UK company outsourcing from china

BrOz

I purchased something on the Internet which appears the company is based in the UK (order  email and Facebook pages have UK addresses at the bottom).

However this morning I had a customs fee payment from Royal mail, I had no idea what it was for but after looking into it as I wasn't sure what it was discovered it was this product!

I looked on the company website and could not see anything mentioned about outsourcing from China, I could not see anything in the shipping information about possibly paying a customs fee as the product was not from the UK (which eBay and etsy advertise and also state the location of product). 

I had no idea and feel mislead, as I thought it was a UK company. 

I'm aware that products from other countries may be liable for a customs fee which I'm OK with... if I know I'm purchasing from another country but in this case I didn't know!

Is there a law that says item location needs to be advertised? Or custom fee liability? The company says its based in London on Facebook and on the order email also the UK.

It's a company that sells ladies products: https://floweretcup.com/pages/tracked-worldwide-shipping
I can't see any mention of China, but it may be hidden away?? 

unforeseen

SECTION 18 - GOVERNING LAW

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of 15 Sextant Road Leicester GB LE52JB.

That says everything! 

shaun_from_Africa

BrOz said:

Is there a law that says item location needs to be advertised? Or custom fee liability? The company says its based in London on Facebook and on the order email also the UK.

As far as I'm aware, there is nothing that states that the item location needs to be advertised but when buying as a consumer from a UK or EU business, the price shown must be inclusive of all taxes and fees that may be payable.
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/1277/regulation/6

(4) Where a commercial practice is an invitation to purchase, the following information will be material if not already apparent from the context in addition to any other information which is material information under paragraph (3)—

d)either—

(i)the price, including any taxes; or

(ii)where the nature of the product is such that the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price is calculated;

davidmcn

unforeseen said:

SECTION 18 - GOVERNING LAW

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of 15 Sextant Road Leicester GB LE52JB.

That says everything!

Maybe they think their house has it its own special legal system.

I can't see anything specifying the legal entity you're dealing with, just a trading name. OP, are you sure it's a "company" at all rather than just an anonymous individual?

unholyangel

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of 15 Sextant Road Leicester GB LE52JB.

I didn't know 15 sextant road was a sovereign state and able to set it's own laws! 

I think it's this company, so it looks like they are a UK company who are dropshipping but they don't comply with UK law as in UK law, the retailer needs to tell you the total cost inclusive of any taxes. 

Have you already paid the fee? Have you spoken to the retailer? If so, what has their response been? 

BrOz

Thanks for the messages everyone!

I sent the company a message, saying that I thought they were based in the UK looking at the website, Facebook etc and have received a customs charge and thought they were misadvertising as there is no mention that it is shipped from China and they needed to let people know in case they also have similar difficulties.

They replied to me and said the normal stock they have in the UK has sold out so the manufacturer in China was sending them straight to the buyer to reduce delays as opposed to sending them to the company then the company sending to the buyer, but as a result people had been getting these custom charges. They gave me a refund on the custom charges thankfully. I had a look on Facebook at the reviews and can see a few people have had this happen to them as they have left negative reviews but the company are issuing refunds on the custom charges. Then the negative reviews are being removed. 

stragglebod

There's probably just one person behind the site, UK based but drop shipping from China. The 'UK stock has run out' line is plain BS.

Their 'About Us' page pretends it's a company formed by a group of British women but the image is a stock photo

https://www.dreamstime.com/portrait-smiling-female-business-team-working-modern-office-together-image166578886

unholyangel

stragglebod said:

There's probably just one person behind the site, UK based but drop shipping from China. The 'UK stock has run out' line is plain BS.

Their 'About Us' page pretends it's a company formed by a group of British women but the image is a stock photo

https://www.dreamstime.com/portrait-smiling-female-business-team-working-modern-office-together-image166578886

And their only director is male. I made the same observation! 

peachyprice

No address, phone number or email address on their 'Contact us'  page is a big clue. 

unholyangel

peachyprice said:

No address, phone number or email address on their 'Contact us'  page is a big clue. 

To be fair, they do give their address. Or at least a residential address that looks like it was up for sale at the time google passed in June 2015 but wasn't actually sold until april 2018 for £260,000. 

Although if they're a limited company they should be giving their limited name and also registered office address.