Royal Mail Extortion ( £8 handling charge)

Big Daz · Post by **Big Daz** » 21 Sep 2008, 06:29

Can anybody answer this for me so I can send a reply back.

Thanks

How the <blazes> do those <porcine livestock> at the Royal Mail justify charging me an £8 handling fee for some t-shirts from America that incurred a measly £3 VAT customs charge? What exactly are their extra handling costs? They are *saving* money by not delivering the <destined for hades> thing to me in the first place, instead making me go all the way to the sorting office just to get ripped off.

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 21 Sep 2008, 06:54

I'm sure Royal Mail would rather simply deliver such items without any VAT or other charges but HM Customs and Excise wouldn't allow that.

Post by **baldrick** » 21 Sep 2008, 07:20

But RM needs every penny it can get to pay Adam his £3m bonuses :cfo

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 21 Sep 2008, 07:30

From the HRMC website http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPort ... #P106_9098

3.5 Why do I have to pay a handling fee to Royal Mail?
If customs charges are payable upon importation Royal Mail charge a handling fee to cover the costs for operating the postal customs depot, handling the package for customs examination, and, if required, opening, repacking and resealing the package if, for example information is missing from the declaration. Royal Mail fees are itemised separately on the charge label and collected at the same time as customs charges. Because they are completely separate from any customs charges any queries about them should be raised with Royal Mail or Parcelforce Worldwide as appropriate.

From Royal mails: its a PDF ftp://ftp.royalmail.com/Downloads/publi ... _guide.pdf

Any package assessed by HM Revenue and Customs as being liable for customs charges will also incur a Royal Mail handling
fee of £8.

Not very helpful

and from another RM web page http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/cont ... aId=400362

Receiving gifts or buying goods from overseas

All postal items that enter the United Kingdom may be examined by Customs, but normally letters, postcards and packets containing only documents or similar forms of correspondence are excluded.

If you are receiving a package from overseas (apart from another EU Country), please be aware that it may incur customs charges. Any package assessed by HM Revenue and Customs as being liable for Customs charges will also incur a Royal Mail handling fee of £8.

The Royal Mail customs handling fee is charged for customs clearance of items in respect of which import duty and/or tax is due. Items in respect of which no import duty and/or tax is due will continue to be cleared through customs free of charge.

Any goods imported into the UK over the value of £18 are liable to import VAT; gifts between private individuals over the value of £36 are also liable for VAT. Goods and gifts over these values may also be liable for Customs duty. As of the 1st of December 2008 you will no longer be required to pay customs duty for goods up to the value of £105, however you will still be required to pay import VAT and excise duty where applicable.

Please note that these limits do not apply to alcohol and tobacco goods where both excise duty and import VAT may be charged. It is not permitted to send alcohol and tobacco products into the UK from another EU country unless prior arrangements have been made to account for the excise duty.

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 21 Sep 2008, 07:33

Also he can pay on line if he wants

http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm/cont ... d=37000674

Big Daz · Post by **Big Daz** » 21 Sep 2008, 09:01

Thanks Comrades

not me · Post by **not me** » 21 Sep 2008, 17:56

well RM present the item to customs who decide if duty is payable
then the item needs documentented and given a tracking number
then this item is sent seperatly along the mail stream to a delivery office
its then logged and a card made up to make you aware of the charges due
its scanned in to show its held at the office
then its stored for 3 weeks with you having the option to collect or pay online and have it delivered
if its not collected then the whole process has to be reversed back to HM customs

maybe you should enquire about using a customs agent for your next purchase outside the EU
however it will cost more than £8

good news is i hear HMRC are raising the duty paypable point by quite some way later this year
IIRC its £100+

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 21 Sep 2008, 18:09

custard wrote: good news is i hear HMRC are raising the duty paypable point by quite some way later this year
IIRC its £100+

As of the 1st of December 2008 you will no longer be required to pay customs duty for goods up to the value of £105, however you will still be required to pay import VAT and excise duty where applicable.

Post by **Lounge Lizard** » 22 Sep 2008, 05:38

custard wrote:well RM present the item to customs who decide if duty is payable
then the item needs documentented and given a tracking number
then this item is sent seperatly along the mail stream to a delivery office
its then logged and a card made up to make you aware of the charges due
its scanned in to show its held at the office
then its stored for 3 weeks with you having the option to collect or pay online and have it delivered
if its not collected then the whole process has to be reversed back to HM customs

maybe you should enquire about using a customs agent for your next purchase outside the EU
however it will cost more than £8

good news is i hear HMRC are raising the duty paypable point by quite some way later this year
IIRC its £100+

Royal Mail doing all that for HM Customs & Excise is a bit like us delivering DSA mail because TNT, DHL etc. can't be bothered to do so themselves.
Maybe Royal Mail should just hand over such items at the airport to HM Customs & Excise for them to deliver and collect whatever duty and charges they consider appropriate.

paul_skinback · Post by **paul_skinback** » 14 Oct 2008, 18:52

Big Daz wrote:Can anybody answer this for me so I can send a reply back.

Thanks

How the <blazes> do those <porcine livestock> at the Royal Mail justify charging me an £8 handling fee for some t-shirts from America that incurred a measly £3 VAT customs charge? What exactly are their extra handling costs? They are *saving* money by not delivering the <destined for hades> thing to me in the first place, instead making me go all the way to the sorting office just to get ripped off.

Does the garage fix your car for £2? or will a dentist fill your teeth for free? RM is a business and needs to make money or we are all outta job.
Someone has to collect the VAT and send it to the tax collector. Someone has to write a card out to give to the postman to deliver to you to tell you you have a parcel. Do you work for free? Did not think so.

I dont like paying for a pint of beer at £3.50 a shot that cost 2p to make but thats greedy britain for you.

axeman · Post by **axeman** » 22 Oct 2008, 21:09

all others don't hold you to ransome for your goods !!! they send out a bill for excess charges after delivery royal fail i belive are in breach of the postal act 2000 by doing it this way. I seem to remember a thread on this somewhere where a customer demanded royal fail deliver his item and bill him later
and they did just that !!!

Spedley · Post by **Spedley** » 22 Oct 2008, 22:33

Tell me about it, I got stung for £10 a few years ago by UPS for a customs handling charge (of £6)

Post by **smurfstran** » 18 Dec 2008, 23:24

The reason we charge an £8 handling fee is because HM Revenue and Customs decide to put a charge on it, NOT us!! We have to present the item to them, open and re-wrap it, apply the VAT charge and get it released A LOT quicker than it would if HM Revenue and Customs were left to it. You can get it refunded though if you phone them (if the charge has been applied incorrectly) and then RM will refund the £8 fee.

axeman · Post by **axeman** » 01 Jan 2009, 13:08

when you buy goods at a shop etc the vat is collected for and on behalf of the inland revenue free so i think a charge for this is to say the least bodering on extortion and if it's sent express the handling charge goes up to £13 why ? same procedure

not me · Post by **not me** » 14 Jan 2009, 19:55

axeman wrote:when you buy goods at a shop etc the vat is collected for and on behalf of the inland revenue free so i think a charge for this is to say the least bodering on extortion and if it's sent express the handling charge goes up to £13 why ? same procedure

is it?

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