Customs charge from UK website

MalMonroe

You say "I have now received a customs fee to pay" - who has sent you that information?

Because according to the link from UK govt here -  https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty   -
it should be the delivery company - Royal Mail, courier, whoever.

If you have ordered from a UK company but the company has to get the goods from America, that's not really your problem. Given that they had to order from America they should have told you at the outset and given you some figures, if they wanted you to pay duty and taxes. Then you could have told them to get lost. 

This company has been deceptive and has lied, telling you that you wouldn't have to pay any import charges. I'd contact Citizens Advice in the first instance to see what they say, it's a free service.

But if you look at the information in the following link, you may well have a claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, scroll down to 'Delivery Rights'.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

You should not have to pay any import charges, since you were not advised about them in the first place or given any choice about whether to proceed or cancel once the item was on its way.

Good luck. But whatever happens, that company needs reporting for their deceptive practises and misinformation. 

MalMonroe

Sandtree said:

user1977 said:

HelenDW said:

Their t&c’s briefly touch on items potentially being fulfilled by an overseas warehouse, but makes no mention of who is liable for customs under these circumstances

This bit's reasonably clear:

"If your delivery address is within the United Kingdom, no additional taxes will be charged to you."

The OP hasnt said which company they bought from, only that its part of the Hut Group? Are you certain all Hut Group companies use the same T&Cs?

HelenDW said:

Their t&c’s briefly touch on items potentially being fulfilled by an overseas warehouse, but makes no mention of who is liable for customs under these circumstances

Law in the UK, and most countries, is that its the importer's liability so unless it says otherwise or the order is under £135 then you would be. Matters are different if @user1977 is correct and there is another term saying no additional taxes.

It IS the importer's liability, yes. But in this case, the OP isn't the importer. 

Sandtree

user1977 said:

Sandtree said:

user1977 said:

HelenDW said:

Their t&c’s briefly touch on items potentially being fulfilled by an overseas warehouse, but makes no mention of who is liable for customs under these circumstances

This bit's reasonably clear:

"If your delivery address is within the United Kingdom, no additional taxes will be charged to you."

The OP hasnt said which company they bought from, only that its part of the Hut Group? Are you certain all Hut Group companies use the same T&Cs?

They said it was Lookfantastic, whose terms are here.

D'oh, I read "The company looks fantastic"

Manxman_in_exile said:

Does "no additional taxes" mean no customs duties etc?

Duties are taxes, and I'd assume the biggest part of the bill will be the Value Added Tax 

Sandtree

MalMonroe said:

Sandtree said:

user1977 said:

HelenDW said:

Their t&c’s briefly touch on items potentially being fulfilled by an overseas warehouse, but makes no mention of who is liable for customs under these circumstances

This bit's reasonably clear:

"If your delivery address is within the United Kingdom, no additional taxes will be charged to you."

The OP hasnt said which company they bought from, only that its part of the Hut Group? Are you certain all Hut Group companies use the same T&Cs?

HelenDW said:

Their t&c’s briefly touch on items potentially being fulfilled by an overseas warehouse, but makes no mention of who is liable for customs under these circumstances

Law in the UK, and most countries, is that its the importer's liability so unless it says otherwise or the order is under £135 then you would be. Matters are different if @user1977 is correct and there is another term saying no additional taxes.

It IS the importer's liability, yes. But in this case, the OP isn't the importer. 

The OP is the importer if it goes direct from the overseas fulfilment centre to the OP however the T&Cs state that no additional payment for taxes are required.

As to the OP - presumably the bill has come from the courier in which case speak to the website... it sounds like they should have used the sending method where the sender pre-pays the taxes (at least thats what they describe it as, in reality large senders get normal payment terms to pay) but havent.

Hopefully they should advise the courier of the error and the bill gets written off but worst case would be them reimbursing you... this will be more expensive for them given the fee for sender prepayment is understandably less than the fee for importer settling post import.

LaHostessAvecLaMostess

MalMonroe said:

You say "I have now received a customs fee to pay" - who has sent you that information?

Because according to the link from UK govt here -  https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty   -
it should be the delivery company - Royal Mail, courier, whoever.

If you have ordered from a UK company but the company has to get the goods from America, that's not really your problem. Given that they had to order from America they should have told you at the outset and given you some figures, if they wanted you to pay duty and taxes. Then you could have told them to get lost. 

This company has been deceptive and has lied, telling you that you wouldn't have to pay any import charges. I'd contact Citizens Advice in the first instance to see what they say, it's a free service.

But if you look at the information in the following link, you may well have a claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, scroll down to 'Delivery Rights'.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

You should not have to pay any import charges, since you were not advised about them in the first place or given any choice about whether to proceed or cancel once the item was on its way.

Good luck. But whatever happens, that company needs reporting for their deceptive practises and misinformation. 

You should be careful what you say.  You could well end up in court for libel based on those baseless accusations. 

There is no indication at all that the company has done anything other than made a mistake, they haven't even had a chance to reply to the OP's message to them as far as I can see.