Ridiculous Fedex Charges

[Eustace Tilley]

Fedex has charged me close to 30% of the value of some fabric I had delivered from the UK as their 'brokerage and other' fees.

Given that I am expecting a few suits delivered from London next month, can someone suggest a carrier that would not charge me such fees. Would Royal Mail / USPS be the best option?

Naturally, I'm happy to pay the legitimate customs fees, just not these frivolous corporate charges.

Thanks,
ET

 

[forex]

I've never had to pay any customs fee for stuff that came via Royal Mail. I did pay for FedEx though.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

^ Thanks forex. Looks like RM / USPS may be the way to go.

 

[Grammaton Cleric]

The boys at FDX just charged me $155 on a 600E order from Grandi & Rubinelli - highway robbery! Though for some reason, they only billed me 15 days after the package was delivered - I'm tempted to just ignore this charge given that I wasn't notified beforehand, but the do have my SSN and I'm afraid to take the hit to my FICO.

Crooks.

 

[enjoiii]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

^ Thanks forex. Looks like RM / USPS may be the way to go.

I live in Canada and I have found UPS's charged to be similarly high. USPS is my preferred method as the brokerage charges are always much more reasonable.

 

[Redwoood]

When you use Fedex' "express" service level, brokerage is included. For "Ground" or whatever the bottom-tier overseas method is, it is not. You can also call ahead to give them your CC number for your customs charges. This way you avoid additional fees they charge since they effectively front you money. http://fedex.com/ca_english/internat...brokerage.html

 

[Maccimus]

I used to bought sth from Europe. The company sent the package via Fedex. And when I received the package I saw the exact price was attached on the surface. It is like saying, hey, charge me if you can.

 

[Eustace Tilley]

Originally Posted by Grammaton Cleric

The boys at FDX just charged me $155 on a 600E order from Grandi & Rubinelli - highway robbery! Though for some reason, they only billed me 15 days after the package was delivered - I'm tempted to just ignore this charge given that I wasn't notified beforehand, but the do have my SSN and I'm afraid to take the hit to my FICO.

Crooks.

How do they have your SSN? Seems unfair if they didn't inform you of the charges beforehand.

 

[Bounder]

+1000 on Regular Mail.

There are several threads on this. You might want to look through them as I seem to recall they offer several suggestions/tricks.

For example, sending stuff by regular mail so that it gets delivered by the U.S. post office is an excellent idea because A) they never charge a customs handling fee, B) packages sent through regular mail seem much less likely to be assessed duty, especially when it would be a small amount. The theory seems to be that customs officers proicessing mail -- who may actually be postal employees -- won't assess duty if the administrative cost of collecting it is more than the duty would be. If, for example, the duty on your package would be 87 cents, they just won't bother to assess it.

By the way, this is not legal advice, but I am not entirely sure you have a contractual duty to pay these "customs clearing fees." After all, you are not a party to the contract between the shipper and the shipping company. Suppose, for example, the shipper picked a shipping company that offered free shipping to the shipper but charged you, the recipient, $10,000 to clear your new C&Js through customs. Would you be obligated to pay it? If not, why not?

 

[medtech_expat]

Originally Posted by forex

I've never had to pay any customs fee for stuff that came via Royal Mail. I did pay for FedEx though.

+100

Sorry to hear about FedEx. Royal Mail has tracking and typically takes 5 days to delivery, so probably only 3-4 to NYC.

btw, who's doing up your suits in London?

 

[forex]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

How do they have your SSN? Seems unfair if they didn't inform you of the charges beforehand.

I am surprised by this as well, how on earth green did FedEx manage to get your SSN? Las time I got something via FedEx was a watch from Germany and I got a bill from FedEx and paid it. Now that I think about it, I don't think FedEx had any of my info,I think it should be seller's responsibility to cover the fees. The buyer has to negotiate the shipping terms beforehand.

 

[69clyde]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

Fedex has charged me close to 30% of the value of some fabric I had delivered from the UK as their 'brokerage and other' fees.

Given that I am expecting a few suits delivered from London next month, can someone suggest a carrier that would not charge me such fees. Would Royal Mail / USPS be the best option?

Naturally, I'm happy to pay the legitimate customs fees, just not these frivolous corporate charges.

Thanks,
ET
I shipped some suits and other clothing from the states to Canada and later received a bill from ups of $240.00. We shipped the merch with the price tag still attached and were charged "duty"! Next time try having all pricing labels removed, these socialized countries we all live in now will eventually will charge for the air we breath?.nin their view, everything is taxable, unfortunately...

 

[dragon8]

Originally Posted by medtech_expat

+100

Sorry to hear about FedEx. Royal Mail has tracking and typically takes 5 days to delivery, so probably only 3-4 to NYC.

btw, who's doing up your suits in London?

Mail going out/in of country is taking longer than usual. Everything is being held up in customs.

 

[MrGoodBytes]

Originally Posted by Bounder

By the way, this is not legal advice, but I am not entirely sure you have a contractual duty to pay these "customs clearing fees." After all, you are not a party to the contract between the shipper and the shipping company. Suppose, for example, the shipper picked a shipping company that offered free shipping to the shipper but charged you, the recipient, $10,000 to clear your new C&Js through customs. Would you be obligated to pay it? If not, why not?

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

 

[zippyh]

Originally Posted by Eustace Tilley

How do they have your SSN? Seems unfair if they didn't inform you of the charges beforehand.

CBP Importer of record form 5106 requires SSN.
The first time I received an international shipment via fedex they required I fill one out.