Fedex return goods fee charges of £21!

[Beans on toast Dave]

had to send a item to Canada for warranty
it came back shipped with fedex, several days after i have received it fedex sent me an invoice for "return goods fee charges of £21"!

has anyone come up against this? whist not the end of the world i cannot understand how they can justify charging the recipient with this, at no point did i enter a contract with them or agree to it as they warranty company used them and arranged it all

does anyone have any advice or should i suck it up?

 

[Burned_Alive]

I've had great success at challenging these types of fees. Normally the process is so convoluted that the companies put the charges on hold while they investigate and then you never hear back.

 

[Thekwango]

at no point did i enter a contract with them or agree to it as they warranty company used them and arranged it all

that right there is you're response to them. tell them to take it up with the company that made the booking. if it's a customs charge though, then you are liable for it but i would expect the company you sent it to to repay that given it had to be send due to a warranty issue.

 

[Thecaferacer]

It's a lucrative scam FedEx uses along with other carriers.

Basically returned goods don't incur import duty or VAT and FedEx just need to flag this up so the HMRC don't automatically apply the taxes. FedEx are charging for this "flagging"

When I challenged some pretty pretty hefty import charges a while ago on items from the states I was told that the sender enters into a contract for this cost by virtue of using FedEx, this cost is then passed to the recipient. FedEx can't withold the item through non-payment and have to get the money from you via other means.

To illustrate how I got stung last year, a buddy of mine who runs a custom motorcycle shop in Texas sent me a jersey he made for me. He valued it at £100, which is what I paid, and sent it across to me. I got walloped with 20% VAT, something like 25% import duty from the EU tariffs and a £13 parcel force handling charge giving me an additional £60 of charges.

 

[NVP]

I had one of these for something shipped from the states, I think with Fedex too, I just ignored it, nothing ever came up and I've been happily travelling back and forth between UK and USA with no issues or warrants for my arrest

 

[Thekwango]

Basically returned goods don't incur import duty or VAT

ah, i didn't realise that. good to know.

 

[Beans on toast Dave]

couple of emails back and forth, no reply from the last one

will update you all how it goes




=====================

After receiving a warranty repair from Canada I was surprised to receive an invoice from you for return goods fee charges of £21

However, I refuse to pay the return goods charges since at no point was I made aware of, nor did I agree to, any terms and conditions which clearly stated that I would be liable for any such charges.

At no point in the transaction and subsequent delivery was any contract for a return goods fee charge made between Fedex and myself.

If you want to pursue this and any future charges, I suggest that you take it up with the organisation that hired you.

Therefore I hereby request that you cancel the remaining sum of £21 on the invoice for the returned goods fee charge.

Please let me know when this has been done.

Regards
===========================
Dear Customer,

Thank you for your query regarding the charge on invoice 11111111.

FedEx would like to inform you that the amount billed is an ancillary charge and these are raised on shipments that require a specialised clearance procedure through GB.
Under certain circumstances additional fees are payable to FedEx for the clearance of goods, for example to cover fees paid to external agencies for border inspections or for non-standard clearances. The charge may also cover all other services not covered by the standard conditions of FedEx.

The charges raised for this additional service are specifically billed to the consignee / importer rather than the shipper. The charges remain the responsibility of the consignee / importer as they relate to the importation of the goods through GB.

FedEx trust this concludes the matter, however should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours Faithfully,

Abi B
===========================
"Dear Fedex

I have not entered into any contract or agreement where as I have agreed to this charge

Please send me evidence where I have agreed to this

Please cancel the charge or charge the shipper as they have taken out your services not me

I consider this matter closed

thankyou

 

[Rroff]

To illustrate how I got stung last year, a buddy of mine who runs a custom motorcycle shop in Texas sent me a jersey he made for me. He valued it at £100, which is what I paid, and sent it across to me. I got walloped with 20% VAT, something like 25% import duty from the EU tariffs and a £13 parcel force handling charge giving me an additional £60 of charges.

I had similar few year back now - ordered a t-shirt from the US as they weren't sold in the UK - can't remember exact details now but between VAT and various import and handling fees I paid like 3-4x more than the cost of the item by the time it got to me. Unfortunately didn't have much choice as I wanted the item and they were holding it until fees paid or something.

 

[Quartz]

Hie thee to Trading Standards.

 

[DXP55]

I sent my watch to the US for repair -got stung 21 dollars US import duty - Got my watch back along with import duty and VAT - Sent it UPS (£60) and it was returned FedEx (about £40)- After all that the strip down and repair was still cheaper by miles than it would have been in UK.
I do not buy anything from the US at all now.

 

[memyselfandi]

FedEx are pretty awful. Back when Amazon Japan used to use them I had one package where they tried to add a random made up shipping fee on and charge it to me. When questioned about this they said it was because they didn't see it on the original Amazon invoice so added it and charged me .... erm what, you don't think the seller is not going to charge me shipping? Also the shipping fee, including pre-payment of customs etc WAS clearly shown on the Amazon documentation which was stapled to their bill. Needless to say I questioned this and got Amazon involved ... FedEx backed down and Amazon refunded the shipping portion of the bill for the hassle.

Not that other companies are much better ... Including DHL who charged me for customs fees when they had been pre-paid ... In that case the Amazon just said to pay it and refunded me the entire order plus the payment to DHL

 

[Energize]

To illustrate how I got stung last year, a buddy of mine who runs a custom motorcycle shop in Texas sent me a jersey he made for me. He valued it at £100, which is what I paid, and sent it across to me. I got walloped with 20% VAT, something like 25% import duty from the EU tariffs and a £13 parcel force handling charge giving me an additional £60 of charges.

Import taxes are a big scam, economic protectionism at it's worst.

 

[chaparral]

Import taxes are a big scam

Fully agree with this

If I post sometime like say a secondhand £500 GPU to UK mainland I got pay 20% VAT on the value of it
But if I buy a secondhand £500 GPU from the UK mainland they no give me 20% on the value of it

 

[Beans on toast Dave]

well after a long wait got this today

"
Dear Customer,

Thank you for your query regarding invoice *******.

Having reviewed the above mentioned invoice, we are pleased to advise that a full credit of 21.00 gbp has been raised.
FedEx trust this concludes the matter, however should you have any further queries please do not hesitate to contact us.

Yours Faithfully,

Abi B"

 

[Teknobry]

RESULT! Nice one.

 

[Quartz]

Well done!