right,i just bought 3 boxes from japan,i paid £40 each for them,and paid £140 shipping,which in my eyes is plenty,one of them was shipped but now its being held by parcel force saying i owe them £42 for fees ect,My Blood Is Boiling !!
i really dont know what to do,its already cost me £180..i feel like just letting them keep it..uk is a rippoff,my advice is,DO NOT buy from abroad !!!!

Yeh, import duty sucks, for sure.
It really feels like they're takin' you up the tailpipe, but there's not a damn thing we can do about it

your damm right iso..i bought a GF535,and 2 GF999s,i'm being charged £43 each before they will let me have them..its a joke !! i aint paying !!
Altogether they have cost me £660.00,now they want another £130 before i can have them,i may aswell have set fire to my money !!

Paul if you dont pay you may aswell set fire to your coin... my advice is just PAY you only live once and its only money.... failing that I wil pay for you but I will want one of the 999's in return.... sorry for being so blunt but I have just had some bad news (my mum has just had a heart attack and a stroke... like I say just get it paid... it's only money wich when your on the dole like me its basically free anyway... and you know you will love those gf999's lad.... I mean look how much that other sold for was it like £400 quid

hey G,MAN, remember my story with the blockbuster i got of DRIPTIP, exactly the same crap as what your having i had to faff about goin to parcel force in Manchester to pick mine up, it,s in a right awkward place aswell.
£42 it cost me, an that,s ontop of the shipping already paid like you say.
i never had to pay anything when i got my super j of hifitom that was delivered straight to my door at no cost.
i don,t understand it i think it,s an absolute joke, something should be done to stop these *******s robbing people day in day out.
oh another thing, have you noticed it,s customs who actually put the charges there, and they leave it to parcel force to take all the flack revenues and customs, rip off c*nts

quote:

Originally posted by LAV LOO:
hey G,MAN, remember my story with the blockbuster i got of DRIPTIP, exactly the same crap as what your having i had to faff about goin to parcel force in Manchester to pick mine up, it,s in a right awkward place aswell.
£42 it cost me, an that,s ontop of the shipping already paid like you say.
i never had to pay anything when i got my super j of hifitom that was delivered straight to my door at no cost.
i don,t understand it i think it,s an absolute joke, something should be done to stop these *******s robbing people day in day out.
oh another thing, have you noticed it,s customs who actually put the charges there, and they leave it to parcel force to take all the flack revenues and customs, rip off c*nts

Lav you dont have to pay tax from germany it's in the eu... I know all this import charge is a rip off and I sympathize but just pay and get it over with... where else are you gunna get a gf999 from lad as cheap??? certainly not off our ebay...

ye i agree in a sense with you there, but when all said RENO, it,s not always about the money it,s about liberties, people takin the piss knowing fine well there,s nothing we can do about it.
i do agree with you about money thow mate some things are a lot more important, sorry to hear about your mam too hope she,s ok

quote:

Originally posted by LAV LOO:
ye i agree in a sense with you there, but when all said RENO, it,s not always about the money it,s about liberties, people takin the piss knowing fine well there,s nothing we can do about it.
i do agree with you about money thow mate some things are a lot more important, sorry to hear about your mam too hope she,s ok

Thanks lav I havnt even seen her yet... and yup i agree the uk takes the royal piss we pay 2,3 times more than most countries it may sound daft but i wish there was no such thing as money this whole system is just based on POWER and GREED... but i still say just get it over with paul lad not much else you can do...

yep i agree RENO, power and greed all over, there,s no morals or values left in the world everything is cash cash cash, people have lost their way with the infactuation of money and greed, but in the end they will pay the price, look at the oil disaster with BP in the US, i think it,s totally disgusting that people would want to ruin our one and only special planet for the sake of money, and leave our children nothing to grow up into apart from a dying planet riddled with poverty and disaster everywhere,.
someone needs to be held accountable for all of this
sorry for gettin off topic and rattlin on

Lav,rimster..i know this sounds a bit selfish but its not ment to be,but i'm glad i'm not the only one thats having this bad luck,i thought it was just me that is being targeted by the shlt life fairy..and i had to log off earlier,i was too wound up,my heart was pounding out of my chest with fury !!
As for the box at Parcel(of shlte)Force,its the GF535 thats being held..the GF999s have'nt even left japan yet and i paid for them on the 14th,i paid for 2-8 days shipping,i should have recieved them by now..but its all messed up..
when i won them,i knew i had plenty of funds in my paypal account to cover all costs,and when i filled out there shipping form,i calculated all the costs into uk pounds and made sure i had enough..anyhow,i paid for everything upfront to have the GF999s shipped,but since paying,i've hurd nothing,so yesterday i emailed them to ask if there is a problem,they replied and said i'm in negative balance on my yahoo account,i was stunned,just stunned,i cant figure out where all the extra fee demands are comming from,this was never mentioned when i paid,everything was fine,now it turns out i owe them 5668 yen,approx £43.i just had to add more funds from my bank,which is going to take 7-9 days to process..and to top it all,parcel fooks want £42.88 for each stereo,i tell you now guys,this is one head fooking experience,and i'm sorry i ever started this now,i will never do it again !! i thought i was being cleaver,but now i feel like kicking my own ass for doing this in the first place,always ends wrong..me and my bright idea's !!!

i know it,s hard G,MAN, but try to not let this get to you everything will turn out fine, i know it,s a long drawn out experience and it makes you feel like bangin your head on the wall but just bite your tongue if you can, and learn from a ****ty experience

quote:

Originally posted by Ghettoman:
Lav,rimster..i know this sounds a bit selfish but its not ment to be,but i'm glad i'm not the only one thats having this bad luck,i thought it was just me that is being targeted by the shlt life fairy..and i had to log off earlier,i was too wound up,my heart was pounding out of my chest with fury !!
As for the box at Parcel(of shlte)Force,its the GF535 thats being held..the GF999s have'nt even left japan yet and i paid for them on the 14th,i paid for 2-8 days shipping,i should have recieved them by now..but its all messed up..
when i won them,i knew i had plenty of funds in my paypal account to cover all costs,and when i filled out there shipping form,i calculated all the costs into uk pounds and made sure i had enough..anyhow,i paid for everything upfront to have the GF999s shipped,but since paying,i've hurd nothing,so yesterday i emailed them to ask if there is a problem,they replied and said i'm in negative balance on my yahoo account,i was stunned,just stunned,i cant figure out where all the extra fee demands are comming from,this was never mentioned when i paid,everything was fine,now it turns out i owe them 5668 yen,approx £43.i just had to add more funds from my bank,which is going to take 7-9 days to process..and to top it all,parcel fooks want £42.88 for each stereo,i tell you now guys,this is one head fooking experience,and i'm sorry i ever started this now,i will never do it again !! i thought i was being cleaver,but now i feel like kicking my own ass for doing this in the first place,always ends wrong..me and my bright idea's !!!

I know what yr sayin paul.... look at me everybody can get paypal but me... If its gunna happen it happens to me, life sucks dunnit lad... I agree with lav just get this shiat over with and move on...

i had this happen as well, alot. you buy stuff cheap on ebay USA etc and it ends up costing about the same as to buy over here.

it happens to every one buying in from abroad unfortunately mate. its just one of those things you have to take on the chin and suck it up otherwise they dispose of your packages if you dont pay up.

its worth next time factoring this in to the cost and to be honest you got off pretty lightly, id just pay it and not make a scene as thats a relatively low price to pay.


i bought a lowrider bike in 2004 from florida to UK for £100 + P+P ended up paying over £200 total once the import duties went on top.

As far as I know , often when I buy stuff from japan etc if the send it as a 'gift' then import fees dont have to be paid...

maybe look this up....

So what determines what packages these vampires put fees on?

if you only pay so much for an item and it is not marked gift - most time you can get away with it - but not always

if they think that the seller is making money or as a business, they they will charge tax

if they think that you will sell it onwards once you recive the item/s they will tax more

it's just another way of the Gov screwing you over and to line there pockets

if you send it as a GIFT and say it's worth £5 - it could get lost and lose you money/item - they let it through and you win - they don't like there system being broken so they will charge - they have to make a profit each year for the gov to be kept happy - so why not tax the little man with heavy tax as well

As far as I know, import tax is levied on items marked as gift to the value less than or equal to £40. If it is marked as gift but has no value tagged to it you will have to pay full tax.

It sucks and i hate it too but it's the law, importing items into the UK is an age old custom. A law was put in plac elong ago to ensure homegrown revenue was prioritised. These days it holds zero value to the UK.

i did here that if the item is over a certain age,and does'nt have a lot of value,i can protest the charges,i was also told that i can refuse to pay it, and it would be illegal for them to withold the items.

other info i found out was,They are entitled to pursue the fee as a civil debt i.e. take it to the small claims court if necessary, but if they did so they would have to justify their costs.i have not signed any agreement with the couriers for them to pay customs fees on my behalf,so I really can't see how they can justify charging a fee for it..

I assume small claims court has it's own fees to deal with then =/

Right guys,bit of info on my astronomical import charge,i went to pick the jap box up from parcel force,i went in paid the cash,but i pulled him up over the sky high fee,he looked at the letter i got with the fee on it,then looked on the box,he said that customs have valued the item wrong,they looked at the shipping fee and taxed me for it thinking it was the value of the parcel,so he told me to write to customs and tell them of there error and i should get my money back,so stand by for update,if theres an update to tell,they may just throw my letter in the bin yet..hope they respond because the evidence is clear..

quote:

DO NOT buy from abroad !!!!

I've never personally purchased a radio from a woman....Oh wait, you mean from over seas!

Ghettoman do not underestimate the Customs people, they know their job and in your case are doing it right.
This is import duty, outside the ECC we pay.
The UK and most other counties have always had import duty or what any other name it's called, for 100's of years.


Quote. other info i found out was,They are entitled to pursue the fee as a civil debt i.e. take it to the small claims court if necessary, YES THEY WILL.
Quote, but if they did so they would have to justify their costs. DON'T WORRY THEY WILL HAVE THEIR BILL READY.
i have not signed any agreement with the couriers for them to pay customs fees on my behalf. THEY WON'T. ANYWAY.
so I really can't see how they can justify chaing. IT'S THE LAW.

QOUTE,As far as I know,often when I buy stuff from japan etc if the send it as a 'gift' then import fees dont have to be paid... Sorry 100% not true.

AS docs says, "It sucks and i hate it too but it's the law, importing items into the UK is an age old custom".

No i am not a Custom officer, i am a retired Antique dealer and have imported /exported containers from various places around the world. I've filled out buckets of customs forms etc.,

Opp's gota watch the Grand Prix now.
Back now, now where was i?

To make things worse (I was told this years ago) I think it maybe right.
If for instance your BBx was damaged in transit and you said i don't want it and i am not picking it up. They will charge you for the dispose of it. I recon they don't work for less than a ton an hour. Then probable take you to court for the excise duty.
I am pretty sure they are like the VAT people , in having more power than the law.

Sorry for being so negative Ghettoman, but that's the law.

Penge

Hi Penge..its possible but i spoke to the officer at parcel force,he said he deals with dozens of parcels every day,he said that the vat on my parcel is clearly wrong,he looked at the value 5,000 yen = £37,he said vat on £37 is definatley less than £5,he then looked at the Shipping Charge and saw 17,500 yen = £130,he said they must have got the prices mixed up and somehow charged me on the shipping charge,not on the actual value..he said he's never hurd of a vat charge of £42 on a item valued at £37..i dont know though penge,you could be right,i just was'nt happy getting charged soo much on something valued soo less,i was actually going to leave it and put it down to a bad experience,but the guy at parcel force said "dont leave it" Write to them and get your money back,so i just went and did it on his advice..i'll let you know how it goes mate,thats if they even respond..

Unfortunatly Gettoman the shipping cost is part of the price of the item.

Try this, probable drive yea mad but you may get an answer. http://www.dutycalculator.com/faq/
Does sound to much to me.

Qoute.Write to them and get your money back,so i just went and did it on his advice..i'll let you know how it goes mate,thats if they even respond.." Good way to go.
I am sure they will respond. Keep it straight, "the walls have ears"(as my mum says)
Or more modern day."Watch out there's a Drone about".

What me parnoid? Noway.

ive reclaimed on these before, its a bit of a ball ache but if you have the time its worth it. it was a massive buy i made though so they over charged me by couple hundred -- def worth it in that case.

i know what you mean andy,i dont know anything about customs,i've been charged before on a box from hong kong,that box was $199 + $75 shipping,they charged me £32 import and i just paid it..

Thank you for the link penge,i just clicked on calculation,and your right,it goes on the shipping also,so you may be right,the charges may be correct then..if it is then that is a big con !!