Success getting DHL admin charges cancelled

Smiffypr

I recently received a bill from DHL for £35.13 VAT, plus "clearance authorization" £25 and "duty tax receiver" £11. I didn't ask DHL to do anything, I have no contract with DHL so I pointed out that without agreement, there was no contract therefore they had no legal right to bill me for anything other than the VAT they paid. 16 days later they have credited my bill with the £11 and £25. I have paid them the VAT. 

The exact wording of my messages to them:

"I think that it is wrong that you do this without giving me any choice whether to accept the delivery and pay VAT or reject it.
But I accept that the VAT has been paid and that I owe you for that. However I  have not requested you to act on my behalf in this way, I have no contract with you, so I will not be paying your "Extra charges". If you can produce the documentation where I agreed to this in advance, then will I pay.
Please send a revised invoice without the extra charges."

"First let me correct some errors in your email.
1) I am not enquiring, I am refusing to pay the administration fees.
2) re "This service includes the extra work of contacting you for specific clearance instructions for each shipment received via DHL."
You did not contact me for any instructions, you behaved independently.

Then let me explain to you in simple terms how a legal contract works. It has to be an agreement between two or more parties and has to involve exchange of things of value (e.g. goods services or money). I'm sure if you contact your UK lawyers they will confirm this. *

I did not enter into a contract with you, so I have no legal obligation to pay you for what you decided to do unilaterally.

The fact that you say "These charges have been detailed in our tariff and transit guide since May 2002 and were implemented on 1st July 2002." and "The charge has been correctly applied to this shipment and therefore remains payable to DHL." means nothing. I could say I charge £20 for every DHL parcel that is left at a place not in accordance with my written instructions, then send you a bill for that. Would you pay that, when you haven't agreed to it in advance?

I suggest that you talk to your lawyers, and when they tell you you have no legal basis for these charges, then issue an invoice for the VAT only, which I will pay."

"Absolutely you can do something else for me.
You can send an invoice which includes no extra charges other then than the VAT. Unless you have an agreement with me for you to act on my behalf I will not be paying your arrangement charges.

If this is "above your pay grade" I suggest you get your lawyers to contact me directly to explain how you can legally bill me for things for which we have no contract."

They have never admitted in words that they were in the wrong, but clearly they know they are otherwise they wouldn't have deducted their charges.

i hope this helps someone else in a similar situation.

user1977

Smiffypr said:

They have never admitted in words that they were in the wrong, but clearly they know they are otherwise they wouldn't have deducted their charges.

Or they just have better things to do with their time than continue arguing.

powerful_Rogue

Smiffypr said:

I recently received a bill from DHL for £35.13 VAT, plus "clearance authorization" £25 and "duty tax receiver" £11. I didn't ask DHL to do anything, I have no contract with DHL so I pointed out that without agreement, there was no contract therefore they had no legal right to bill me for anything other than the VAT they paid. 16 days later they have credited my bill with the £11 and £25. I have paid them the VAT. 

The exact wording of my messages to them:

"I think that it is wrong that you do this without giving me any choice whether to accept the delivery and pay VAT or reject it.
But I accept that the VAT has been paid and that I owe you for that. However I  have not requested you to act on my behalf in this way, I have no contract with you, so I will not be paying your "Extra charges". If you can produce the documentation where I agreed to this in advance, then will I pay.
Please send a revised invoice without the extra charges."

"First let me correct some errors in your email.
1) I am not enquiring, I am refusing to pay the administration fees.
2) re "This service includes the extra work of contacting you for specific clearance instructions for each shipment received via DHL."
You did not contact me for any instructions, you behaved independently.

Then let me explain to you in simple terms how a legal contract works. It has to be an agreement between two or more parties and has to involve exchange of things of value (e.g. goods services or money). I'm sure if you contact your UK lawyers they will confirm this. *

I did not enter into a contract with you, so I have no legal obligation to pay you for what you decided to do unilaterally.

The fact that you say "These charges have been detailed in our tariff and transit guide since May 2002 and were implemented on 1st July 2002." and "The charge has been correctly applied to this shipment and therefore remains payable to DHL." means nothing. I could say I charge £20 for every DHL parcel that is left at a place not in accordance with my written instructions, then send you a bill for that. Would you pay that, when you haven't agreed to it in advance?

I suggest that you talk to your lawyers, and when they tell you you have no legal basis for these charges, then issue an invoice for the VAT only, which I will pay."

"Absolutely you can do something else for me.
You can send an invoice which includes no extra charges other then than the VAT. Unless you have an agreement with me for you to act on my behalf I will not be paying your arrangement charges.

If this is "above your pay grade" I suggest you get your lawyers to contact me directly to explain how you can legally bill me for things for which we have no contract."

They have never admitted in words that they were in the wrong, but clearly they know they are otherwise they wouldn't have deducted their charges.

i hope this helps someone else in a similar situation.

Totally incorrect. It's all covered under the Postal Services Act 2000.

Next time you import something, get the sender to write 'Importer will clear customs' on the front of the package and you can do it all yourself.

Ergates

Smiffypr said:

i hope this helps someone else in a similar situation.

Useful as an example of someone being confidently incorrect, but beyond that....

sheramber

And when you do it yourself you will have to go the customs office to collect your goods.


Will that be cheaper than paying the courier charges?

visidigi

Smiffypr said:

I recently received a bill from DHL for £35.13 VAT, plus "clearance authorization" £25 and "duty tax receiver" £11. I didn't ask DHL to do anything, I have no contract with DHL so I pointed out that without agreement, there was no contract therefore they had no legal right to bill me for anything other than the VAT they paid. 16 days later they have credited my bill with the £11 and £25. I have paid them the VAT. 

The exact wording of my messages to them:

"I think that it is wrong that you do this without giving me any choice whether to accept the delivery and pay VAT or reject it.
But I accept that the VAT has been paid and that I owe you for that. However I  have not requested you to act on my behalf in this way, I have no contract with you, so I will not be paying your "Extra charges". If you can produce the documentation where I agreed to this in advance, then will I pay.
Please send a revised invoice without the extra charges."

"First let me correct some errors in your email.
1) I am not enquiring, I am refusing to pay the administration fees.
2) re "This service includes the extra work of contacting you for specific clearance instructions for each shipment received via DHL."
You did not contact me for any instructions, you behaved independently.

Then let me explain to you in simple terms how a legal contract works. It has to be an agreement between two or more parties and has to involve exchange of things of value (e.g. goods services or money). I'm sure if you contact your UK lawyers they will confirm this. *

I did not enter into a contract with you, so I have no legal obligation to pay you for what you decided to do unilaterally.

The fact that you say "These charges have been detailed in our tariff and transit guide since May 2002 and were implemented on 1st July 2002." and "The charge has been correctly applied to this shipment and therefore remains payable to DHL." means nothing. I could say I charge £20 for every DHL parcel that is left at a place not in accordance with my written instructions, then send you a bill for that. Would you pay that, when you haven't agreed to it in advance?

I suggest that you talk to your lawyers, and when they tell you you have no legal basis for these charges, then issue an invoice for the VAT only, which I will pay."

"Absolutely you can do something else for me.
You can send an invoice which includes no extra charges other then than the VAT. Unless you have an agreement with me for you to act on my behalf I will not be paying your arrangement charges.

If this is "above your pay grade" I suggest you get your lawyers to contact me directly to explain how you can legally bill me for things for which we have no contract."

They have never admitted in words that they were in the wrong, but clearly they know they are otherwise they wouldn't have deducted their charges.

i hope this helps someone else in a similar situation.

oh dear.

As other's have said, was cheaper to write it off than argue.

They also have the right to refuse to accept any deliveries to you in future.

Smiffypr

Well I'm clearly an idiot in your minds, but I got £35 refunded for sending three emails. If you can sniff at £35 for 15 mins work, you clearly don't belong on the money savings forum!

MattMattMattUK

Smiffypr said:

Well I'm clearly an idiot in your minds, but I got £35 refunded for sending three emails.

As others have said you are likely now blacklisted, DHL will probably refuse any and all consignments for your name at your current address. If you think that was worth £35 then I suppose that represents value to you.

Smiffypr said:

If you can sniff at £35 for 15 mins work, you clearly don't belong on the money savings forum!

People can be sensible with their money regardless of their income level.

Ectophile

powerful_Rogue said:

Smiffypr said:

I recently received a bill from DHL for £35.13 VAT, plus "clearance authorization" £25 and "duty tax receiver" £11. I didn't ask DHL to do anything, I have no contract with DHL so I pointed out that without agreement, there was no contract therefore they had no legal right to bill me for anything other than the VAT they paid. 16 days later they have credited my bill with the £11 and £25. I have paid them the VAT. 

The exact wording of my messages to them:

"I think that it is wrong that you do this without giving me any choice whether to accept the delivery and pay VAT or reject it.
But I accept that the VAT has been paid and that I owe you for that. However I  have not requested you to act on my behalf in this way, I have no contract with you, so I will not be paying your "Extra charges". If you can produce the documentation where I agreed to this in advance, then will I pay.
Please send a revised invoice without the extra charges."

"First let me correct some errors in your email.
1) I am not enquiring, I am refusing to pay the administration fees.
2) re "This service includes the extra work of contacting you for specific clearance instructions for each shipment received via DHL."
You did not contact me for any instructions, you behaved independently.

Then let me explain to you in simple terms how a legal contract works. It has to be an agreement between two or more parties and has to involve exchange of things of value (e.g. goods services or money). I'm sure if you contact your UK lawyers they will confirm this. *

I did not enter into a contract with you, so I have no legal obligation to pay you for what you decided to do unilaterally.

The fact that you say "These charges have been detailed in our tariff and transit guide since May 2002 and were implemented on 1st July 2002." and "The charge has been correctly applied to this shipment and therefore remains payable to DHL." means nothing. I could say I charge £20 for every DHL parcel that is left at a place not in accordance with my written instructions, then send you a bill for that. Would you pay that, when you haven't agreed to it in advance?

I suggest that you talk to your lawyers, and when they tell you you have no legal basis for these charges, then issue an invoice for the VAT only, which I will pay."

"Absolutely you can do something else for me.
You can send an invoice which includes no extra charges other then than the VAT. Unless you have an agreement with me for you to act on my behalf I will not be paying your arrangement charges.

If this is "above your pay grade" I suggest you get your lawyers to contact me directly to explain how you can legally bill me for things for which we have no contract."

They have never admitted in words that they were in the wrong, but clearly they know they are otherwise they wouldn't have deducted their charges.

i hope this helps someone else in a similar situation.

Totally incorrect. It's all covered under the Postal Services Act 2000.

Next time you import something, get the sender to write 'Importer will clear customs' on the front of the package and you can do it all yourself.

I can't see anything in the section you have linked to that allows a courier to make up their own charges.  They can pass on any charged that they had to pay to someone else.

PHK

It's quite clear that an importer will be charged Duty, VAT and a handling fee. 

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

eg Parcel force charge £12

ThumbRemote

visidigi said:

They also have the right to refuse to accept any deliveries to you in future.

MattMattMattUK said:

As others have said you are likely now blacklisted, DHL will probably refuse any and all consignments for your name at your current address. If you think that was worth £35 then I suppose that represents value to you.

Absolutely bizarre, one person mentioned that DHL have the right to refuse deliveries and this becomes "others", "likely", "probably"... 

Others haven't said that. You've just claimed it's likely, with no factual basis.