EU sender agreed to pay customs charges, but now DHL are contacting me to pay?

Unh4ppy_with

I ordered an item from an EU country to the UK earlier this year. The sender put in writing via email that they would pay the customs fee.
I received my item, but now months later I am being contacted by DHL saying I need to pay these fees that the sender said they would pay.

How was the item released if the sender had not already paid the fee to the courier- DHL? I tried to contact the sender but haven't had a response.

What can be done? I think it's not right for me to pay. If I had known about the extra charge I would have refused to accept the item and let it get sent back to the sender for a refund.

Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks 

molerat

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  If the sender has agreed to cover the costs you need to pay it then ask them to reimburse you.  They should have arranged to pre pay any duties, not had an informal arrangement with you.  Courier companies will pay the duty for you and bill you later, if you don't pay it they will send debt collectors / take you to court.

MEM62

molerat said:

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  

Not necessarily.  If the seller sent the items on a DDP basis the OP would have no charges to pay.  Sounds like the OP may have been taken for a ride by the sender. 

phillw

Unh4ppy_with said:

What can be done? I think it's not right for me to pay. If I had known about the extra charge I would have refused to accept the item and let it get sent back to the sender for a refund. 

Where did you order it? How did you pay?

[Deleted User]

MEM62 said:

molerat said:

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  

Not necessarily.  If the seller sent the items on a DDP basis the OP would have no charges to pay.  Sounds like the OP may have been taken for a ride by the sender. 

Not necessarily

We ship stuff DDP to our staff and customers in Ireland and FedEx have created accounts in their names and send them invoices for duty. I resorted to putting in red bold on the commercial invoice that they needed to bill us

MEM62

Deleted_User said:

MEM62 said:

molerat said:

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  

Not necessarily.  If the seller sent the items on a DDP basis the OP would have no charges to pay.  Sounds like the OP may have been taken for a ride by the sender. 

Not necessarily

We ship stuff DDP to our staff and customers in Ireland and FedEx have created accounts in their names and send them invoices for duty. I resorted to putting in red bold on the commercial invoice that they needed to bill us

Then your discussion is with FedEx for not following your instructions.  The recipient is not liable for duties and taxes on DDP shipments.  The problem with a lot of the small parcels operators or the 'express industry' as they like to call themselves is that they have a tendency to make up the rules as they go along.   

[Deleted User]

MEM62 said:

Deleted_User said:

MEM62 said:

molerat said:

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  

Not necessarily.  If the seller sent the items on a DDP basis the OP would have no charges to pay.  Sounds like the OP may have been taken for a ride by the sender. 

Not necessarily

We ship stuff DDP to our staff and customers in Ireland and FedEx have created accounts in their names and send them invoices for duty. I resorted to putting in red bold on the commercial invoice that they needed to bill us

Then your discussion is with FedEx for not following your instructions.  The recipient is not liable for duties and taxes on DDP shipments.  The problem with a lot of the small parcels operators or the 'express industry' as they like to call themselves is that they have a tendency to make up the rules as they go along.   

It's not FedEx, the Irish customs are charging it, then FedEx are doing what they are told in collecting the charges

I am simply pointing out that even if you send DDP, no guarantee it will be correctly followed

sleepyjones

I thought the contract was between the Sender and the parcel company?
I know it doesn't work that way because I've been "stung" with customs charges before ... but if the contract exists between the sender and the Parcel Company (not the actual customer), surely they SHOULD contact the sender since that's who the contract exists with and it'll then be the senders responsibility to get any fees out of their customer?
If I paid a customs charge and then the parcel was lost between there and my address, would the parcel company now deal with me or would they still insist I need to talk to the sender because that's who their contract is with?

MalMonroe

Hi, this is between DHL and the sender of the item.

If I were you I would send a copy of the email you received from the sender indicating that they agreed to pay the import charges to DHL, with a covering note advising that the sender agreed to pay the fees and they need to be chased for payment.

But as you've actually received the item somebody appears to have already paid the charges, otherwise the item would not have been delivered since couriers are usually paid in advance and not retrospectively. Why is DHL now chasing you? Is it really DHL? Could it be someone trying to scam you?  

BT_Broederbund

 said:

said:

said:

 said:

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  

Not necessarily.  If the seller sent the items on a DDP basis the OP would have no charges to pay.  Sounds like the OP may have been taken for a ride by the sender. 

Not necessarily

We ship stuff DDP to our staff and customers in Ireland and FedEx have created accounts in their names and send them invoices for duty. I resorted to putting in red bold on the commercial invoice that they needed to bill us

Then your discussion is with FedEx for not following your instructions.  The recipient is not liable for duties and taxes on DDP shipments.  The problem with a lot of the small parcels operators or the 'express industry' as they like to call themselves is that they have a tendency to make up the rules as they go along.   

It's not FedEx, the Irish customs are charging it, then FedEx are doing what they are told in collecting the charges

I am simply pointing out that even if you send DDP, no guarantee it will be correctly followed

They're not doing what they're told because they're charging the wrong person.

MalMonroe

molerat said:

As the importer you are responsible for duties.  If the sender has agreed to cover the costs you need to pay it then ask them to reimburse you.  They should have arranged to pre pay any duties, not had an informal arrangement with you.  Courier companies will pay the duty for you and bill you later, if you don't pay it they will send debt collectors / take you to court.

That's a bit harsh. The OP needs to do a bit more investigating before rushing to pay anybody anything. You have assumed that what 'the courier' says has happened is true. For all we know, it might not even be DHL who contacted the OP, so many scams are operating now. 

The sender agreed in writing to pay the import fee. The OP said that the item was delivered months ago so it has to be assumed that the import charges were paid by somebody at that time. Couriers, in my experience, do not pay in advance and collect later.

It's not helpful or kind to wind up the OP with tales of debt collectors and court cases. There is no proof of any wrong-doing. First, there needs to be some fact-finding.