FedEx Disbursement Fee

dj045

Recently ordered some goods from China, so expected there to be duty/tax to pay when they got to the UK.

FedEx delivered the parcel to my door with very little warning and then followed up a few weeks later with an invoice for the duty/tax and added on something called a 'Disbursement Fee' of around £10/11

Obviously have no quibble with paying the duty/tax, but having an unexpected fee on top of the postage cost I've already paid is basically blind robbery.

So I took the advice in the last post from here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4809941/fedex-invoiced-me-for-100-duty-tax-charge-on-top-of-the-cost-of-shipment/p3

Gave them a call and told them I didn't agree to pay their 'Disbursement Fee' , so they are going to look into removing it from the invoice.

Keep_pedalling

So you expect FedEx to sort out all your import taxes for free?

Sandtree

If you dont want to pay a courier to do the clearing for you and loan you the money to pay HMRC in the first instance then do your own parcel clearing and pay the taxes directly to HMRC

user1977

dj045 said:

having an unexpected fee on top of the postage cost I've already paid is basically blind robbery.

I do hope you've called the police.

mattyprice4004

It's not robbery, they're providing a service - look into the process to clear it yourself and you'll think their fee is a bargain. 
It's common knowledge that couriers add a fee to process the VAT and duty payments - a little homework beforehand would have given you this information. 

Sorry, but they're not going to remove it. They've done a job and need to be paid for it. 

visidigi

dj045 said:

Recently ordered some goods from China, so expected there to be duty/tax to pay when they got to the UK.

FedEx delivered the parcel to my door with very little warning and then followed up a few weeks later with an invoice for the duty/tax and added on something called a 'Disbursement Fee' of around £10/11

Obviously have no quibble with paying the duty/tax, but having an unexpected fee on top of the postage cost I've already paid is basically blind robbery.

So I took the advice in the last post from here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4809941/fedex-invoiced-me-for-100-duty-tax-charge-on-top-of-the-cost-of-shipment/p3

Gave them a call and told them I didn't agree to pay their 'Disbursement Fee' , so they are going to look into removing it from the invoice.

There is no robbery. You got the service you paid the seller for. You only paid postage to the seller like you clearly state.

This does not include clearance as the terms of any reputable seller is that you are responsible for the fees and taxes (and the shipper would have told FedEx this).

If you don't want to pay the fee be sure to tell your seller next time and you can self clear. Or use Royal mail, or EMS (Parcelforce) who wont deliver at all unless you pay the costs they have incurred to get your item to you.

dj045

Keep_pedalling said:

So you expect FedEx to sort out all your import taxes for free?

I expect them to be included as part of the international postage cost.

How can FedEx justify a fee virtually equal to the hourly minimum wage just for calculating the tax duty on one package?

dj045

mattyprice4004 said:

It's not robbery, they're providing a service - look into the process to clear it yourself and you'll think their fee is a bargain. 
It's common knowledge that couriers add a fee to process the VAT and duty payments - a little homework beforehand would have given you this information. 

Sorry, but they're not going to remove it. They've done a job and need to be paid for it. 

They've done a job I didn't ask them to do (and one that they should be doing anyway)

dj045

visidigi said:

dj045 said:

Recently ordered some goods from China, so expected there to be duty/tax to pay when they got to the UK.

FedEx delivered the parcel to my door with very little warning and then followed up a few weeks later with an invoice for the duty/tax and added on something called a 'Disbursement Fee' of around £10/11

Obviously have no quibble with paying the duty/tax, but having an unexpected fee on top of the postage cost I've already paid is basically blind robbery.

So I took the advice in the last post from here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4809941/fedex-invoiced-me-for-100-duty-tax-charge-on-top-of-the-cost-of-shipment/p3

Gave them a call and told them I didn't agree to pay their 'Disbursement Fee' , so they are going to look into removing it from the invoice.

There is no robbery. You got the service you paid the seller for. You only paid postage to the seller like you clearly state.

This does not include clearance as the terms of any reputable seller is that you are responsible for the fees and taxes (and the shipper would have told FedEx this).

If you don't want to pay the fee be sure to tell your seller next time and you can self clear. Or use Royal mail, or EMS (Parcelforce) who wont deliver at all unless you pay the costs they have incurred to get your item to you.

There was no option for this when I purchased the goods or to choose a different courier service.

sheramber

dj045 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

So you expect FedEx to sort out all your import taxes for free?

I expect them to be included as part of the international postage cost.

How can FedEx justify a fee virtually equal to the hourly minimum wage just for calculating the tax duty on one package?

But the postage charge was paid to the local posting service, not to FedEx. 

If you don't want to pay it in future you can go and collect your parcel yourself.

Just make sure yo advise the sender to complete the customs declaration slip accordingly.

You will be advised when the parcel has arrived and can go and pay any duty due and collect it yourself.

visidigi

dj045 said:

Keep_pedalling said:

So you expect FedEx to sort out all your import taxes for free?

I expect them to be included as part of the international postage cost.

How can FedEx justify a fee virtually equal to the hourly minimum wage just for calculating the tax duty on one package?

dj045 said:

visidigi said:

dj045 said:

Recently ordered some goods from China, so expected there to be duty/tax to pay when they got to the UK.

FedEx delivered the parcel to my door with very little warning and then followed up a few weeks later with an invoice for the duty/tax and added on something called a 'Disbursement Fee' of around £10/11

Obviously have no quibble with paying the duty/tax, but having an unexpected fee on top of the postage cost I've already paid is basically blind robbery.

So I took the advice in the last post from here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4809941/fedex-invoiced-me-for-100-duty-tax-charge-on-top-of-the-cost-of-shipment/p3

Gave them a call and told them I didn't agree to pay their 'Disbursement Fee' , so they are going to look into removing it from the invoice.

There is no robbery. You got the service you paid the seller for. You only paid postage to the seller like you clearly state.

This does not include clearance as the terms of any reputable seller is that you are responsible for the fees and taxes (and the shipper would have told FedEx this).

If you don't want to pay the fee be sure to tell your seller next time and you can self clear. Or use Royal mail, or EMS (Parcelforce) who wont deliver at all unless you pay the costs they have incurred to get your item to you.

There was no option for this when I purchased the goods or to choose a different courier service.

dj045 said:

mattyprice4004 said:

It's not robbery, they're providing a service - look into the process to clear it yourself and you'll think their fee is a bargain. 
It's common knowledge that couriers add a fee to process the VAT and duty payments - a little homework beforehand would have given you this information. 

Sorry, but they're not going to remove it. They've done a job and need to be paid for it. 

They've done a job I didn't ask them to do (and one that they should be doing anyway)

Then buy from someone else, the shipper could have picked up the costs and give you a landed purchase. But they don't do that, because the know you wont buy it if they upfront add the taxes and clearance costs to the purchase.

A couriers fee is for the provision of information in the required format to HMRC in advance, for HRMC to advise the amount due and for the courier to pay it on your behalf. They have to staff the clearance area for international with people to do clearance - same with everyone else, domestic delivery doesn't have these changes because domestic doesn't have clearance.

Its the same reason Royal Mail don't charge a fee for domestic but do for international as they have to pre-pay and they have to go through the process of clearance just like other couriers.

In fact, just like every carrier who international border clears goods and products.

You can choose a different courier from buying from a different seller or prepaying the fees to your seller so that they agree to pay them on your behalf. Top tip, it won't be cheaper as the sender will add their cut.

They did the job you asked them to do when you asked the seller to sell you goods delivered to your international address.

You seemingly have an issue to take up with your seller not making this clear enough.

Everyone complains about the courier, but doesn't seemingly accept the courier did what they were asked to do by the people who sold you goods through terms and conditions blindly accepted and post-event disputed.