Scam claim for Customs Duty!!

royP_2

On the 16th Dec 2021 I came across an add advertising CBD capsules for pain endorsed by Mary Berry and Dame Judy Dench.
Having suffered with lower back pain for many years and being told by the GP and Specialist that unfortunately I will have to live with it, thought it might be worth a try.

So I placed an order and received an acknowledgement for Five bottles, costing me £199 instead of the £39 the advert cleverly, led me to believe.
The same day I emailed the company complaining that this was not what there web site had said and after a lot of emails back and forth over the next few days I received a refund in full.
Next day I received the items, in touch with the company again and was given an address to whom I was to mail the parcel back.

Therefore thought that was the end of the saga, but no such luck on the 28th December I received an invoice from DHL demanding payment of customs duty for £99.84, which apparently relates to the above, how they had my name and address I have no clue.

I emailed DHL and told them all about the above and that I no longer had the goods and that they should get payment from my original supplier [I also gave them the email address that I had].
But DHL are insisting on payment!

Tried talking to the original Supplier via chat and email but all we do is go around in circles and they do not intend to give me a refund if I pay or pay the invoice themselves.

As copied here:
"You have been already fully refunded for this transaction. That is all we can do from our part. We do not have influence on DHL company's policy. Please contact DHL company directly.
Best regards,
Amy
Customer Support Team"
 
The company in question is www.360nutrients.net

I have since found out that there is a huge scam going on here, the original web site has now been closed down by Microsoft, there are reports about them in various newspapers such as the Daily Mail , The Sun etc and yet they are still trading.

The main question from my point of view is what should I do about this Customs Invoice, I have now received a further letter from DHL demanding payment in 7 days or it will be put in the hands of their debt collection agency, that 7 days is now up

Any suggestions help etc would be appreciated.

emmajones1976

If DHL delivered the goods in question, how do you think they knew your name and address?

Doesnt look like a scam to me, if the goods came from abroad its likely customs charges will have been due.  If you returned the goods though DHL wont know that, there is a form you can fill in to dispute it.

sheramber

When goods come into the country from abroad customs duty is calculated and the courier pays the amount on the recipients behalf.

Very little information on the website but the phone number does not appear to be a UK one.

AS the importer you are liable for this charge.

You need to claim the duty back from HMRC as you returned the goods.

 

Aylesbury_Duck

As above, you imported the goods so you are liable for customs charges.  You need to pay and then claim it back through HMRC.  DHL have your address because you ordered products to be sent there!  DHL will have paid the customs charges on your behalf (which they are entitled to do since you didn't opt to do it yourself), so you now owe them.  Refusing to pay is likely to lead to more charges and small claims action or similar.

visidigi

And the fact you sent them back is not relevant. DHL have paid and need paying.

royP_2

But at the time of purchase I was not told that these items were coming from abroad, as far as the web site advised it was all from the UK.
Plus as I have now learnt the whole web site was a scam, Mary Berry never endorsed this company, plus the site has now been shut down by Microsoft.
All rather fishy to me.

emmajones1976

What is fishy? Do you think DHL have spent the time to invent that this package came from abroad?

You have no option but to pay the invoice and then dispute it afterwards.

emmajones1976

Also, their website is still there. Look at the FAQ page:

https://www.360nutrients.net/faq/

"All orders received by 3PM Eastern are shipping out the same day"

3pm Eastern. In which case, its likely things were shipped from the United States. 

user1977

And why would anything other than an American product trumpet the fact it "meets FDA guidelines"? Or talk about their "toll-free" number (which isn't toll-free anyway!), or use American spelling?

Sandtree

royP_2 said:

But at the time of purchase I was not told that these items were coming from abroad, as far as the web site advised it was all from the UK.
Plus as I have now learnt the whole web site was a scam, Mary Berry never endorsed this company, plus the site has now been shut down by Microsoft.
All rather fishy to me.

Fishy? certainly parts of it but assuming DHL did deliver the products then nothing points to them doing anything wrong or trying to scam you. 

Companies are not obliged to inform you where goods are coming from ultimately however for anything declared as over £135 (inc P&P, insurance etc) it is the importer's responsibility to pay any taxes due and the law allows couriers/postal service to charge a fee for this as they pay HMRC for you and then recover the money from you.

When buying from a company you have never heard of its worth double checking where they are possibly based and so where goods may come from. Even some well known brands have had post Brexit issues as they've always fulfilled from the EU which used to mean no taxes but now attracts VAT if coming into the UK. 

The system has to be the importer pays, in my mind, as enforcing it on the vendors when they are overseas is a road to nowhere and its unrealistic to expect companies to know all the tax rules in all 100+ countries in the world. I think there is scope for improvements as buying becomes more global to make reclaims easier for Joe Public who doesnt realise etc however government appears more interested in parties

Ergates

royP_2 said:

But at the time of purchase I was not told that these items were coming from abroad, as far as the web site advised it was all from the UK.
Plus as I have now learnt the whole web site was a scam, Mary Berry never endorsed this company, plus the site has now been shut down by Microsoft.
All rather fishy to me.

Regardless of whether or not it was made sufficiently clear where the products were coming from - this certainly *wouldn't* be the fault of DHL.  They don't own or operate the website in question, they just handled the delivery and have paid the import duties on your behalf, so need paying.