Customs Charges From US To UK - HELP!

  • Thread starter VBR
  • 5 comments
  • 678 views
VBR

VBR

Meme Dissident in Exile...
Premium
7,759
England
Yorkshire
ScapeGoat4U
WhippingBoy
No opinions please, just people from the UK who have been through this & know the facts of the matter.

I got a "free" health test kit from the US, & when buying they ony told me I'd have to pay postage both ways nothing else, I wasn't warned at any point about customs charges or the Royal Mails sneaky £8 handling fee.

My question is this; if I decide not to pick up the package & it is returned to the sender, will I still have to pay the customs & Royal Mail charges or not?
 
VBR
Well thanks for wasting my time, as that didn't answer my question at all did it! The reason I posted this thread was because I had spent some time Googling for the answer, & wasn't able to find it.
Click to expand...

Actually, yes it did. Specifically:
If you’re charged too much or return your goods

Ask for a refund of VAT or Customs Duty if you:

return your goods
think you’ve been charged too much

Download and fill in:

form BOR 286 if Royal Mail or Parcelforce delivered the goods
form C285 if a courier or freight company delivered the goods
Click to expand...

However it did not address the postage issue.
 
VBR
No opinions please, just people from the UK who have been through this & know the facts of the matter.

I got a "free" health test kit from the US, & when buying they ony told me I'd have to pay postage both ways nothing else, I wasn't warned at any point about customs charges or the Royal Mails sneaky £8 handling fee.

My question is this; if I decide not to pick up the package & it is returned to the sender, will I still have to pay the customs & Royal Mail charges or not?
Click to expand...

I'm not an expert, but I do not believe you would.

From Royalmail.com

What if I don’t pay the fee?
We will return the item to the sender after 18 calendar days or 21 calendar days for any items with a Customs charge.

Just don't claim it and Royal Mail will hold it for 3 weeks and then return it without any further grievance to you from RoyaMail or Her Majesty's Custom & Excise. It's been a long time since I've done this however, so If you want to be sure of this telephone or visit your sorting office and simply ask them, rather than GTPlanet.

In my opinion it's not unreasonable for them to Deliver Duty Unpaid (DDU), however they should make it clear that you are responsible for local duty, VAT or additional handling. If they didn't then you could always ask for a refund on the shipping costs you have already paid.
 
I was able to get to my local sorting office today & they confirmed that if I don't want the package, that I wouldn't be charged the fees. I think I'll do that. Strange how they wanna charge me as the item was free, it cost me $0.00, so what on earth are they doing charging me VAT! VAT on $0.00 is...err...$0.00. I might try & contact them & explain thet it's a freebie & if they'll waive the charge, if not they can send it back.

@boiltheocean - Sorry, I didn't click the next button & read the other pages, my bad. The answer was there as @BobK pointed out.

EDIT: Apparently they charge VAT for postage costs as well, bloody villans!
 

Latest Posts

Back