Scam claim for Customs Duty!!

powerful_Rogue

Sandtree said:

Phantom151 said:

Sandtree said:

Phantom151 said:

sheramber said:

Phantom151 said:

The only thing I can think of is to persue the person you sent the goods back to. Small Claims type of thing.

I wonder if getting in touch with HMRC might open a can of worms for the recipient of the returned goods as it might be fraud to get someone else to pay the import duties. There may be a pattern but proving it might be impossible.

I don't think the company is a UK company so small claims court no help.

 

They appear to have been returned to a UK address though. Might have to go after the recipeint of the returned goods instead of the company.

Ok, didnt pick up on that part... however still not immediately a customs "scam" as they wouldnt have the evidence that the importation taxes have been paid to be able reclaim them on exportation. Could they create a forgery? Dunno if the info given to HMRC by the courier has an identifier that isnt the tracking number and is on the invoice.


Probably best the OP confirm where the return address was... many of these issues involve returning the product overseas which is cost prohibitive 

It might not be a scam but then the company should refund the customs charges too.

Why should they refund them? They arent in receipt of the tax monies.

To use a better illustration example... there was someone on here recently who bought a few cases of wine with the bottles being circa €1 each not realising that they'd be paying £2.23 per bottle for duty and then VAT on top of the lot. In the case here they had already started drinking it and so just ponied up the monies and chalked it to experience but lets imagine they had decided to return them instead before getting the courier bill as the OP did here and to avoid international shipping costs the company gives them a UK address to post to.

So they have paid the company £45 for 4 cases of wine, UPS have charged £150 for excise duty, vat and handling fees, you think that the company should refund them £195 despite only being paid £45? I'd agree in a post Brexit world they may want to change their processes but then we'd get the complaint on here about the cost of posting 4 cases of wine overseas.

Wine has always been liable to exicse duty when importing via the mail, pre and post brexit.

custardy

royP_2 said:

Having claimed a refund of the Duty from the seller, late yesterday I received the following email:

Thank you for your email.

Following your request, we ordered the transaction of a full refund to your bank account today. The refunds are usually instant, but in some cases it might take 3-5 working days for the transaction to be processed. In case we send you an order by mistake, please refuse the package.

Your account has been closed.

Best regards,

Louis, Customer Support Team 

Just checked my Bank account but nothing has arrived to date, we will wait and see, fingers crossed.

Standard for these companies to string out and time out options for refunds/action
This type of pills scam has existed for years.
I recall dealing with a returns hub for a raspberry ketones scam with high volumes, before relocating to nearby units and starting again.

royP_2

Still have not received my refund and it does not look as if I will ever get one!!
They will no longer answer my emails, last one I received stated that they had refunded me for the goods, which is correct and that they will not refund for the customs duty.
I have now paid DHL the duty invoiced, but I no longer have the goods they were returned to the original supplier in the UK a couple of months ago and therefore they should repay me the duty.
Is there no way now that I can claim this back apart from relying on the Companies honesty?

Phantom151

royP_2 said:

Still have not received my refund and it does not look as if I will ever get one!!
They will no longer answer my emails, last one I received stated that they had refunded me for the goods, which is correct and that they will not refund for the customs duty.
I have now paid DHL the duty invoiced, but I no longer have the goods they were returned to the original supplier in the UK a couple of months ago and therefore they should repay me the duty.
Is there no way now that I can claim this back apart from relying on the Companies honesty?

Not unless you can prove the goods were re-exported unfortunately.

royP_2

They were not re-exported just returned to an address in London as requested by the supplier.
Looks like I am going have to write this £100 off.

royP_2

Wow! Just had an email from DHL and they are going to refund me.