thanks DHL. warning . what do you guys think?
Submitted by grayzeee on Tue, 2011-03-22 08:47
i bought a jig bag through e bay 2 months ago from jdm for 25 bucks
shipped via dhl for 26 bucks
bag arrived two months ago , everybody's happy.
just got back from japan holiday to find a letter from DHL asking for a further 47 bucks for a "quaranteen processing fee"!
WTF?
i'd understand if i'd shipped a sea container full , but a half a kilo satchell???
have had customs open stuff and re seal with no probs or charges before.
bag didn't look opened.
on the back of the letter it states to speed things up , they have already paid aus customs and now i owe them
which hole ,do you think , i should ask them to stuff their fee up?????
____________________________________________________________________________
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
hit n run
Posts: 261
Date Joined: 30/12/09
I had the exact same thing
I had the exact same thing happen to me so I just rang DHL and they waived the fee as it was the first time it had happend to me. Customs apparently do random checks of parcels and charge DHL for the service. DHL then have a policy to pass on the fee to the customer.
All I can suggest is to ring them and try to get them to waive the fee good luck
Steve
It used to hurt when I got cock in my ass......now I can take three at once and not feel a thing!
sea-kem
Posts: 14853
Date Joined: 30/11/09
Not your problem. If there
Not your problem. If there was a forewarning from them that you might be charged the fee then fair enough. But since you weren't bad luck to them.
Love the West!
TonyT
Posts: 501
Date Joined: 09/07/10
you've already got your bag
you've already got your bag mate, they didnt pre warn you or bill you when it arrived, what can they do if you dont pay? maybe take a chance and ignore it, easy for me to say tho, good luck.
SamC
Posts: 2013
Date Joined: 30/08/06
Yup had it happen to me
Yup had it happen to me aswell. Did the same thing as Steve did and they waived it...
Cheers,
Sam
Vander72
Posts: 433
Date Joined: 20/10/06
unless you have it in writing
that you can or will be liable for this charge then you must pay it as it can go towards affecting your credit rating (if you dont pay it) but if you havent been made aware of this before you recieved the goods and in writing then you have no obligation to pay...... it ends up being a them problem not a you problem...... you cant be charged for something without being made aware of it beforehand....... ring them and tell them this and they should waive the charge..........but also at the same time READ THE FINEPRINT......catches a lot of people out.....
grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
Just called dhl . they will
Just called dhl . they will not waive the fee.
watch out for this one.
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
Alan James
Posts: 2206
Date Joined: 30/06/09
I would recommed you
reply to their letter, politely stating that you have no intention of paying.
Their internal costs to recover $47 would be greater than their purported debt so it is unlikely (but still possible) they will take further action.
Technically they have probably got you by the short and curlies as there will be some fine print somewhere that will say that you are liable. However it then becomes a practical exercise of whether they choose to spend $100s to recovery $47.
grayzeee
Posts: 2283
Date Joined: 09/07/09
that was going to be my next
that was going to be my next move Alan
a drawn out letter writing exercise.
i never would have expected that you'd need to read the fine print just for using a worldwide shipping company for a small parcel internationally but there you go.
got to be related to the government wanting people to stop buying from overseas cheaply.
If I spent half as long fishing , as I do reading this bloody forum , I'd be twice the fisherman I am.
STEVE231
Posts: 1443
Date Joined: 05/01/10
That's crap, I have had a
That's crap, I have had a few parcels opened by Customs, especially poppers from Indo, made from wood i.e Cuberas and not received any charge.
$47 bucks sounds like wank to me!! Contact Customs, and see what they have to say, opposed to the courier.
spanishmackeral
Posts: 940
Date Joined: 05/01/11
i dont understand why theres
i dont understand why theres a fee for customs to do there job? i think these guys are having you on mate
till
Posts: 9358
Date Joined: 21/02/08
Hah, you don't have much
Hah, you don't have much experience with customs then, they CHARGE you to cover their job.
Look at any shipper or airway bill, its riddled with customs this and that. I've worked in importing on and off for 20yrs and DHL's actions aren't very unusual.
Always a good tip to make sure the value is under the GST limit and the goods are shipped via a postal service, not a courier and you usually stay out of their way.
spanishmackeral
Posts: 940
Date Joined: 05/01/11
cheers till,luckily i havent
cheers till,
luckily i havent ran into any extra cost when purchasing from ebay. ill make sure to check with regards to the shipping, ive got a stradic in the mail now
fingers crossed
hlokk
Posts: 4290
Date Joined: 04/04/08
If the letter states that
If the letter states that they paid it to speed things up, then perhaps in your letter to them you can make a point that they were the ones who chose to pay the fee instead of it being your choice and therefore as you didnt authorise it, you should not be liable for it? Also, if you ask for a personal letter from someone then they might be more inclined to not bother (seeing as an automated letter is a lot cheaper than a personalised one). Though, I dont really see how you can really be liable, after all, you didnt have to accept any of their terms by having it shipped by you (as opposed to the shipper). Whats to stop people sending packages to people unwanted that attract charges that the receiver is liable for? Perhaps by accepting the package you accept the fees (i.e. dont pay fee you cant get the package - say for items you didnt ask to have shipped) but in that case you should have been made aware of it before receiving the package?
Jim
Posts: 1321
Date Joined: 05/05/06
That sux. I'd say its all to
That sux. I'd say its all to do with people buying overseas.
Can't go wrong with hlokk's reason, I'll remember that one.
Bend over