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UK Customs Charge

guitarsareboringguitarsareboring
edited February 2011 in General Chat
It seems that my parcel from Telltale is waiting at the sorting office with £14 to pay. I know it isn't Telltale's fault but it's still disappointing and I'm not sure it'll be wise for me to order physical stuff from them in future. I'm just glad the postage was free!

Has anyone else experienced this?

Comments

  • reekareeka
    edited February 2011
    I had this just last week. I'm used to getting customs charges when I order things from the US, so I usually keep money aside for it. It doesn't always happen mind you, I'm not sure why it only happens some of the time!
  • coolsomecoolsome
    edited February 2011
    I get the same thing sometimes from any US store.
  • tarasistarasis
    edited February 2011
    guitarsareboring wrote: »
    It seems that my parcel from Telltale is waiting at the sorting office with £14 to pay. I know it isn't Telltale's fault but it's still disappointing and I'm not sure it'll be wise for me to order physical stuff from them in future. I'm just glad the postage was free!

    Has anyone else experienced this?

    Its not TTG fault, any package from outside of the EU that is over a certain value (and international packages are expected to have a Customs Declaration on them stating value of goods in the package) are subject to a VAT fee. IIRC its about £20 or £30.

    At a guess that £14 is actually 4 pounds VAT and 10 for the Postal service handling it and collecting the fee from you.

    Some companies put a 0 value on it and no invoice inside but that ends up asking for trouble when its a largish package. (Particularly with the import people in Germany as you need take the invoice along and a copy of the Credit Card statement to prove you actually paid that amount)

    Rob (UK Ex Pat)
  • jeeno0142jeeno0142
    edited February 2011
    I've had this twice before. The first one told me I had £104 to pay in customs. To say the least that was a little wrong so I forced the Post Office to send it back to customs and get me the true amount that I should be paying. It came back at about £15. The second time I had it, it was about £11 or so. I'm usually quite content to pay whatever the charge is since I want the stuff. (Other than £100. That's just pushing it)! :P
  • JedExodusJedExodus
    edited February 2011
    I like it when I order stuff from China, they always just mark it as a gift :)
  • Ash735Ash735
    edited February 2011
    Same here, I've had loads of orders from TellTale and this is the first one that's triggered the Customs Charge.
  • RawrRawr
    edited February 2011
    When I bought that Surfin' the Highway celebration special pack I got charged with customs, was around £20 I think. It's pretty ridiculous how much they charge. If it was just adding VAT it would be fine, but they always charge a fee as well, it's ludicrous.
  • guitarsareboringguitarsareboring
    edited February 2011
    I don't object to paying to import duty, it's the Royal Mail imposed handling fee that infuriates me because you have no choice in the matter. It's not like you can pay the customs charge in advance of the item being sent or at the door when they deliver it.

    Luckily I haven't had this many times and this is the largest one I've received.
  • LonnieLonnie
    edited February 2011
    What happens if you don't pay the customs charge? Do they send it back?
  • zmallyzmally
    edited February 2011
    Yeah, you only have so long to go collect it, and pay the fees. £8 is a "handling" charge, the rest of Value Added Tax (VAT) which is fair enough. But £8 handling is extortion!
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