DHL invoicing me for VAT + admin fee "paid on my behalf"...?

[Crapstone]

Where is the sender in all this? You shouldn't be invoiced AFTER you have received the goods. That's like buying a sofa and finding out you have another £200 fee to pay 14 days later you didn't expect. It should be made clear and the consumer given the choice to collect. Not just to have it thrust upon them by a delivery company they didn't ask for.

 

The arguement FOR paying the fee is rubbish. There is no contract between the delivery company and the recipient. I think people would rather know the charge in advance and make a choice whatever the cost.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Crapstone

[Crapstone]

OK ... Last attempt. I'm done after this.

You don't have to pay the admin fee if you didn't agree it in advance, but equally they don't have to pay the duty in advance for you. The absence of a contract between you for them to advance the duty on your behalf cuts both ways.

 

 

The consequence of YOU not paying the fee is that they might choose to not offer that facility for YOU in future, and you'll be left to sort out customs clearance AND you won't be able to claim they aren't discharging their agreement with the seller.

 

If lots if people are as short-sighted and also refuse to pay the reasonable fee, they might withdraw the facility, or institute a scheme where they send a card saying "customs clearance needed, we can sort it for you for duty owed + £5, or you can sort it yourself".

Then, a contract may well be formed, but adding delay.

As there would be more admin then, they might also choose to charge a higher rate.

To re-iterate : since they offer the seller the choice of paying the duty or leaving it up to you, it is unlikely the seller would be put off using them if they chose to do this.

 

Fortunately, based on the other responders here, most people realise that the £5 fee isn't unreasonable to avoid the delay and hassle.

 

Considering ONLY the contractual aspects may leave you with your Pyrrhic victory.

 

All and any contract terms should be clear and agreed. Trying to enforce something after the contract had been made in full is not agreeable. It should be a question of law and not a moral highground. Let them withdraw their delivery. People vote with their feet and like an option and not to be forced into something they didn't agree to in the first place.

 

£5 is £5, not a lot really but in context it is if you didn't ask for that charge. If you'd have known then you would have shopped elsewhere and to say it's not unreasonable to avoid hassle and delay is weird. I'd rather not just have an unexpected bill and do without! Or at least have a choice and be able to reject.

Edited December 30, 2012 by Crapstone

[Crapstone]

But what if someone sends you an item that is a gift and you didn't ask for it?

[Crapstone]

 

"I'm just popping over to China to collect my smartphone" - yea right.

 

That's ridiculous and you're just trying to be awkward. The consumer should have the right to reject the goods and let customs keep the item if they don't want to pay the charges. I've been billed £31.03 for something I didn't order and FedEx are quite welcome to come and take the items back as I won't be paying anything. The sender was fully informed of all the charges by FedEX and was told there would be nothing more to pay by any party.

[Crapstone]

Reject delivery........ carrier returns to shipper, although in all likelihood the item would be destroyed rather than bear additional carriage and erts costs.

 

That wasn't an option as box turns up and is signed for. That's the whole problem as you don't get a bill until weeks later! It's checked at customs so why don't they put a note in? All you get is the word of the carrier weeks later to say what has to be paid. Nothing seems to be officially from customs, it's just what FedEx say or DHL. The contract on the mail is between the sender and the company. The person who receives it has no contract with the mail company, only the sender.

 

I can see what you mean Crazy Diamond!

[Crapstone]

Reject delivery........ carrier returns to shipper, although in all likelihood the item would be destroyed rather than bear additional carriage and erts costs.

 

That would be great but not practical as I doubt the delivery person would hang around while it was examined and even then there is nothing on the box to say anything is to be paid. What part of days and weeks later can't people understand?

 

You receive a package ordered or not. Many days later you recieve an invoice for £xx from the carrier. What option did you ever have? They paid it and the contract is up to them to resolve and not to deliver before that. You can't demand money from someone that has never contacted you and didn't ask for your service.

[Crapstone]

An example I gave was what if a parcel was delivered to a wrong address? Do they get the bill for something they didn't want and have to pay? I very much doubt their chances in court!

 

Stuff their terms and conditions as this is UK contract law and you can't be made to pay for something you didn't want or were not informed of and that includes further charges after the fact. Can anyone show me a person that has been taken to court and DHL or FedEx have won? So how do you factor in unsolicited goods?

 

Their contract is with the person that arranged the shipping otherwise I'd send Obama an empty Oxo cube box and list it as a few million in value or get my sister to send one to Cameron. Would they pay the charges on the listed value?

 

They can take me to court and like Crazy Diamond I thought this site was about standing up for your rights and not being a sheep.

Edited January 2, 2013 by Crapstone

[Crapstone]

the EU, import taxes and/or duty are payable by the receiver before delivery once the goods have arrived in the UK. For any type of purchased goods posted to the UK from outside

 

 

Does that not say BEFORE delivery or is it my imagination on the Royal Mail site! So what is the actual law? A contract requires agreement and there is none in this case or CD's. Seller A agrees to ship and B recieves the goods via C. If B isn't informed and plays no part then they can't be held responsible or to be contractually involved by C or A. Only a duty of care.

Edited January 1, 2013 by Crapstone

[Crapstone]

Crazy Diamond I've contacted a legal expert and this is what they said.

 

Based on the information you have provided the key points in response to your enquiry are as follows:

With international parcels they might be subject to being investigated by Customs and the parcel is investigated then Customs Duty and/or Import Tax might be applied to the parcel and must be paid before delivery and if the Customs Duty and/or Import Tax is not paid then the parcel will be returned to the sender.

 

So in truth they can't apply the charge AFTER they have delivered the item.

[Crapstone]

The interesting thing is the legal concensus that it's unenforceable and uncollectable - couriers effectively loan you the money to cover UKBA charges then invoice you in arrears, plus their admin fee - but the system is quite mature and the wheeze is universally practiced by all mail handlers in the UK. From reading this UKBF thread, there's some right horror stories as to what people have had to do to obtain their items from bonded warehouses at point of entry when they decline their mail handler (read: courier) permission to process the customs work on their behalf... ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/archive/index.php/t-245684.html

 

At least the silver lining in all this is that your courier delivered the package first and followed with a (debatably enforceable) invoice, instead of sitting on it (I sometimes wonder if literally, too) like Royal Mail does. It's infuriating having your items held hostage.

 

True but the legal system is built on contract law and you can't make a contract if you have no knowledge of it or play any part. If it were wongly addressed and left with a neighbour then I don't think they'd be too happy at being chased by debt collectors and then have to sue. I can't see how they can 'loan' money on behalf of a person that didn't even want the parcel in the first place.

 

On the other hand I can see how frustrating it would be to not receive something and being made to pay charges too but at least it gives you chance to refuse instead of being held over a barrel.

[Crapstone]

I haven't paid it or the duty and have heard nothing from them since. So much for the threatened court action! If they deliver the goods then they should make it clear at that point what you have to pay and not weeks later. It's a [problem]....without the offer of declaring it yourself when you don't know that it's being delivered in the first place. You can't just drop a package off and then bill someone weeks later. I'll order a conservatory for my neighbour when they are out and tell the builder just to post the bill through their door when they have finished regardless of the cost. They won't mind...