Import tax on dress ordered from the USA

Officechick

I am so grateful for all your help. I will keep an eye on the DHL status and check it has been returned.

The company is Modaglamboutique.com i cant see on their website where in the states they are based but any further advise would be hugely appreciated.
thanks again
xx

eskbanker

Officechick said:

The company is Modaglamboutique.com i cant see on their website where in the states they are based

https://www.modaglamboutique.com/pages/about-us

Moda Glam Boutique is a Los Angeles based online boutique...

https://www.modaglamboutique.com/policies/terms-of-service

SECTION 18 - GOVERNING LAW

These Terms of Service and any separate agreements whereby we provide you Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of CA.

Officechick

Thanks all

Does a company based in CA (I presume thats California?) give me a better chance do you think?
xx

eskbanker

Officechick said:

Thanks all

Does a company based in CA (I presume thats California?) give me a better chance do you think?
xx

CA is indeed California, but that's unlikely to be to your advantage if their consumer rights in this territory are readily overridden by a 'no returns' clause:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/79967246/#Comment_79967246

ArbitraryRandom

Sorry, no - By default, all purchases have a 30 day right to return unless the seller makes any restrictions clear at the point of sale. 

https://oag.ca.gov/consumers/general/refunds

DullGreyGuy

Officechick said:

Thanks all

Does a company based in CA (I presume thats California?) give me a better chance do you think?
xx

CA isn't going to be the worst but nowhere in the US has the sort of consumer protection that the UK has and unlike the UK many state protections can be overridden by individual company terms.

On the slight plus point, store credit doesn't expire so maybe another event will occur which they may have an appropriate outfit for. 

pinkshoes

Other than contacting the store and explaining your daughter didn't understand it was from the USA due to the prices being in £ not $ (was it?!?!) you are very much stuck with CA T&Sc.

It's probably a good opportunity for your daughter to learn from this and not checking where she is buying from! 

Why not get her to look for a dress on eBay as there are so many amazing prom dresses on there? That way she could bag a bargain which will make up for the money lost in this mistake.

Silvertabby

Just a thought, but if your daughter didn't realise that she was buying from America, she may have ordered her UK size instead of the American equivalent.  ie, USA size 12 = UK size 14/16.

May not be possible, but would they accept the return of a (unworn) garment that is the wrong size?

DullGreyGuy

They've effectively refused delivery by not paying the charges in advance... not sure how you can claim the item is faulty and the wrong size if you've never handled it? 

Saying you ordered the wrong size because of not understanding US sizing doesn't make the product faulty which is the only grounds you have for a cash refund. 

Officechick

Thanks again all. Yes this has been a huge learning curve for her and she is very upset!

I have managed to get more detail from DHL today. The good news is the item was returned to sender 3 weeks ago and DHL confirmed there is no import cost to us. So now just praying I can get a refund from the retailer, if they ever answer my emails!! 

Thanks again everyone xx