QuietOn Earbuds - Can I Refuse Delivery?

PocketD

Not sure if anyone has had any experience with QuietOn, but I ordered a pair of their 3.1 version earbuds.  Ordering was in GBP and there was no mention these are being shipped from outside the UK and today I have received an email from Royal Mail saying there will be a customs charge when they arrive in the UK (I believe it will be anywhere from £40 to £70!!).

Looking at some reviews on Trust Pilot I can see others have had the same experience and also said the product was no good and their 30 day 'free' returns are not free, you have to send them back to Finland at your own cost.  Again, something that's not on their website - their terms just state ' The address will be provided to you after filling out the return form.'

So I'm wishing I had never bought these.

Does anyone know what will happen if I refuse delivery?   Does the customs charge go away (and just have the Royal Mail fee presumably?). 
I'm hoping I can refuse and then (I assume) it will get returned to sender and I can claim a refund. 

I think it's very bad practice to not make it know they ship from outside the UK - the terms do say you will bear the cost of returning the product which is fine, but there was no information saying this would be to a European country.

Ath_Wat

Why did you assume it was being shipped from inside the UK?  

Was it just the fact that they quoted you a sterling price?  Looking at the site, it does say on the product page "Orders from the US and Canada are sent out from the US, orders from the rest of the world are sent out from the European Union."

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If you refuse delivery risk has not passed however enforcing any rights against a company in Finland is going to be difficult. 

I don't know what would happen regarding a card chargeback where the customer refuses delivery or to pay customs @born_again is the expert  

I'm sure many will have comments regarding buying from a company in Finland/customs responsibility and all that but the EU regs (which apply in Finland) specifically state risk does not pass if the customer refuses delivery.  

I presume if you pay the fee and then send the goods back you can reclaim any customs fees but the additional charge applied by Royal Mail (use to be £8) wouldn't be refunded. 

The T&Cs page does detail their address is in Finland and also that the company isn't responsible for customs fees when posting to those outside the EU (which is a correct stance for them to take). 

TELLIT01

On-line purchasing is becoming more and more of a minefield.  Companies which certainly seem to indicate they are in the UK actually being in other countries, so no practical way to return items.  In this instance the statement " orders from the rest of the world are sent out from the European Union." doesn't tell you much as the UK is outside the EU.  It is this sort of wording which should raise red flags, but to be fair how many of us do read the small print?  Hopefully many more of us after reading stories like this.

[Deleted User]

Once we've experienced this we are indeed wiser.
I think many consumers hope for the best and the rest just don't even consider it.

Ath_Wat

TELLIT01 said:

On-line purchasing is becoming more and more of a minefield.  Companies which certainly seem to indicate they are in the UK actually being in other countries, so no practical way to return items.  In this instance the statement " orders from the rest of the world are sent out from the European Union." doesn't tell you much as the UK is outside the EU.  It is this sort of wording which should raise red flags, but to be fair how many of us do read the small print?  Hopefully many more of us after reading stories like this.

How does that "not tell you much"?  It tells you it's coming from abroad, somewhere in the EU, and customs charges will apply.

PocketD

Ath_Wat said:

Why did you assume it was being shipped from inside the UK?  

Was it just the fact that they quoted you a sterling price?  Looking at the site, it does say on the product page "Orders from the US and Canada are sent out from the US, orders from the rest of the world are sent out from the European Union."

No, you are completely correct and I am wrong when I said 'but there was no information saying this would be to a European country.'  It was my mistake, I think it was a combination of it being in Sterling and also the fact in my mind, when I think of EU I think there will be no charges, so yes I cant blame them.  

Actually the item was sent from the Netherlands (according to the Royal Mail email).  According to other reviews they have previously said it was sent from Finland and return address is to Poland.  Very odd.  

However it will probably cost me an extra £50 approx  to accept the item (customs and charges) and then if there are any issues (some reviews are awesome yet now I've seen trustpilot a large portion are very negative), another £30 or so to send it back recorded.

I actually wanted to try them out on the 30 day return promise as I do night shifts and can struggle to sleep during the day, but seems that will cost me £80 if they don't work!  If they work great, but  then it will cost me the £50 or so. 

I may refuse delivery as their site actually says....  

• I got a notification from Customs! What to do?

  You must pay the customs clearance fee if the import product price is exceeded the price limit set by your government. QuietOn is not responsible for customs, taxes, import duties, brokerage or any additional charges by your local government, these are the responsibility of the recipient. 

  For more information, check our terms and conditions: https://quieton.com/terms-and-conditions/ 

  If you don’t want to pay the custom clearance fee, you can reject the package and inform the DHL to send the package back to the shipper. We can process a refund for you. 

eskbanker

PocketD said:

I may refuse delivery as their site actually says....  

• I got a notification from Customs! What to do?

  You must pay the customs clearance fee if the import product price is exceeded the price limit set by your government. QuietOn is not responsible for customs, taxes, import duties, brokerage or any additional charges by your local government, these are the responsibility of the recipient. 

  For more information, check our terms and conditions: https://quieton.com/terms-and-conditions/ 

  If you don’t want to pay the custom clearance fee, you can reject the package and inform the DHL to send the package back to the shipper. We can process a refund for you. 

Note that this doesn't say 'a full refund'....

PocketD

eskbanker said:

PocketD said:

I may refuse delivery as their site actually says....  

• I got a notification from Customs! What to do?

  You must pay the customs clearance fee if the import product price is exceeded the price limit set by your government. QuietOn is not responsible for customs, taxes, import duties, brokerage or any additional charges by your local government, these are the responsibility of the recipient. 

  For more information, check our terms and conditions: https://quieton.com/terms-and-conditions/ 

  If you don’t want to pay the custom clearance fee, you can reject the package and inform the DHL to send the package back to the shipper. We can process a refund for you. 

Note that this doesn't say 'a full refund'....

Indeed.  I expect they will charge me the shipping costs even though it had 'free p&p' 

born_again

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head said:

If you refuse delivery risk has not passed however enforcing any rights against a company in Finland is going to be difficult. 

I don't know what would happen regarding a card chargeback where the customer refuses delivery or to pay customs @born_again is the expert  

I'm sure many will have comments regarding buying from a company in Finland/customs responsibility and all that but the EU regs (which apply in Finland) specifically state risk does not pass if the customer refuses delivery.  

I presume if you pay the fee and then send the goods back you can reclaim any customs fees but the additional charge applied by Royal Mail (use to be £8) wouldn't be refunded. 

The T&Cs page does detail their address is in Finland and also that the company isn't responsible for customs fees when posting to those outside the EU (which is a correct stance for them to take). 

Not a chance....

As retailer has done what is asked to do.

Sadly this drops into due diligence. Always check how to contact retailer, cancelation policy, Returns policy. Then T/C. 

You can contact us through email info(at)quieton.com or call us +358 44 970 2292 (Finnish language support +358 40 8436217)

In he T/C 

Taxes and customs

All customers outside of the European Union will be served as Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU) and will be charged for the items purchased and shipping costs only by QuietOn. QuietOn is not responsible for customs, taxes, import duties, brokerage or any additional charges by your local government, this is the responsibility of the customer.

Please contact your customs office for more information.

• I got a notification from Customs! What to do?

  You must pay the customs clearance fee if the import product price is exceeded the price limit set by your government. QuietOn is not responsible for customs, taxes, import duties, brokerage or any additional charges by your local government, these are the responsibility of the recipient. 

  For more information, check our terms and conditions: https://quieton.com/terms-and-conditions/ 

  If you don’t want to pay the custom clearance fee, you can reject the package and inform the DHL to send the package back to the shipper. We can process a refund for you. 

  Thank you. 

Just make sure you get proof.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Thanks for clarifying, I thought as much