# Fedex And H.m. Customs Advice Asap Please!



## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Guys,

Need some urgent advice ASAP please. A fellow forumer from a far away land has used FedEx to ship me some watches for servicing; he has spent hours filling out FedEx forms at his local office to ensure that FedEx and H.M.Customs realize that the watches are not being permanently imported into this country.

Seems it made no difference :taz: ... as today I received a letter from FedEx UK saying they will release the parcel on payment of Â£402 duty. I immediately rang them and they said all person-to-person shipments always incur duty but _I can claim it back when the goods leave the UK_.

I only have until Tuesday before they ship the goods back to the sender if the duty is not paid. So my questions are these: has anyone ever made a claim to recover duty on items that were in the UK only temporarily? If so, how easy was it, did it go smoothly and how long did it take before you saw your money again? In my case, FedEx is being used to return the goods, so they can provide the proof.

At the end of the day, I'm not willing to be out of pocket by Â£400+ on the assumption that H.M. Government will pay me back.

Thanks!


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Paul...

Pm me your phone number..

Alyson works for FedEx, she is happy to talk to you, if she doesnt know she will be able to put you in touch directly to someone who does.....


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Unless you dont think FedEx can help now and its just advice on the claw back you need :huh:


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

PM sent....not sure if FedEx can help....although neither I or sender was expecting any duty after speaking with FedEx. :taz:


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## martinus_scriblerus (Sep 29, 2008)

This is typical rapacious government action. It is no wonder that the underground economy is as large as it is.

I can add nothing about the British government, but I have had experience with the Canadian government in regard to getting excise taxes back (a different issue, though, than Paul's), and I was able to do so.


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## langtoftlad (Mar 31, 2007)

Not a very positive comment to add I'm afraid...

...but over on the Stowa forum, there's a long running thread about FedEx bureaucracy regarding Customs charges... h34r:

I can pm (or email  ) you the link if you want to be depressed.


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

langtoftlad said:


> I can pm (or email  ) you the link if you want to be depressed.


No thanks Steve....I don't need to be even more bored and fed up.


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## langtoftlad (Mar 31, 2007)

Silver Hawk said:


> langtoftlad said:
> 
> 
> > I can pm (or email  ) you the link if you want to be depressed.
> ...


Thought not :lol:


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## William_Wilson (May 21, 2007)

This won't help you much, but anyway... I'm in Canada and had a watch shipped FedEx from Austrailia. The seller decided to do me a favour and marked it as a return. It did not arrive as expected and I checked the tracking, which indicated I needed to call in. I did so in the middle of the night and was told to contact the broker, which I did the next morning. The broker wanted details of the transaction, which I didn't have because the seller's email to me was vauge. I made some open ended answers and the broker finally told me what the seller had written on the customs declaration. I then embellished my previous answers creating a plausible scenario. The broker emailed me several forms and waivers and such which I faxed back (including the original reciept, which didn't exsist). The watch arrived at my door that afternoon, no charge. It only takes one prick to ruin your day, it's a tricky business. 

Later,

William


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## dombox40 (Oct 20, 2008)

Hi paul for what this is worth I would email our forum friend accross the pond and explain the situation

and point out you are not prepared to pay $650 in taxes because of the time it would take H.M. government

to pay you back.


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## Robert (Jul 26, 2006)

I don't know the answer but it smacks of 'guilty until proven innocent' - guilty of avoiding taxes until you prove you are innocent


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## mel (Dec 6, 2006)

How do they come up with these figures? FGS, you can get a cheap flight to almost anywhere for that kind of money - you could have picked them up yourself almost. :yes:

I've stopped buying from US and outside EU unless the value is below the (very frugal) Â£18.00 limit, I really think Fedex and the likes are ripping us off - sorry, I know somebody's missus will be able refute that by telling us how much it all costs Fedex etc etcetc to process things, but to me they are using a 30 ton bulldozer to dig a hole for a seedling. :yes:

By the above, I mean they use their system that's geared to multi-billion dollar import export to process a watch at Â£50 and add on a so called standard charge that bears no relationship whatsoever to small value personal shipments. :taz:


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Its what you define as a rip off...

That figure of Pauls was pretty much the VAT on the value of the declared goods.



> By the above, I mean they use their system that's geared to multi-billion dollar import export to process a watch at Â£50 and add on a so called standard charge that bears no relationship whatsoever to small value personal shipments


Its not the FedEx system, its UK import law :huh:

FedEx can do their business 2 ways...

Hand over ALL packages to Customs for them to process the packages for whatever import duty is due , then get them back afterwards to deliver as normal..

Or they do what they do now, which is pay the duty on your behalf , think about that, FedEx pays all the duty on all the packages that come into the UK, its called a deferred account and it is hundreds of millions of pounds every day, they then get that money back from the recipient, this means that they can deliver the packages on time and not have customs sit on them while they process them.

Im not sure what the 'handling charge' is with FedEx but I agree its a pita but its up to you and the sender to stop using them and go somewhere else, with all the implications that has....


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

I'm still not sure how this is going to pan out....I spoke to FedEx twice yesterday, H.M. Customs & Excise once yesterday and FedEx again today.

Still not got the parcel...but nor has it gone back and nor have I paid any duty....might be Monday before I definitely know how this will end.

And I will then post an update ... plus the correct way to do this for future reference. :blink:


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## James (Jul 17, 2006)

Hope you get it sorted to your liking.

I have found with FedEx once its on its way I make the phone call to them or always its held up for some reason. Seems even if marked gift, return whatever as soon as there is a value on the package there is customs and taxes. A friend of mine here bought about 20 pieces overseas in Jan and sent himself the package vs. carrying back. In the end he was nailed largely.

Still though I really do prefer FedEx to any other courier


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

Any update Paul? :huh:


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## Barryboy (Mar 21, 2006)

> Its not the FedEx system, its UK import law :huh:


No, no it's not.. There is a perfectly good system in place whereby an Importer (private or commercial) can temporarily import an item for a given period of time, then re-export it.

Fedex, along with all the others, simply aren't geared up to using special Customs Procedure Codes (CPC's) - all they want to do is a straightforward Customs entry using CPC 4000000 which is what is called a 'home use' entry. This is proper to an item that is imported on a permanent basis by the Importer and means a payment of import duty and VAT to Customs plus a fee to Fedex for actually doing this for you. However, for a repairer who will want to re-export the item after servicing or repair the proper procedure for this is called 'Inward Process Relief' and I suggest you go back to HMC direct (they're actually quite sympatheric if you are polite.....) and ask to do an import using CPC 5100000. This commits you to eventually paying the duty and VAT if you do not re-export the goods in a proper and traceable manner. Customs will tell you how to apply for this facility.

Good luck!

Rob


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## jasonm (Nov 22, 2003)

> No, no it's not.. There is a perfectly good system in place whereby an Importer (private or commercial) can temporarily import an item for a given period of time, then re-export it.


Yes, absolutely, but in this example this temp import procedure wasn't in place, so FedEx processed it accordingly...


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

jasonm said:


> Any update Paul? :huh:


Not really....the packet is in limbo...I'm giving up...so one last attempt on Monday morning.



Barryboy said:


> Fedex, along with all the others, simply aren't geared up to using special Customs Procedure Codes (CPC's) - all they want to do is a straightforward Customs entry using CPC 4000000 which is what is called a 'home use' entry. This is proper to an item that is imported on a permanent basis by the Importer and means a payment of import duty and VAT to Customs plus a fee to Fedex for actually doing this for you. However, for a repairer who will want to re-export the item after servicing or repair the proper procedure for this is called 'Inward Process Relief' and I suggest you go back to HMC direct (they're actually quite sympatheric if you are polite.....) and ask to do an import using CPC 5100000. This commits you to eventually paying the duty and VAT if you do not re-export the goods in a proper and traceable manner. Customs will tell you how to apply for this facility.
> 
> Good luck!
> 
> Rob


I'll need the "Good Luck" part  . I'm not sure what these CPC numbers are. I spoke with H.M. Customs & Excise on Wednesday last week and they made no mention of these. What they did say was that I needed to complete a "Temporary Importation Notice 200" but that this should have been done before shipment rather than after arrival. FedEx on Thursday said I can change my packet to this status after arrival...but thats not what H.M. Customs said earlier :cry2: .

So now I don't know what has happened...FedEx Saturday staff could not really advise...so we will make one last attempt on Monday. :sadwalk:


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Silver Hawk said:


> ...so we will make one last attempt on Monday. :sadwalk:


And so it goes on: so far this monring 2 calls to FedEx and 2 to H.M.Customs and Excise. I have become the go-between  .


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## feenix (May 27, 2008)

Silver Hawk said:


> Silver Hawk said:
> 
> 
> > ...so we will make one last attempt on Monday. :sadwalk:
> ...


But on the bright side, look how much you are learning.


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## MarkF (Jul 5, 2003)

feenix said:


> Silver Hawk said:
> 
> 
> > Silver Hawk said:
> ...


Yep, we now know who to ask when we have shipping/tax/import/vat queries, well done.


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## Toshi (Aug 31, 2007)

MarkF said:


> feenix said:
> 
> 
> > Silver Hawk said:
> ...


We're going to expect a full "How to" report once you get it sorted, Paul


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## feenix (May 27, 2008)

Toshi said:


> MarkF said:
> 
> 
> > feenix said:
> ...


We won't need one, just get all our watches shipped to Paul and let him sort it out for us.


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## Silver Hawk (Dec 2, 2003)

Friday 13th...and I am defeated  ....today I asked for the watches to be sent back to the sender  .

I could tell you the whole story...about how I applied for a TURN number from customs, how they rejected my application, etc, etc...but I won't. I'm exhausted by the whole procedure and now need a rest :sleep1: .


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## Toshi (Aug 31, 2007)

Silver Hawk said:


> Friday 13th...and I am defeated  ....today I asked for the watches to be sent back to the sender  .
> 
> I could tell you the whole story...about how I applied for a TURN number from customs, how they rejected my application, etc, etc...but I won't. I'm exhausted by the whole procedure and now need a rest :sleep1: .


Sorry to hear this Paul. I bet the sender isn't too pleased either.


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## mjolnir (Jan 3, 2006)

That's a shame Paul. To go through all that and be beaten by bureaucracy.

Sounds like the Vogons are running the show


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