UK Customs Charges *tears hair out*

[mlpfan]

that sucks!  they always find a way to get your money!

[hokuspokus]

Auch, and i thought the Netherlands were bad.. sorry to hear you had over 100 pounds on customs fees, only in this year, Sarah! That's rediculous much!!

[Ringlets]

i didn't know that, it is different in the uk.

any packet you send regular mail, that is no tracking or added insurance is automatically insured for the value of £42 GBP so long as it is not jewellery, cash or vouchers.

The value  our parcels are  automatically insured for went up to £46, and I believe its higher now  (it is the cost of 10 first class stamps..)  I have to get a new price list and check the details again though since the prices have all changed 

NoD I know what you mean about swap boxes. Its a toughie!  however , since its a gift, and if the value is less than £40 /approx $63 ( and like I just mentioned, the value might have gone up now, I have to check) , then sending a parcel to a UK  partner should be ok  and not get any fees even if you put the true value on the box...unless you have joined a really high value swap, or you went waaay over the swap budget

[FantasticFirefly]

Along the same vein, how reliable is the Royal Mail postal service?
For myself I buy a lot from the US. I request inexpensive first class shipping when possible (without insurance). should a package get lost, all I would request from the seller is a scan of the receipt as proof they did indeed send, and I would eat that loss. So far, after over a decade, I have gotten every piece of mail that was sent to me. (even stuff that the address was botched.)

I'm getting a lot of UK buyers. I'm more then happy to mark these as second hand toys, (they only have value to us, to anyone else it's a used pony horse a toddler would chew) but the insurance would be void, in order to take advantage of that, the declared value needs to match the receipt. If the odds of mail truly vanishing are low, I have no problem with this. However if they are notorious for losing mail, I'll be changing my stance.

[Ringlets]

They are normally pretty reliable (thankfully)  and I havent had many lost packages although I've sent and received literally hundreds of parcels    the one thing I would say though is that they can handle the parcels a bit roughly sometimes , so be sure to put extra tape around any bubble mailers or boxes, so that the parcel cant tear open  and you should be ok

[RockinPrettyBeats]

Thanks for clearing that all up.

I always thought Royal Mail was better than US Postal Service but I guess I'm happy I don't have to pay a flat handling fee on top of customs!

[FlyingPonyMonster]

I just paid £17 for a doll that cost $23 they have mischarged me so now I need to figure out how to get it back!

[RockinPrettyBeats]

That's insane.

[hathorcat]

I just paid £17 for a doll that cost $23 they have mischarged me so now I need to figure out how to get it back!

Oh....money "back" from Her Majesty...good luck...she has trains to buy and expensive holidays to fund, not to mention a few castles to heat [*funny sarcasm intended here*]

Here you go...

What do I do if I think I have been overcharged Customs Duty on my parcels/goods?

Once you have confirmed that you are entitled to a refund (ie by checking the duty and VAT rates or available duty reliefs), your next action will depend on who delivered your parcels/goods, as follows:

For Parcelforce and Royal Mail deliveries you need to contact the UK Border Agency (UKBA) Office that dealt with your parcel so that they can advise you how to make your claim. Their contact details will be on the Charge label attached to the parcel, along with the Charge Number. You do not have to take delivery in order to make your claim, in which case the Parcelforce or Royal Mail local delivery depot will be able to provide you with the UK Border Agency Office details and Charge Number information from the parcel.

For all other deliveries you need to complete a C285 (available from the VAT, Excise and Customs Helpline) and send this together with any supporting evidence to:

HMRC
National Repayments Unit
Priory Court
St Johns Road
Dover
CT17 9SH

Tel:01304 664523

[FlyingPonyMonster]

Thanks hathorcat xxxx

[ponylady]

Thanks Cat!

[NoDivision]

NoD I know what you mean about swap boxes. Its a toughie!  however , since its a gift, and if the value is less than £40 /approx $63 ( and like I just mentioned, the value might have gone up now, I have to check) , then sending a parcel to a UK  partner should be ok  and not get any fees even if you put the true value on the box...unless you have joined a really high value swap, or you went waaay over the swap budget

Zomg Ringlets, you know I have! I think I'll just figure out the maximum value I can mark and do that and hope for the best. I've never had a package gone missing and I ship to the UK a lot, but I want to be as covered as I can, just in case.

[hathorcat]

Thanks Cat!

No problem!!! You may have been able to tell from my rant on page 1 [I think] of this thread...UK Customs and I do not get along...

[Sea_Breeze]

The stupid thing is if you had these ponies in your luggage they wouldn't charge a damn thing!!! How is it any different than posting.. really

[Jemofirongate]

I had a 50 cent pony shipped from the US to the UK. They misread the .50 as 50 and decided that as it was worth $50, they'd slap fees on it. I had to pay about £12 to get the parcel including £8 handling fees and never got a refund.

Ive had a similar situation happen to me Daffy, I bought an $11 item from a seller who clearly got her customs labels mixed up when she shipped someone elses parcel worth £100 and ended up paying about £18 customs charges.
I got a refund but had to write 2 letters - 1 to HMRC together with evidence of what I had paid for the item (Paypal receipt) and a statement from the seller saying what had happened with the label mix-up. I got a refund letter and a cheque from HMRC, when you get that, attach a copy of it to a letter to Royal Mail and they will refund the handling fee. Royal Mail will only refund the handling fee if you get your money back off customs first.

Jem :-)