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Customs duty


The Flying Tench

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I recently bought something on the web for £30. It was from a company called Fruugo which I thought was a UK company. But then I got a card through the door from Royal Mail saying that I had to pay £4.48 VAT plus a handling charge of £8, ie £12.48, an extra 41%, before they would deliver it. It turned out the country of origin was USA.

 

​I've bought things from Amazon and elsewhere where it's sent from an overseas company, and I've never had to pay extra before Royal Mail would deliver it. Fruugo made no mention of this extra payment on their website.

 

I bought this on behalf of someone else, and I don't want to charge them this extra amount. Presumably I can appeal. Does anyone know who I should appeal to: Fruugo, HMRC (who said the £4.48 was payable) or Royal Mail?

 

Thanks

 

john clarke

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From the Fruugo website. Looks like a case of buyer beware. I would check with them in the 1st instance

 

Customs or import duties are sometimes charged once a parcel reaches its destination country.

Any customs charges upon delivery are solely the responsibility of the customer. Any subsequent carrier handling fees (as a result of custom charges) are also the responsibility of the customer.

Fruugo has no control over these charges and we are unable to tell you what the cost would be as customs policies and import duties vary widely from country to country. For more information on current charges you would need to contact your local customs office before you order or alternatively you could use www.dutycalculator.com as a guide.

Estimated delivery timescales do not include any additional customs clearing times beyond Fruugo's control.

Please note that customs charges will not be refunded if you cancel and return your order.

If you cancel your order by refusing to accept delivery of all or part of your order (where the products or packaging do not appear to be damaged or defective) you will be responsible for any customs fees or postal charges incurred by the retailer. Any charges such as this due to a package being refused will be deducted from your merchandise refund.

The two best times to go fishing are when it's raining and when it's not

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Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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I am surprised "america" wanted to sell you anything ,i made an enquiry about a ruler suitable for photography costing $3.99 and the seller demanded £28 postage!

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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Chesters1

 

That was some sort of premium service with a service charge added. Snail mail to the UK is a couple bucks up to a pound.

 

Phone

That was the price quoted by an US ebay seller ,its not a rare thing ,either your postage system is expensive or a great deal of US residents still harbour ill will to their ex owners.

As you say the cost of an envelope and a stamp in this case minimal! I just recieved a set (unbroken amazingly) of 5 glass pipetts for 99p including postage from china so obviously america co does not want to sell outside its shores most probably puts a hefty tarriff on foreign goods as well? Keeping your companies wallets full and its residents wallets empty?

As to the thing i wanted to buy i bought one here very expensively but cheaper than direct from US ,no clue to where it was actually made (american company sells them) but i am sure chinks could rattle them out for a penny each if the demand was there!

Edited by chesters1

Believe NOTHING anyones says or writes unless you witness it yourself and even then your eyes can deceive you

None of this "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" crap it just means i have at least two enemies!

 

There is only one opinion i listen to ,its mine and its ALWAYS right even when its wrong

 

Its far easier to curse the darkness than light one candle

 

Mathew 4:19

Grangers law : anything i say will  turn out the opposite or not happen at all!

Life insurance? you wont enjoy a penny!

"To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors, is sinful and tyrannical." Thomas Jefferson

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I've often noticed similar on eBay, postage from America has to be watched for very carefully.

 

I don't really understand why eBay brings up such guff in a search, no-one in their right mind would pay some of the postage amounts I've seen asked for on there.

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