Ridiculous Fedex Charges

[Dairy Phobic]

I had the worst out of any case I've heard of, I once ordered a $20 dollar item from a US website, and when UPS got to my door, the tab said $66 in brokerage, ARE YOU ******* KIDDING ME?

that item ended costing me near $100 after taxes and ****

 

[Shirtmaven]

DHL and UPS are a little better.
shipping cost keep getting worse. Grammaton cleric. not highway robbery. standard practice.

you are lucky that G & R provide all of the fabric classifications. otherwis your fabric gets stuck in customs

 

[Michael Ay329]

DHL is the worst. A year after a Fox Flannel cloth was delivered...they got around to shaking me down for the 30% customs and brokerage fee.

I was foolish to return their call thinking they were holding hostage my latest batch of cloth being delivered from Lovat Mill in Scotland.

UPS, DHL, FedEx are to be avoided at all cost. But the downside of Royal Mail is their tight fisted approach at fighting lost claims.
G&G told me this is the reason why they no longer use Royal Mail...and other English merchants have expressed the same.

I would gamble and use Royal Mail.

 

[justsayno]

had a horrible experience with DHL delivery from UK

 

[FidelCashflow]

All couriers charge ridiculous brokerage charges. Go with Royal Mail/USPS/Canada post, etc. - they don't pull these scams and will only charge legitimate customs/duties/sales taxes - and possibly a $5 inspection fee - still a far cry from the 20-30% "brokerage fees" charged by most couriers I've gotten a few bills from FedEx for small amounts in the past (usually arrives a few weeks after the package), I've just thrown them in the garbage and nothing has ever happened to me - I figured it would cost them more to send it to collections than it was worth. Apparently they agreed.

 

[Metlin]

Fedex once charged me some inordinate sum of money when I ordered some Duchamp ties from UK. For 3 new ties, I paid more than the cost of one new tie in shipping. This was in addition to the already expensive shipping charges. I was not a happy camper.

 

[MyOtherLife]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

All couriers charge ridiculous brokerage charges. Go with Royal Mail/USPS/Canada post, etc. - they don't pull these scams and will only charge legitimate customs/duties/sales taxes - and possibly a $5 inspection fee - still a far cry from the 20-30% "brokerage fees" charged by most couriers I've gotten a few bills from FedEx for small amounts in the past (usually arrives a few weeks after the package), I've just thrown them in the garbage and nothing has ever happened to me - I figured it would cost them more to send it to collections than it was worth. Apparently they agreed.

+1 Bullseye

 

[RSS]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

Royal Mail / USPS be the best option?
This is my preferred option. I find that they sometimes even miss collecting the duty ... and sometimes they don't miss it. But you do avoid the absurd add-ons.

 

[deveandepot1]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

All couriers charge ridiculous brokerage charges. Go with Royal Mail/USPS/Canada post, etc. - they don't pull these scams and will only charge legitimate customs/duties/sales taxes - and possibly a $5 inspection fee - still a far cry from the 20-30% "brokerage fees" charged by most couriers

I've gotten a few bills from FedEx for small amounts in the past (usually arrives a few weeks after the package), I've just thrown them in the garbage and nothing has ever happened to me - I figured it would cost them more to send it to collections than it was worth. Apparently they agreed.

This

 

[Bounder]

Originally Posted by MrGoodBytes

depends how the billing terms were defined which vary greatly from domestic shipments. delivery duty paid, delivery duty unpaid, DDU + 3rd party bill, split duties/taxes, DDP + 3rd party bill, freight collect, free on board, and cost & Freight
I don't think you quite take my point. First, has anyone ever ordered a tie and then engaged in a lengthy discussion of incoterms with the seller? I doubt it. On the contrary, the seller charges you shipping and you expect that the tie will arrive at your door. Sometimes, particularly careful sellers will say something about how taxes and duties are the responsibility of the buyer. But the point that I am making is that the shipper has made a deal with delivery company to deliver your goods. So the contract is between the shipper and the delivery company. You might be a beneficiary of that contract but you are not a party to the contract. So, if push comes to shove, I doubt that you are contractually obligated to pay the bill the delivery company sends you. There may well be other legal theories that the delivery company could invoke, especially to collect customs duties actually paid to the government. But, in a very real sense, I suspect the shipping companies know that they would have a tough time actually forcing you to pay their "clearance fees" and are just trying it on. If you don't want to just ignore the bill, one trick you might try for fun is sending the delivery company an "accord and satisfaction" for just the actual customs duties. Check how to do this correctly in the appropriate jurisdiction. Once again, none of this is legal advice. Do not rely on it for anything whatsoever in any jurisdiction anywhere in the world or its subsidiaries.

 

[Maccimus]

Originally Posted by Bounder

But the point that I am making is that the shipper has made a deal with delivery company to deliver your goods. So the contract is between the shipper and the delivery company. You might be a beneficiary of that contract but you are not a party to the contract.


But you can always find clauses in Term of Use. If you buy from a webshop, you tick the box before you click Confirm. If you buy from individual, he or she always tells you so before you make the paypal payment (that would be an oral contract?).

 

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by FidelCashflow

All couriers charge ridiculous brokerage charges. Go with Royal Mail/USPS/Canada post, etc. - they don't pull these scams and will only charge legitimate customs/duties/sales taxes - and possibly a $5 inspection fee - still a far cry from the 20-30% "brokerage fees" charged by most couriers

I've gotten a few bills from FedEx for small amounts in the past (usually arrives a few weeks after the package), I've just thrown them in the garbage and nothing has ever happened to me - I figured it would cost them more to send it to collections than it was worth. Apparently they agreed.

+1

Also RM-CP-USPS will often forget to charge valid duties. When a seller will only ship by private courrier (UPS,fedex ect) you must make sure to specify that you will do your own brokerage (very easy to do). I have done this is the past and had brokerage charges reversed.

If you already have the package no need to pay the brokerage bill but my experience with UPS is they keep the package hostage, will only deliver once all fees are paid.

 

[Raoul Duke]

Doing your own brokerage isn't exactly an easy solution unless you live close to the main hub where the package was received into your country.

 

[Xenon]

Originally Posted by Raoul Duke

Doing your own brokerage isn't exactly an easy solution unless you live close to the main hub where the package was received into your country.

Good point, bad assumption on my part

 

[Cary Grant]

I've used Royal Mail with good results as well. As regards tracking, though, it's only ever been tracked up to departing the UK, not the USA.