reply from TIMBERLAND as to why UK customers pay twice as much...

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

sent this email to timberland the other day when searching for my daughters xmas gift and noticed the difference, knew there was a difference but twice the price :mad:

Just wondering how timberland justify charging twice the price on the uk website versus the usa site?

the custom boots are $120 on .com yet on .co.uk they are £125, with the exchange rate as it is that is double the price and to be honest it is obscene that yet again the UK is taken advantage of. There surely is no excuse whatsoever for this price hike? Nothing can justify an extra £60 on a pair of boots...but I would be interested to know the offical line please.

Many thanks
Helen


and this was their reply and sorry but it doesnt cut it does it... £60 to ship a pair of boots......hmm I smell something and it isnt roses :rolleyes:

Dear Helen,
Thank you for taking the time to contact us. That is an excellent question. The reason for the price discrepancy is because of the fees and taxes associated with importing our product into the UK.
I apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you. If we may be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us again.
Sincerely,

Sandy
Timberland Consumer Service

isn't it time companies like this were pulled up on a consumer programme like watchdog to justify it fully? of course I shant be buying at these prices...I rather pay for a plane ticket for new york have a few days there and the pleasure of that and do my shopping but of course then we are stung with the VAT costs and low duty rates on the way back in....arghh lol....

just wondered if anyone has ever asked large companies such questions and what are their replies or maybe we should start asking a lot of questions to these companies in an attempt to get them to justify it? surely it doesnt take much time and would be a fantastic money saving chance..just wish more people would vote with their cash....but then I live in a dream world

the lady/man said feel free to contact them so I did....

sorry but if you are being charged £60 per pair of boots then someone in your company is obviously getting something seriously wrong, there is no way it costs £60 for taxes and shipping and this is the problem is that major companies take the uk customers for complete idiots and shamefully some dont even fully understand conversion rates.

Even if you were shipping one pair of boots, tax, postage etc equates to about £20 maximum and of course as a large company shipping in bulk it would be far cheaper in fact I could get my friend in america to take my order, cost of boot $120, postage $12.99 and send it to me which costs about $20 and for me to pay VAT when it arrives approx $20 which equates to a total of approx $173 or approx £85-£90 thus a saving of £35...please do not take me for a fool it costs so much to ship over as even doing it via a 3rd party it is cheaper by heaps.

It is extortionate and morally wrong to rip off overseas customers so greatly....I accept your apologies for inconveniencing me, but the reality is you havent, you have just made me sure not to buy from your company and to buy from a different one.

Just out of interest why also under the custom made boots does the picture of the boot turning show many colours such as a sky blue, purple, green...and yet the colours do not come up as an option when you go to choose?

many thanks
Helen

so who else wants to email sandy? lol

dmg24

I think good on them for at least replying to you. Many companies would pretend to lose such an email.

lokiman

It's a free market economy, and the seller can, and will price a product at what the market can bear. If the market couldn't bear the price that Timberland charge, they would have to drop the price, if they could. There is also the issue that the US is a far, far larger market than the UK and, as a consequence, US manufacturers are far more willing and able to take a hit in profit margin per unit on the basis that they will be selling a large volume of units. That's Capitalism, mate.

trets77

i paid £17 a pair for 2 sets of Timberland boots from the timberland outlet store in New Hampshire this year. it's not just them.... my fav shoe band Sketchers are about a 5th of the price in outlet stores too. we paid $200 for six pairs as xmas gifts while in Las Vegas . would have probably cost nearly $600 -$700 in this country .

get a US shopping trip booked while the £ is strong

MORPH3US

Well done OP for e-mailing them, a waste of time as you found out, but I agree with you totally that its not on to charge double to us!!!

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

but wouldnt it be great if someone like martin who has a public voice in this country got everyone to boycott such brands or at least to point out the massive vast inflated prices as I am sure some people dont realise how large the price gap is...maybe then a consumer stand off and a drop in sales would maybe prove we dont want to be rip off britain any longer....I mean look what has happened with bank charges etc who would have thought that possible a few years ago...a public voice speaking as one :j

...............not that I mind having to go to nyc for my bargains lol but it would be nice to not get so taken for an idiot...ahhh well will do what I have done for a while, I rather fund the usa post office profits and have things sent over.

Of course if companies like timberland were brave enough to let US decide if we wanted to buy at twice the price or buy cheap pay international shipping and pay the tax ourselves I am sure more people would chose that...and buy the time difference on the uk versus com site an extra week what's the betting they are coming from the usa anyways or whatever country they pay 10p per boot to make them and we will still get stung with the import taxes anyways!!

have to add that two years we went to new york in december and my daughter got our funky butts to timberland shop then and it was ravished of stock, had more or less no womens boots whatsoever, was terrible

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

oooo I got another reply...this time from a barbara she is a tad more fiesty it seems

Dear Helen,
Thank you for your recent inquiry.
We understand that you want a top quality product for the lowest possible price. We understand that you have the option of ordering or not ordering at any retailer you so desire. If you believe that our prices are too high then it would be smart for you not to order from our website.
The multi-colored boots shown are for advertising purposes only. The Custom boots have been available in the US for a year or more and they have used that same graphic on the US and the UK site. The colors have changed with the seasons and current trends and will continue to do so. Not all colors are available at all times.
If we can be of further assistance please contact us again.
Sincerely,
Barbara

Timberland Customer Service


and this was my reply....

fear not I wont be ordering from any company that rips off the uk so badly but here is a thing let US decide if WE want to pay the charges for shipping and taxes...I would far rather order from the USA site, pay the extra shipping charge MYSELF and pay the taxes involved with the shipping MYSELF because it would be a hell of a lot less than £60 your company believes it takes ...why not let the UK population have the choice??????????????? go on I dare you!!!! so go on open the USA site to UK'ers and see what we chose!! if timberland are so sure of their product that it believes uk'ers will pay twice as much then surely you can consider or trial letting us have the choice...who knows maybe the sales figures will prove a point!

Markyt

The EU sets the import duty and the taxes paid thereon. You are free to order from the US, of course, but by the time you have paid for shipping, paid Customs duty, and VAT on top, you won't be looking at a much cheaper price. Try it.

donny_osmonds_mad_fan

Markyt wrote: »

The EU sets the import duty and the taxes paid thereon. You are free to order from the US, of course, but by the time you have paid for shipping, paid Customs duty, and VAT on top, you won't be looking at a much cheaper price. Try it.

that is just it, you cant they dont ship to you from the usa site, I dont believe for one moment you would pay £60 for shipping and duty. I have ordered things of similar weight and price before and never paid anywhere near £60.

uktim29

The cost of living is lower on the whole is the US but then the average wage for a US male is $38,000 about £19,000, in the UK it is around £24,000. There are many things like this you need to factor in before you can really make like for like comparisons.

peter_the_piper

Ah, but do they calculate the average wage in the same way as over here? I ask this because I find it difficult to believe that the US has a lower average.