ParcelForce customs fee

MHL207

I bought a necklace (£60ish) several months ago and sadly it broke. I paid VAT the first time it came into the country but, having sent it back for repair free of charge, am being asked to pay VAT again. I plan to reclaim the requested VAT in due course however I was wondering if parcelforce can still charge their customs clearance fee  (£12) when there should ultimately be no need for customs to demand any money as there was no transaction involved when posting the item. Many thanks to anyone who has thoughts on this. 

Kattekwaad

Yes they will they are providing the service of clearing your necklace.

pphillips

Last time I ordered something from abroad I contacted the courier to inform them that I was refusing to pay the clearance charge on the basis that I didn't have any contract with them, they then sent a revised customs invoice with this charge removed.

mattyprice4004

pphillips said:

Last time I ordered something from abroad I contacted the courier to inform them that I was refusing to pay the clearance charge on the basis that I didn't have any contract with them, they then sent a revised customs invoice with this charge removed.

That ‘method’ hasn’t worked for a while - now the courier will just return it if the fee isn’t paid, or send it to debt collectors if already delivered.
I work with all of the mainstream couriers daily and they all seem a bit fed up of doing the work for free...

To the OP, the sender has incorrectly declared it if you’re being asked again so the error lies with them not ParcelForce. 

Kattekwaad

pphillips said:

Last time I ordered something from abroad I contacted the courier to inform them that I was refusing to pay the clearance charge on the basis that I didn't have any contract with them, they then sent a revised customs invoice with this charge removed.

So how were you planning to get it through customs?  Travel to hub that the parcel was at and sort your paperwork out yourself.  Just a ridiculous suggestion.

shaun_from_Africa

You can self clear your goods through customs but it takes a bit of pre-planning and the assistance of the sender.
When the customs declaration is filled out and attached to the package in the country of origin, the sender needs to write  "Goods to be customs cleared by importer" on it.

When the shipment arrives in the UK, it will be be passed to HMRC who will inspect and assess the VAT/duty due and write to the addressee and inform them of what is owing. Once this payment has been made and has cleared, the package will  be passed back to the shipper for delivery.

oldagetraveller1

I received a mobile phone earlier this week, from China. It did take a while but re the declaration by the seller/sender, it did state "mobile phone parts", which is correct. It was fully assembled parts though!

There was nothing to pay fortunately.

pphillips

Kattekwaad said:

pphillips said:

Last time I ordered something from abroad I contacted the courier to inform them that I was refusing to pay the clearance charge on the basis that I didn't have any contract with them, they then sent a revised customs invoice with this charge removed.

So how were you planning to get it through customs?  Travel to hub that the parcel was at and sort your paperwork out yourself.  Just a ridiculous suggestion.

The order cleared customs and was delivered to me by the courier, their customs invoice arrived a week or two later.
This was quite a long time ago, so the process might have changed since then.