Post office Ripoff when internet buying

[jerry]

The Royal mail is now charging an £8 handling fee + any tax or duty on any packets or parcels sent from out side the EU , even if there is no duty payable , this makes buying stuff from the USA a hassle now.

jerry

[JMo]

Are you sure? How can they do this? where is the govenment watchdog etc?

Seems this country is receeding up it's own ar5e and we are powerless to stop it!

xxx

[Headhunter]

The Royal mail is now charging an £8 handling fee + any tax or duty on any packets or parcels sent from out side the EU , even if there is no duty payable , this makes buying stuff from the USA a hassle now.

jerry


Happened to me the other week. Bought some perfume for my mum and they charged an extra £11.32 for it even though anything under £18 (i think) and being a gift should not be liable for duty.

Think you can claim it back though.

p.s. I did buy her other gifts too! I may support a Jewish team but I'm not jewish.

[The Kevlar Kid]

Yup... I had this the other week. I bought some Ducati special tools and bits and bobs from the USA. Nearly had a fit when I found out how much it was to get the post office to hand it over - £8 plus the duty....

Stil cheaper than getting the stuff here though...

[JMo]

No wonder we're all stabbing each other - you can't beat the system so we are turning on each other instead - they are psychologically forcing us into lawlessness, just so they can further opress us with more legislation 'for our own protection' - we are rats in a barrel and we're all going to die - no good can come of it etc. etc.

On a more optomistic note, I presume this post office charge is only when the sender is a company/business? - if it was a gift from a friend then how would they know whether or not duty was due?

(And don't tell me they open the package and check for an invoice or I really will be selling all my worldly goods and sponsoring Al queda...)

xxx

[Headhunter]

if it was a gift from a friend then how would they know whether or not duty was due?

For all imported goods they attach a sticker, not a pretty picture mind. On the sticker is a box which has a tick if it's a gift and it should also have the value on the outside, which the latter seems a bit worrying to me.

[SazzaG]

I really will be selling all my worldly goods

I thought you were doing that anyway, Jen..

[JMo]

I thought you were doing that anyway, Jen..

I am, but the missile I intended to buy has a 650cc engine and a 26 litre fuel tank - arrrrooooooogaaaaaah!

xxx

[gremlin]

I heard of a lady who was sent a free gift from a US company after buying other goods, and she was told she would have to pay £35 to get it. No such thing as a free gift either apparantly. We were discussing the customs thing the other day funnily enough, trying to work out how customs can prove what you come back to the country with didn't leave with you.

[jerry]

They dont want u shopping outside of the EU or getting any freebies from friends or family its the Stalinist, fascist , nanny state.

jerry