Shipping Stuff to the UK

[TyCooN]

I've shipped a package via USPS Express Mail to the UK, and now the status has been listed as Attempted Delivery Abroad for a few days already. Has anyone had this happen to them before? How long should it take the other end to receive the item?

 

[luvmalik]

i have a frnd in U.K and asked him this, he said that probably royal mail or any other delivery company tried to deliver the package but the person concerned wasnt home, so they must have left a card or a notice, or there may be a customs charge to collect.

i hope this helps

 

[winston]

What luvmalik says is right. Have you been in contact with the person you were sending the item? It sounds like it's sitting at the parcel office waiting for them to either collect it or arrange for re-delivery.
If there is a customs charge they will receive a letter asking for payment before it can be delivered.

 

[TyCooN]

That's horrible. I actually shipped it back to a shoe retailer in the UK, after they made the mistake of giving me the wrong size.. Looks like the jackasses don't want to pick it up, or they only pick up that stuff every now and then. According to the info I've received via e-mail from the shoe store "the customs process takes a long time".

 

[TyCooN]

I used Express Mail to have this item be delivered back to the retailer, but the last attempted delivery abroad happened on the 1st of this month. I had the retailer contact their mail carrier, and according to them there's no record for the parcel at all. Does USPS use someone else as the middleman for parcels shipped via Express Mail to the UK? The retailer wants to place blame on USPS by telling me to call USPS to let USPS know that they're the ones that are responsible for my parcel. Any recommendations on what to do in this kind of situation?

 

[winston]

Originally Posted by TyCooN

I used Express Mail to have this item be delivered back to the retailer, but the last attempted delivery abroad happened on the 1st of this month. I had the retailer contact their mail carrier, and according to them there's no record for the parcel at all. Does USPS use someone else as the middleman for parcels shipped via Express Mail to the UK? The retailer wants to place blame on USPS by telling me to call USPS to let USPS know that they're the ones that are responsible for my parcel. Any recommendations on what to do in this kind of situation?
When customs decides that they're going to charge the recipient of the parcel import duty and VAT, they use Parceforce, which is part of the Royal Mail group. If this has happened, then the recipient should have received a letter from Parcelforce informing them that they owe money. Once payment is made, they deliver the package the next day. http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/home Recently, I paid by cheque at my door as I took a parcel. I wondered what would happen if I went straight to the phone to cancel it.

 

[TyCooN]

Originally Posted by winston

When customs decides that they're going to charge the recipient of the parcel import duty and VAT, they use Parceforce, which is part of the Royal Mail group. If this has happened, then the recipient should have received a letter from Parcelforce informing them that they owe money. Once payment is made, they deliver the package the next day.

http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw/home

Recently, I paid by cheque at my door as I took a parcel. I wondered what would happen if I went straight to the phone to cancel it.
so it's pretty much a guarantee at this point that the parcel I shipped has import duty and VAT on it?

 

[winston]

Originally Posted by TyCooN

so it's pretty much a guarantee at this point that the parcel I shipped has import duty and VAT on it?

The information you have is limited, but if the tracking status is correct, and delivery has been attempted, then the package is either waiting to be picked up from the parcel depot (having been missed - probably unlikely if it's a bricks and mortar store) or requiring the tax payment. There's no way I can really tell how incompetent/dishonest/mistaken the retailer is. I'd say they either have a letter sitting there ignored or mislaid, or a 'delivery missed' card doing the same.

I don't know how much your shoes cost, but the import duty/VAT can be hefty. I paid £90 for something marked as worth $450 recently (including Parcelforce's £8 fee) so it wouldn't surprise me if the retailer was trying to dodge it.


I suggest going to the Parcelforce website, clicking on 'Depot Locator', and entering the post code of the address you sent the item to. You should then get the address and phone number of the local depot, which you could contact and see if they can help you. You probably don't have a parcel number that they would recognize, (I should think they get given a number on this side of the pond) but they might be able to find your parcel by the address you put on it.

 

[TyCooN]

Originally Posted by winston

The information you have is limited, but if the tracking status is correct, and delivery has been attempted, then the package is either waiting to be picked up from the parcel depot (having been missed - probably unlikely if it's a bricks and mortar store) or requiring the tax payment. There's no way I can really tell how incompetent/dishonest/mistaken the retailer is. I'd say they either have a letter sitting there ignored or mislaid, or a 'delivery missed' card doing the same.

I don't know how much your shoes cost, but the import duty/VAT can be hefty. I paid £90 for something marked as worth $450 recently (including Parcelforce's £8 fee) so it wouldn't surprise me if the retailer was trying to dodge it.


I suggest going to the Parcelforce website, clicking on 'Depot Locator', and entering the post code of the address you sent the item to. You should then get the address and phone number of the local depot, which you could contact and see if they can help you. You probably don't have a parcel number that they would recognize, (I should think they get given a number on this side of the pond) but they might be able to find your parcel by the address you put on it.
Appreciate the help. Hope I don't have to get my credit card company involved.

 

[Gentry]

Originally Posted by winston

I don't know how much your shoes cost, but the import duty/VAT can be hefty. I paid £90 for something marked as worth $450 recently (including Parcelforce's £8 fee) so it wouldn't surprise me if the retailer was trying to dodge it.


Any idea how they calculate the import duty/VAT?

I recently bought a jacket from revolve and got charged £40 for a $350 purchase, so its surprising you paid £50 more for only $100 worth of goods. I got a card from royal mail saying how much i owed and I then paid for and picked it up at a royal mail depot. It all just seems inconsistent and confusing to me!

 

[tsvetik]

Originally Posted by TyCooN

so it's pretty much a guarantee at this point that the parcel I shipped has import duty and VAT on it?

If you are returning goods that were previously exported from the UK, your supplier can probably reclaim any customs duty/VAT that they might get charged ("Returned goods relief").

 

[winston]

It does make sense that there would be some sort of way out of having to pay duty on returned goods.

Originally Posted by Gentry

Any idea how they calculate the import duty/VAT?

I recently bought a jacket from revolve and got charged £40 for a $350 purchase, so its surprising you paid £50 more for only $100 worth of goods. I got a card from royal mail saying how much i owed and I then paid for and picked it up at a royal mail depot. It all just seems inconsistent and confusing to me!

VAT is 17.5%, I believe. In my case it was £51.03 + £31.24 Import duty plus £8 Parcelforce 'clearance fee' = £90.27. We both got ripped off if 17.5% is calculated at the current exchange rate.