Import tax, admin fee DHL?

palmer_mike

Well-Known Member
I recently ordered something from Cabelas in the USA. I expected to be hit for the VAT (fair enough) but thought I'd got away with it when the parcel was delivered with no bill.

yesterday I received a letter from DHL (who delivered) demanding the VAT plus a £10 admin charge.

As far as I am concerned I had no contract with DHL as I ordered from Cabelas and had no idea who they would use for delivery.

Very unhappy about the admin fee and not particularly sure if they can enforce it, as I have no contract with them?
 
I think the way they justify it is they pay the vat to get it in the country and then sting you for the admin fee to cover the "costs" involved of paying the vat on your behalf first plus you have to pay them back the vat!
 
I think the way they justify it is they pay the vat to get it in the country and then sting you for the admin fee to cover the "costs" involved of paying the vat on your behalf first plus you have to pay them back the vat!

I understand that to be their argument.
i was expecting to pay the vat direct tho before my goods were delivered (as I believe lots of other couriers operate?)
 
Royal Mail are the same! I think I got stung for tax plus an £8 fee by them a while back.
Customs also confiscated a Gerber E-Z Out knife fom the same package as it was deemed a 'gravity knife' that could be opened with one hand, even though the same model is on sale openly throughout the UK!!:doh:
MS
 
With stuff I've ordered from Swazi almost inevitably I get a letter from Parcelforce informing me that I need to pay the VAT plus handling fee before they will release the item for delivery.

This generally hasn't happened with knives, etc that I've ordered from abroad, though I have two custom knives from South Africa that are still missing. Apparently the South African post office tracked them up to the point where they handed them over to Royal Mail, but Royal Mail then doesn't track them in the UK - and this despite the fact that the service that was paid for was supposed to be tracked right through to the end customer!
 
Low price goods ( less than £10) seem to get through from China,
but most are due for duty and the admin fee,
either at source or when it arrives here
prices in USA are usually very competitive plus a fantastic range
of stuff for shooters.

Unfortunately when you add shipping, VAT, and admin charges
they are not such good value at the end of the day.

However I thought my Boyds laminate gun stock was still worth getting even with the add ons
 
With stuff I've ordered from Swazi almost inevitably I get a letter from Parcelforce informing me that I need to pay the VAT plus handling fee before they will release the item for delivery.

This generally hasn't happened with knives, etc that I've ordered from abroad, though I have two custom knives from South Africa that are still missing. Apparently the South African post office tracked them up to the point where they handed them over to Royal Mail, but Royal Mail then doesn't track them in the UK - and this despite the fact that the service that was paid for was supposed to be tracked right through to the end customer!

Dom, knives are on the Royal mails banned items list, maybe some one decided to re home them for you?
 
I understand that to be their argument.
i was expecting to pay the vat direct tho before my goods were delivered (as I believe lots of other couriers operate?)

Im sure legally you should be able to pay the vat direct and you have already paid for the delivery service. It's just a con but unless someone is willing to take them to court over it then I can't see it stopping.
 
Dom, knives are on the Royal mails banned items list, maybe some one decided to re home them for you?

If they did that I wouldn't mind so much if they at least told me (or the sender) what they've done with them, but they just appear to have dropped into a black hole!

FYI, I've had plenty of knives, both new and secondhand, sent through the post :D
 
Dom, knives are on the Royal mails banned items list, maybe some one decided to re home them for you?


No they are not
weapons are on the Prohibited list a gravity knife is defined as an offensive weapon and is not legal to buy sell import etc (yes i know a lot that are defined as such by Customs are available in UK shops )

Knives are on the restricted list
 
I imported some items from the States for my bike. The shipping agent was Fed-Ex. They charged me a handling fee (VAT payment) plus shipping costs plus I'm sure I paid import duty :)old: memory). I queried the amount of VAT they were demanding and was told that if they proceeded with the query and they were found to not be at fault I would have to pay a minimum of $50 admin fees! I decided to let it drop and paid what they were demanding. A few weeks later I had a refund as they had mistakenly charged me VAT on the $ amount, not the £ amount. Bugg**s:evil:
 
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