Royal Mail £8 Internal Post Handling Fee scam?

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Comments

  • MrBriz
    MrBriz Posts: 2 Newbie
    I've just been done too! I brought items from the USA totaling $39.99, then another $14.90 for int. postage, the $4 for a international surcharge (?? !!!!!! - I guess the company selling the goods saw that as a nice free money earner!) then I get a card through my door asking me for another £11.57! Robbing !!!!!!!s! £8 is the royal mail handling fee... !!!!!!?

    I still can't believe that Royal Mail basically pay the charge for you, then ask you to pay them a handling fee. Surely this should fall on customs to chase you for the money and not let Royal Mail make profit out of a lot of international parcels?!

    Am I right in thinking that if the item is marked as a gift you don't have to pay any duty? If this is the case I will make sure all my items from the USA are posted this way :D

    Hmmmm... now all I need to do is think of a way to scam Royal Mail out of £8 :D
  • Sol00
    Sol00 Posts: 1,230 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    I had this same problem in March for a DVD I ordered from Australia.

    The item was held by the delivery office and they wanted over £11 for it to be released.

    I checked with my local Post Office who advised me that it is normally because the sender has not put the correct labelling on the parcel for customs. She advised me to contact the seller and request they send it with correct postage when the parcel is returned to them.

    I did and 2 months later I received it with no additional costs. :beer:
  • mrposhman
    mrposhman Posts: 749 Forumite
    Theres a lot of people who like to state that Royal Mail is a private organisation (technically not) yet should still provide a service, well which do you want???

    The UK pays the cheapest postage costs in the whole of the EU (based on proportions of earnings plus its dead cheap) and yet when they charge for an item that frankly has to be delivered more times than normal and spends more direct man hours on the parcel then you want it for free!!

    Royal Mail is a business and needs to cover overheads spent when processing items.
  • superscaper
    superscaper Posts: 13,369 Forumite
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    mrposhman wrote: »
    Theres a lot of people who like to state that Royal Mail is a private organisation (technically not)

    I thought it was. It's a limited company which surely is quite a specifically legally a private company. It just so happens the owner of the company is the Government.

    Agree with the rest of your post, in fact aren't RM currently running at a loss?
    "She is quite the oddball. Did you notice how she didn't even get excited when she saw this original ZX-81?"
    Moss
  • smcaul
    smcaul Posts: 1,088 Forumite
    Mr Briz, how exactly have you "Just been done"? You ordered goods from outside the EU, those goods were over the £18 free allowance and were not a gift. As a result there was duty to be paid before they can be delivered. HMRC have employed RM to collect those duties on their behalf, for which they charge a fee.

    All of this information is readily available, "Ignorance of the law is no defense" as they say.
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
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    superscaper wrote: »
    I thought it was. It's a limited company which surely is quite a specifically legally a private company. It just so happens the owner of the company is the Government.

    Agree with the rest of your post, in fact aren't RM currently running at a loss?

    some parts are,some are not
    letters is the big loss (if you exlude post office counters)
    yet peope grouch when they get pulled for underpaid postage :rolleyes:
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
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    MrBriz wrote: »

    Am I right in thinking that if the item is marked as a gift you don't have to pay any duty? If this is the case I will make sure all my items from the USA are posted this way :D

    yeah trhats right,customs have never seen that one :rolleyes:
    you can mark what you like on the package,customs decide if duty is applicable
    as for the £8 clearence fee
    RM pay the duty
    then it travels via a fully tracked service to the delivery office
    then theres the admin of the charges,logging in customs items etc
    an SD item costs £4.60 plus standard postage for a fully tracked service
  • mrposhman
    mrposhman Posts: 749 Forumite
    custardy wrote: »
    some parts are,some are not
    letters is the big loss (if you exlude post office counters)
    yet peope grouch when they get pulled for underpaid postage :rolleyes:

    its the regulated part of the letters business that is the massive loss as the prices of handling other couriers mail runs at a loss and there are very small margins on the rest.

    Yes they are a Ltd company, I mentioned that they were and they weren't private as a lot of people tend to think private means privately owned and not any part of my business, yet its still 100% government owned.

    People always want something for nothing from the Royal Mail. My guess would be that there are a lot of people who don't use the redirection service and try to get someone to change the address and then god forbid they are charged again for sending the letter!! Apparantly this would also be the Royal Mails fault.
  • custardy
    custardy Posts: 38,365 Forumite
    Name Dropper Photogenic First Post First Anniversary
    mrposhman wrote: »
    its the regulated part of the letters business that is the massive loss as the prices of handling other couriers mail runs at a loss and there are very small margins on the rest.

    Yes they are a Ltd company, I mentioned that they were and they weren't private as a lot of people tend to think private means privately owned and not any part of my business, yet its still 100% government owned.

    People always want something for nothing from the Royal Mail. My guess would be that there are a lot of people who don't use the redirection service and try to get someone to change the address and then god forbid they are charged again for sending the letter!! Apparantly this would also be the Royal Mails fault.

    funny you should mention this
    i got a letter at work today addressed to the customer care manager(?)
    informing us of the persons change of address and supplying the new address all mail should be forwarded to :rolleyes:
  • superscaper
    superscaper Posts: 13,369 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    custardy wrote: »
    funny you should mention this
    i got a letter at work today addressed to the customer care manager(?)
    informing us of the persons change of address and supplying the new address all mail should be forwarded to :rolleyes:

    :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

    I presume you've sent a gracious confirmation letter to them, along with the invoice for the redirecting service.

    At least it's better than a complaint letter asking why you didn't already know they'd moved address, since YOU'RE the Royal Mail so you should know if anyone. ;)
    "She is quite the oddball. Did you notice how she didn't even get excited when she saw this original ZX-81?"
    Moss
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