General Chat

Here is a useful link someone has sent me on this subject.
Hope others find it helpful.

http://tinyurl.com/aqwft

Rose, it IS a region 1 as the DVD isn't available in any other format. It seems that many of the cheaper DVD players are multiregional these days. I did try out one on my daughter's £14 player and it worked, but not on the main household player.

If it's been shipped from the US I hope you have the correct format on the DVD. The US is region 1, the UK region 2.

Rose

Just a quick progress report.
The sorting office advised me to contact the Royal Mail through their website page. Unfortunately the link doesn't work yesterday or today but I'll give it yet another try tomorrow.

There is an 0845 number but at 10p a minute when normal local rates are free is not really an option. No-one at my local sorting office has the authority to handle my enquiry - I've already tried that route. Too many monkeys and no organ grinder :o(

It really does look like the original fault was mine as the item was listed as being sent from North Carolina, United States.

The REALLY odd thing is, I have just gone to the local parcel office where it is being kept and it was in fact sent from Frankfurt, GERMANY. There is absolutely NO mention of Germany on the webpage and if I had known it was actually being sent from Frankfurt I would have opted to have had it sent to my friend in Munich so she could have handed it to me when she was back in England. I have had the odd thing go mising en route to UK before now.

I would have thought an item coming from within the EEC would have been cheaper to post than coming from America.

I needed to check the package was actually the DVDs I'd been expecting as the card only had "Brown" as the recipient, so there was the chance the package was ordered by the kids. It is definitely mine.

I refused to pay the additional charge when I found out how it had been calculated and now have 2 weeks to decide what to do.

The customs charge itself is reasonable at £4.09 (VAT) and I have no problem with paying that as it is fair...
BUT Royal Mail has slapped on an additional £8.00 handling fee. WHY??? The man in the sorting office says it is because somebody needed to drive a van to the airport and collect the parcel - yes, that is what one would expect when one pays post and packing!

So I'm now having to take it up with Royal Mail. No wonder Mr Crozier is so rich!

Incidentally one of my friends who regularly buys goods from abroad has said there are moves to disregard goods value under £180 before customs charges are applied. This should come into force sometime this year apparently - that will hurt Royal Mail much more than it affects Customs ;o)

(I won't be able to access my PC for the next few hours so please don't think I'm rude if I don't respond for a bit).

No letter may be forthcoming, C&E usually just ask the carrier to collect the money on their behalf and that adds another bit to the overall fee.

As I said before if the item location was stated as U.K. and it wasn't then you can claim your money back. That's the key question.

Ron
www.genealogyprinters.com

Tracey

Surely you have had a letter from HMCE, otherwise you wouldn't know that the item has been impounded? All the info on how to contact them and what actions to take are in there.

The first I even knew that mine had been seized was when I got the letter from HMCE.

Mary

Sorry chaps, I've only been allowed access to MY computer briefly (bl**dy half-term) so will not be able to read through or respond properly until later.

At the moment I think it is my fault for not reading the small print - usually I am so careful but on this occasion I was fooled by the price being in sterling.

Ebay has just told me to leave negative feedback, no further advice.

I still haven't a clue how to contact Customs, which I feel is the only course of action I can take.

Everything depends on the wording in the listing, that's why I want the item number to check it, you may have a claim to get your money back if the items wording is miss-leading or if the item location is stated incorrectly.

In the "Item Location" section at the top of the listing it will say where the item is located, if it states U.K. and it wasn't you can claim your money back.

Ron
www.genealogyprinters.com

I still think that Ebay should make it a condition that the seller should state whether or not the item is to be dispatched from outside the UK.

By the way was it a set or two separate DVDs and how much would they have been in the shops, just out of interest.

Ann
glos

Surely it's misrepresentation on the seller's part, many people base whether or not to purchase based on the Sellar's location. Why would you even take any notice of the "we are not liable for customs charges" when to your knowledge the item is already in the UK?

I would appeal it with ebay.

Generally C&E give you 3 options

1. of paying the Duty and VAT plus a percentage on top as a "fine" and receiving the goods.

2. going to magistrates court and pleading your case - which may or may not be successful.

3. doing nothing and they will destroy the goods after 4 weeks.

This I know as it happened to me very recently. But be aware that your address is now flagged up on their system and everything that comes to you from outside the UK will now be checked!

Mary

I have also noticed this,
a seller "based" in the UK sells something, but it is actually posted/purchased from Hongkong. complete with customs label(but in my case ,fortunately without a surcharge.....)


methinks the seller is just a middleman...
Bob

What's the Ebay item number ???

Ron
www.genealogyprinters.com

Errol

fair point but not sure how the Sale of Goods and services act transfers to international sales and purchases.

love t.x

Tracey,

I would be tempted to emailback to say i hadnt recieved, well you havent have you??!! I have recieved many items thru ebay beyonf the $50 mark and never been charged extra for customs. They always mark the parcels as a 'gift item'.

I dont know the full story but maybe incorrrect labelling is the issue??

love T.x

Surely she would then be in breach of contract - the seller supplied the goods and she would be turning them down outside the conditions of the sale?

Whoops Errol, I just added to my last message! I'm not going to pay the additional cost until I'm sure it is correct.

If customs does return the DVDs to the seller then I will lose the post and packing but the seller will not have lost out.

Customs will hold onto them if they deem fit and money hasn't been paid

I haven't received the goods as I've not got them yet. In fact the customs card came several weeks after the due delivery date. Before the customs card arrived today, I had already emailed the seller on 2 occasions to ask where my goods were and had begun to think they'd got lost in the post.

Unfortunately, the birthday I had ordered the item for has also long gone now.

Also, I haven't paid the Customs costs and the thing won't get delivered until I do.