UPS charging import duty

JoanneN

I ordered a gold necklace from USA  costing $378 and they charged $50 for shipping.  (£313.96 total in pounds)
It was running late due to their Covid mandate in LA and manufacturing problems so it was not received in time for the birthday gift as intended.
However, UPS now inform me that my parcel is at Stanstead Airport and they won't deliver it until I pay £96.18
This is made up of £84.69 Government charges and £11.40 UPS brokerage.
This is extortionate and around a third of the price of the necklace itself.
Any advice appreciated - is this normal? Do I have to pay this brokerage.
Why do I pay for delivery twice - I already paid the jewellery company $50.
 I looked on UPS and this seems to be the price for express delivery which I clearly have not had.
Help!

Aylesbury_Duck

JoanneN said:

I ordered a gold necklace from USA  costing $378 and they charged $50 for shipping.  (£313.96 total in pounds)
It was running late due to their Covid mandate in LA and manufacturing problems so it was not received in time for the birthday gift as intended.
However, UPS now inform me that my parcel is at Stanstead Airport and they won't deliver it until I pay £96.18
This is made up of £84.69 Government charges and £11.40 UPS brokerage.
This is extortionate and around a third of the price of the necklace itself.
Any advice appreciated - is this normal? Do I have to pay this brokerage.
Why do I pay for delivery twice - I already paid the jewellery company $50.
 I looked on UPS and this seems to be the price for express delivery which I clearly have not had.
Help!

It is normal.  You are liable for customs charges which UPS have paid on your behalf.  They are passing those on with their administrative costs of £11.40.  It's nothing to do with delivery charges and nor is it extortionate, this is a customs charge for which you as the consumer are responsible.

TonyMMM

It's not a delivery charge - it is duty and VAT, plus the service charge UPS make for handling those import payment charges for you.

mattyprice4004

As above, you are paying for duty, VAT and the UPS charge is for handling the import, not delivery.
This is 101 when ordering online from abroad, if you order anything of value from outside of the UK you WILL usually have to pay the three charges above. If you're not happy with this, order from a UK company.

Jamespearce86

Hey everyone, I've been desperately trying to find some help regarding a UPS duty issue and stumbled across this post (hope you don't mind me tagging on!)!
I sent a faulty product back to Thomann in Germany, and they assured me that the returning goods would be marked as a replacement for the goods sent back and I wouldn't be charged Tax. 
Sure enough, I've been asked to pay duties by UPS on the replacement item and Thomann basically refused to speak to USP about it, saying I would need to pay the tax and claim for a refund?! Am I best off just not paying it and hoping it gets delivered like the example here? 
I've also emailed/tweeted UPS but have yet to hear anything back from them yet. Anyone come across this issue yet?