that I save time by ending this reply with the same text I used earlier this morning on the only other thread I’ve started since joining this forum;

I [sincerely] thank those posters (special shout out to scorsagian) with a more pragmatic and impartial sense of justice for their comments and inputs.
But to those posters who were unhelpful, ‘[‘pay what you owe; ‘you owe it so pay it', etc.] outright lied and tried to get bullish with me (a person seeking help and assistance) on a subject they are now obviously ignorant about, may you rot. You ought to be reported to the site managers for your [seemingly] wilful ignorance and for deliberately misleading readers and visitors to this site. A less knowledgeable person than myself or one less confident could easily have be swayed by your reprimands and put downs. You have been positively unhelpful……. and wrong in your rubbish advice giving and the sharing of your own ignorance, which you [appear to] have freakishly presented as knowledge and facts.

monaymadlol

Aylesbury_Duck said:

davidmcn wrote: »

There have been various previous posts about DHL if you search, and it seems to be commonplace for them to invoice after delivery. Doesn't make a difference to your obligation to pay.

Maxwell_jems wrote: »

There have been a range of previous posts about DHL if you search, and it seems to be commonplace for them to invoice after delivery. It would not make a difference to your obligation to pay.

david, you appear to have a mimic.

The chuckle brothers!

Lomast

Holy thread resurrection