PARCELFORCE CUSTOMS CHARGE HELP PLEASE

Spoonie_Turtle

shaun_from_Africa said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Gifts below £35 in value shouldn't be charged import VAT 

But does the shipment in question class as a gift?
For it to be a gift, it must be coming from a private individual and not a business and as a completion was being run, I wouldn't be surprised if it was being run by a buisness of some sort.

They didn't pay anything for it, but that's a very good point - thinking about it, it probably comes down to what's written on the customs form.

For instance, Etsy sellers tend to address parcels from themselves, not from their company name so if they chose to mark it as a gift it would likely go through even if it were above the commercial threshold (I buy under so I legitimately don't owe anything, and they shouldn't mark it as a gift but some do anyway). Whereas if they addressed it from their company, it would certainly be stopped if it went above the threshold - I had a parcel that ended up a few cents over due to the monthly change of exchange rate, and had to pay £11 for my ~£15.05 item!

(And in looking this up it turns out the gift threshold is £39, not £35.)

RFW

After all the what should have happened, let's try and move forward from where we are now.

First, there's no need to pay the fee, you just won't get the items. If you don't pay it, Parcelforce will keep it for a while and then dispose of it. They can't force you to pay it.
Second, explain the situation to Parcelforce (in writing) and ask them to reassess.

Also contact the sender and explain. They may be able to contact the courier they sent with.

Given the current situation it will probably take some time to get any kind of response anywhere. I'd be resigned to not receiving the package.