FedEx disbursement fee

Whitevanman2017

I ordered 2 items from Japan and paid the company £19 for the company to post it to me with them using FedEx. After I accepted the parcel 2 weeks later I received an invoice for VAT plus a disbursement fee of £12.75 on top of the cost of VAT. I am happy to pay my VAT but not this additional fee which I did not agree to. Surely the contract is between the sender and FedEx not me? FedEx are claiming this statement on the senders website  "Any charges due, such as but not limited to GST, VAT, duty or any other import taxes, are NOT included in the shipping fees and are the responsibility of the buyer."

1. Does this mean I agreed to this charge?
2. Is this legal?
3. What is there to stop FedEx charging £1000 for this service without my agreement ?

Then I found these statements on the government websites ( not  allowed to post the link yet )

It makes many references to "your customer" but I was never FedEx's customer.

I tried some of the template responses but FedEx are now threatening to refer me to a collection agency 

Then I found this 

Demands and threats regarding payment.
(1)A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business makes a demand for payment, or asserts a present or prospective right to payment, for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent (after the commencement of this Act) to another person with a view to his acquiring them [F2for the purposes of his trade or business], shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F3level 4 on the standard scale].
(2)A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business and with a view to obtaining any payment for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent as aforesaid—
(a)threatens to bring any legal proceedings; or
(b)places or causes to be placed the name of any person on a list of defaulters or debtors or threatens to do so; or
(c)invokes or causes to be invoked any other collection procedure or threatens to do so,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F3level 5 on the standard scale].

Can i report them?

I offered to pay them the VAT due.

Am I entitled to ask for proof that FedEx actually paid my VAT?

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks in advance for any advice 

user1977

It's normal for the recipient to pay the duty/VAT as well as the courier's fee for dealing with customs clearance on your behalf. I don't have chapter and verse to hand, but given everybody else does it, I presume it's legal.

What would happen if they charged you £1000? Well, I don't know, but they're not, are they?

MattMattMattUK

Whitevanman2017 said:

I ordered 2 items from Japan and paid the company £19 for the company to post it to me with them using FedEx. After I accepted the parcel 2 weeks later I received an invoice for VAT plus a disbursement fee of £12.75 on top of the cost of VAT. I am happy to pay my VAT but not this additional fee which I did not agree to. Surely the contract is between the sender and FedEx not me? FedEx are claiming this statement on the senders website  "Any charges due, such as but not limited to GST, VAT, duty or any other import taxes, are NOT included in the shipping fees and are the responsibility of the buyer."

1. Does this mean I agreed to this charge?
2. Is this legal?
3. What is there to stop FedEx charging £1000 for this service without my agreement ?

Then I found these statements on the government websites ( not  allowed to post the link yet )

It makes many references to "your customer" but I was never FedEx's customer. 

Yes you have to pay it, not there is no way out, every courier charges this so it is to be expected.
1. As part of receiving the goods, yes. 
2. Yes.
3. The fees have to be "fair and reasonable", as all the couriers charge around the same amount (as to Royal Mail) it seems to be that the cost around that point is accepted as "fair and reasonable" by most people.
Alternatively you can manage your own importation.

Whitevanman2017 said:

I tried some of the template responses but FedEx are now threatening to refer me to a collection agency 

Then I found this 

Demands and threats regarding payment.
(1)A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business makes a demand for payment, or asserts a present or prospective right to payment, for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent (after the commencement of this Act) to another person with a view to his acquiring them [F2for the purposes of his trade or business], shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F3level 4 on the standard scale].
(2)A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business and with a view to obtaining any payment for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent as aforesaid—
(a)threatens to bring any legal proceedings; or
(b)places or causes to be placed the name of any person on a list of defaulters or debtors or threatens to do so; or
(c)invokes or causes to be invoked any other collection procedure or threatens to do so,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F3level 5 on the standard scale].

Can i report them?

For what? They are not "threatening" you, at least not in the way you think they are. There is a difference between threats and explaining consequences, some people see it as semantics, but legally there is a difference.

Whitevanman2017 said:

I offered to pay them the VAT due.

You offered partial settlement, unaspiringly they did not agree.

Whitevanman2017 said:

Am I entitled to ask for proof that FedEx actually paid my VAT?

No.

Whitevanman2017 said:

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks in advance for any advice 

My advice would be to pay the amount due in full and accept that this is part of buying from international suppliers.

molerat

1) Yes

2) Yes

3) Nothing.  But they wouldn't as no one would use them.

When you agreed to the sender using Fedex to ship the item you agreed to the charges.  ALL couriers, including Royal Mail, charge for the time they spend processing customs charges.  You could have arranged to import the item yourself or arrange your own import agent to do the job for you, the latter likely being a lot more expensive than £12.75. Fedex don't just dream up the customs charges for any item coming through.

jon81uk

FedEx provided a service for you by arranging the import of your goods with HMRC, that made them your customer.
Its quite normal for a fee to be charged for that Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad: Tax and duty - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

If you didn't want them to do that you would have had to arrange the import yourself, meeting the goods at the port and doing customs clearance and paying the tax yourself.

DullGreyGuy

Whitevanman2017 said:

I ordered 2 items from Japan and paid the company £19 for the company to post it to me with them using FedEx. After I accepted the parcel 2 weeks later I received an invoice for VAT plus a disbursement fee of £12.75 on top of the cost of VAT. I am happy to pay my VAT but not this additional fee which I did not agree to. Surely the contract is between the sender and FedEx not me? FedEx are claiming this statement on the senders website  "Any charges due, such as but not limited to GST, VAT, duty or any other import taxes, are NOT included in the shipping fees and are the responsibility of the buyer."

1. Does this mean I agreed to this charge?
2. Is this legal?
3. What is there to stop FedEx charging £1000 for this service without my agreement ?

Then I found these statements on the government websites ( not  allowed to post the link yet )

It makes many references to "your customer" but I was never FedEx's customer.

I tried some of the template responses but FedEx are now threatening to refer me to a collection agency 

Then I found this 

Demands and threats regarding payment.
(1)A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business makes a demand for payment, or asserts a present or prospective right to payment, for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent (after the commencement of this Act) to another person with a view to his acquiring them [F2for the purposes of his trade or business], shall be guilty of an offence and on summary conviction shall be liable to a fine not exceeding [F3level 4 on the standard scale].
(2)A person who, not having reasonable cause to believe there is a right to payment, in the course of any trade or business and with a view to obtaining any payment for what he knows are unsolicited goods sent as aforesaid—
(a)threatens to bring any legal proceedings; or
(b)places or causes to be placed the name of any person on a list of defaulters or debtors or threatens to do so; or
(c)invokes or causes to be invoked any other collection procedure or threatens to do so,shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding [F3level 5 on the standard scale].

Can i report them?

I offered to pay them the VAT due.

Am I entitled to ask for proof that FedEx actually paid my VAT?

Sorry for all the questions

Thanks in advance for any advice 

1) Yes, its totally impractical to expect every website to know every single importation law in all 200+ jurisdiction (remember places like the US have state as well as federal laws/taxes. The principle has always been that its the importer to know their local rules/regs. 

2) Yes, not only legal but common practice for almost a century 

3) The Postal Services Act gives OFCom the ability to cap charges

You need to read the Postal Services Act which entitles them to charge a handling fee for doing clearance for you. So no, you cannot report them... you can report yourself if you want for failing to pay a legitimate charge?

You are entitled to see a breakdown of the charges but sounds like you already have that. Its up to HMRC to police payment of taxes, you can report FedEx if you have reason to think they arent passing on VAT to HMRC but unlike sales importation VAT goes directly into HMRCs systems and so you'd be talking non-payment rather than non-declaration and HMRC have plenty of tools to recover debts from a solvent company.

powerful_Rogue

Duties (whether of customs or excise) charged on imported goods or other charges payable in respect of postal packets to which this section applies (whether payable to a postal operator or to a foreign administration) may be recovered by the postal operator concerned and in England and Wales and Northern Ireland may be so recovered as a civil debt due to him.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/section/105

           

powerbarge

Found this thread as I imported some stuff from the USA and got hit with this fee on top of my expected import tax/duty. I didn't specifically ask the seller to use FedEx, so I had no control over agreeing to it.

I managed to successfully get them to waive it (and just charge me the VAT/duty as expected) with the following email:

Dear Sir or Madam

I have received an invoice for import duties/taxes on my international package, which I was expecting, but I did not expect "disbursement fees" to be added to the total.

When purchasing the item it was not stated to me which courier service the seller would use, so it was not possible that I could have been made aware of these charges before agreeing to proceed

After seeking legal advice I have been given the following counsel . Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (updated in 2000), it is a criminal offence for a company to bill for unordered services in the hope that the recipient will pay due to ignorance. Also, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (regulations 39 and 40) outline that a company must obtain consent / express agreement from the consumer prior to levying and / or billing for any charges. At no point prior to receiving the invoice did I receive any communication of this advancement fee from any party. I therefore did not agree to, nor do I accept, these charges.

To resolve this matter, please remove the sum of £XXX. for the disbursement fee from the invoice. I am happy to make payment for the VAT /Import charges of £XXX to close the matter at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely
Mr Customer

screech_78

powerbarge said:

Found this thread as I imported some stuff from the USA and got hit with this fee on top of my expected import tax/duty. I didn't specifically ask the seller to use FedEx, so I had no control over agreeing to it.

I managed to successfully get them to waive it (and just charge me the VAT/duty as expected) with the following email:

Dear Sir or Madam

I have received an invoice for import duties/taxes on my international package, which I was expecting, but I did not expect "disbursement fees" to be added to the total.

When purchasing the item it was not stated to me which courier service the seller would use, so it was not possible that I could have been made aware of these charges before agreeing to proceed

After seeking legal advice I have been given the following counsel . Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (updated in 2000), it is a criminal offence for a company to bill for unordered services in the hope that the recipient will pay due to ignorance. Also, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (regulations 39 and 40) outline that a company must obtain consent / express agreement from the consumer prior to levying and / or billing for any charges. At no point prior to receiving the invoice did I receive any communication of this advancement fee from any party. I therefore did not agree to, nor do I accept, these charges.

To resolve this matter, please remove the sum of £XXX. for the disbursement fee from the invoice. I am happy to make payment for the VAT /Import charges of £XXX to close the matter at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely
Mr Customer

On of the worst emails I’ve seen. It’s nothing to do with unsolicited goods. 

powerful_Rogue

powerbarge said:

Found this thread as I imported some stuff from the USA and got hit with this fee on top of my expected import tax/duty. I didn't specifically ask the seller to use FedEx, so I had no control over agreeing to it.

I managed to successfully get them to waive it (and just charge me the VAT/duty as expected) with the following email:

Dear Sir or Madam

I have received an invoice for import duties/taxes on my international package, which I was expecting, but I did not expect "disbursement fees" to be added to the total.

When purchasing the item it was not stated to me which courier service the seller would use, so it was not possible that I could have been made aware of these charges before agreeing to proceed

After seeking legal advice I have been given the following counsel . Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (updated in 2000), it is a criminal offence for a company to bill for unordered services in the hope that the recipient will pay due to ignorance. Also, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (regulations 39 and 40) outline that a company must obtain consent / express agreement from the consumer prior to levying and / or billing for any charges. At no point prior to receiving the invoice did I receive any communication of this advancement fee from any party. I therefore did not agree to, nor do I accept, these charges.

To resolve this matter, please remove the sum of £XXX. for the disbursement fee from the invoice. I am happy to make payment for the VAT /Import charges of £XXX to close the matter at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely
Mr Customer

I agree with the above, a shockingly incorrect email.

FedEx and other carriers can charge the fee under the Postal Services Act 2000

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/26/section/105

If you wanted to customs clear your own parcel and not pay this fee, you should have got the sender to mark it as such on the customs declaration. However it works out cheaper and quicker to let the carrier do this on your behalf.

RefluentBeans

screech_78 said:

powerbarge said:

Found this thread as I imported some stuff from the USA and got hit with this fee on top of my expected import tax/duty. I didn't specifically ask the seller to use FedEx, so I had no control over agreeing to it.

I managed to successfully get them to waive it (and just charge me the VAT/duty as expected) with the following email:

Dear Sir or Madam

I have received an invoice for import duties/taxes on my international package, which I was expecting, but I did not expect "disbursement fees" to be added to the total.

When purchasing the item it was not stated to me which courier service the seller would use, so it was not possible that I could have been made aware of these charges before agreeing to proceed

After seeking legal advice I have been given the following counsel . Under the Unsolicited Goods and Services Act 1971 (updated in 2000), it is a criminal offence for a company to bill for unordered services in the hope that the recipient will pay due to ignorance. Also, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (regulations 39 and 40) outline that a company must obtain consent / express agreement from the consumer prior to levying and / or billing for any charges. At no point prior to receiving the invoice did I receive any communication of this advancement fee from any party. I therefore did not agree to, nor do I accept, these charges.

To resolve this matter, please remove the sum of £XXX. for the disbursement fee from the invoice. I am happy to make payment for the VAT /Import charges of £XXX to close the matter at your earliest convenience.

Yours sincerely
Mr Customer

On of the worst emails I’ve seen. It’s nothing to do with unsolicited goods. 

But it was legal advice! 

Poor customer service agent just was sick of having to work in a hot office, and just wanted an easy life.