FedEx extra charges more than cost of shipment!

Hudkins

Hi, I had a lost item (a hat) returned from Spain to UK. I used an agent called Eurosender who in turn used FedEx at an agreed cost of 19.21 euro. The very small package was collected on 29th June from the hotel in Spain . On the day of delivery (2nd July) I got a text from FedEx asking me to pay customs duties of £21 and to pay immediately to avoid delay of the delivery. However it still got delivered couple of hours later and I hadn't paid. I contacted both Eurosender and FedEx. Eursender said it was nothing to do with them. FedEx said it was customs duties but I told via their website that the item was lost property and not liable for customs duty. Then they replied saying the extra £21 was for admin fees. I asked how on earth admin fees could add up to £21 when the shipping was only 19.21 euro. They didn't answer other than to say that the charge was for HMRC clearance not Admin. The hat was old but had some sentimental value and I gather it can be deemed 'Returned Goods Relief'. So I have sent FedEx a copy of the email exchange between myself and the hotel regarding the lost hat and am waiting on FedEx to respond. I have asked them to break down how they got to £21 for an item that was returned property. I feel that something is not right here! Also on the FedEx case file, it says the case was raised on 7th June. I raised it this week on 3rd July! We didn't fly to Spain until 18th June and returned on 23rd! Anyone any ideas? Advice?

sheramber

customs charges will be based on what the sender put on the customs declaration.

What was on the. Customs form?

Aylesbury_Duck

An administration charge isn't going to be proportional to the notional value of an item or the postage charge. It probably costs the same to administer your lost hat as it would had you left something larger or more valuable.

There's probably no conspiracy or deliberate attempt to defraud here. What's probably happened is that it's not been labelled as lost property and since you asked FedEx to import it on your behalf, you are liable for the customs charge and/or administrative fee. I also suspect their customer service don't understand and have given the two different reasons for the charge.

TELLIT01

Years ago, before I was really familiar with online purchasing, I ordered a CD not realising it came from the USA. The various additional costs were a lot more than the actual CD. It happens.

MyRealNameToo

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82060607#Comment_82060607

Administration charges often are a percentage of the declared value but with a floor so low value items all get charged the floor and high value items a percentage of the value.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6675300/fedex-extra-charges-more-than-cost-of-shipment

In principle RGR can be claimed on returned lost property but that all depends on how the customs declaration was completed. Assuming it wasnt clearly marked as returned goods then FedEx would be right in charging and you could then attempt to recover the VAT from HMRC (as long as you still have the customs form) but the fee wouldnt be refundable.

visidigi

FedEx has charged you based on what it was told by the company you agreed to use to send the goods. They have to declare a value and that in turn is used for the taxes.

Based on https://www.fedex.com/en-gb/ancillary-clearance-service.html and the fact your charge is exactly £21 would indicate that this was sent as a return, and to process it to avoid the duty that it would have attracted required FedEx to process it differently.

Returned Goods	￡21.00 per shipment	FedEx can organize the return of your goods that either have temporarily been exported to another country for reasons such as repair, processing, testing, evaluation, trade shows, or goods that are being returned to the country of export in an unaltered state. This allows the importer to claim relief on Duty/ Tax with the necessary proof of export document. FedEx will charge a fee for the service.