Fedex charges on a gift.

Graymavyn

A while ago I received a gift of a pocket watch from a friend in England. It was delivered by Fedex and nothing was said about charges or such being on it. I thought nothing more of it until I received a letter from Fedex telling me I had 7 days to pay off customs and import related costs or they would pass my details on to a debt recollection company.
What I'm curious about is can Fedex actually come after me for these costs when I didn't order the item, request that that item be sent to me or have anything to do with its sale or delivery?

I've tried to get in touch with them by email but so far it's been nearly 20 days without a reply to any of my emails.

Any information is greatly appreciated.
(Oh the friend ordered it from Asia which is why there were customs and import duty on the item, just in case that caused any confusion)

Paulw

FedEx are only acting on behalf of the Revenue.

You should pay FedEx, and then attempt any claim back from the Revenue.

RangeR

Graymavyn wrote: »

I've tried to get in touch with them by email but so far it's been nearly 20 days without a reply to any of my emails.

EMAIL? 20 DAYS? Did you not think of phoning them?

TylerIE

Graymavyn wrote: »

A while ago I received a gift of a pocket watch from a friend in England. It was delivered by Fedex and nothing was said about charges or such being on it. I thought nothing more of it until I received a letter from Fedex telling me I had 7 days to pay off customs and import related costs or they would pass my details on to a debt recollection company.
What I'm curious about is can Fedex actually come after me for these costs when I didn't order the item, request that that item be sent to me or have anything to do with its sale or delivery?

I've tried to get in touch with them by email but so far it's been nearly 20 days without a reply to any of my emails.

Any information is greatly appreciated.
(Oh the friend ordered it from Asia which is why there were customs and import duty on the item, just in case that caused any confusion)

If your friend sent it from England there shouldnt be any customs charges or associated handling fees.

GerardKeating

TylerIE wrote: »

If your friend sent it from England there shouldnt be any customs charges or associated handling fees.

Unless the "friend" in England ordered it online from a non-EU site and had it sent direct to the OP's house...

XxMCRxBabyxX

TylerIE wrote: »

Graymavyn wrote: »

A while ago I received a gift of a pocket watch from a friend in England. It was delivered by Fedex and nothing was said about charges or such being on it. I thought nothing more of it until I received a letter from Fedex telling me I had 7 days to pay off customs and import related costs or they would pass my details on to a debt recollection company.
What I'm curious about is can Fedex actually come after me for these costs when I didn't order the item, request that that item be sent to me or have anything to do with its sale or delivery?

I've tried to get in touch with them by email but so far it's been nearly 20 days without a reply to any of my emails.

Any information is greatly appreciated.
(Oh the friend ordered it from Asia which is why there were customs and import duty on the item, just in case that caused any confusion)

If your friend sent it from England there shouldnt be any customs charges or associated handling fees.

He did already say that it was being delivered from Asia

"(Oh the friend ordered it from Asia which is why there were customs and import duty on the item, just in case that caused any confusion) "

Nwm2

Paulw wrote: »

FedEx are only acting on behalf of the Revenue.

You should pay FedEx, and then attempt any claim back from the Revenue.

Fed Ex also probably tacked on an 'administration' charge of maybe €10 (ex VAT), that you shouldn't have to pay.

Bannasidhe

I got caught like this - although it was An Post I had to pay the excise duty to. The women there, who was very nice, said the customs are really cracking down on the collection of import duties for stuff originating outside the E.U. Apparently, there is a huge amount of make-up being imported.

So yes, I am afraid if the goods were sent from Asia to your address - you are deemed to be the importer and liable for the excise duty. Fedex - as the delivery agent - is tasked with collection (as were An Post in the case of the most expensive silk pyjamas in the world my granddaughter now wears :eek:)

Nwm2

RangeR wrote: »

EMAIL? 20 DAYS? Did you not think of phoning them?

Email is the modern method of communication is it not?

The last time I got one of these letters from Fed-Ex they incorrectly printed the 1800 number on it, and they (in much the same patronising tone you adopted) asked me why didn't I email.

Their customer service sucks, and they also act like all round jerks in my experience.

twowheelsonly

This is far from being legal advice but :-

As far as I can see the item was imported directly from Asia to Ireland in which case there would be duty due on it.
The fact that the OP didn't order or pay for it would be irrelevant IMO as he, or somebody acting on his behalf, would have signed for and accepted the package and therefore be liable for it.

Slight confused though - OP, Do you actually have the watch in your possession or do the customs still have it? It seems rather strange to me that they're now chasing payment. This is usually payable at the door on receipt of the package in my experience.

Paulw

Nwm2 wrote: »

Fed Ex also probably tacked on an 'administration' charge of maybe €10 (ex VAT), that you shouldn't have to pay.

While you "shouldn't have to pay" you are liable to pay it. You don't get to pick and choose what you pay and what you don't.

Failure to pay the duty plus charges will mean that they pass it on to a debt collector, and they may also report it to the Revenue, which may put you under further attention.

Zulu

FexEx tried that with me. I paid the tax straight up but refused to pay their "€20 administration fee". They threaten debt collectors etc. but I stuck to my guns & they dropped it.

Paulw

twowheelsonly wrote: »

Slight confused though - OP, Do you actually have the watch in your possession or do the customs still have it? It seems rather strange to me that they're now chasing payment. This is usually payable at the door on receipt of the package in my experience.

FedEx act as a collecting agent, and can invoice you after the item is delivered. They pay the Revenue, and they claim that cost back from you (plus their admin fee).

They really should collect payment upon delivery but this isn't always the case.

TylerIE

XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »

He did already say that it was being delivered from Asia

"(Oh the friend ordered it from Asia which is why there were customs and import duty on the item, just in case that caused any confusion) "

I missed that...

OP as others have stated here FedEx customer service can be difficult.

I used them a lot for about 5 years, but since late 2010 I've cut way down with them as I find them more and more difficult and their service worse.

I've challenged their administration fees twice and got them waived (they took over 4 weeks to deliver a parcel due to driver laziness).

On another two occasions they sent my invoices (which I had paid) to their debt collection company. The debt collection company do hound ya, and will write nasty letters and make the phone calls.

Unless its a massive amount, I suggest you clear the amount due with FedEx before it reaches them, and be wary of signing for foreign parcels in future. Im not saying its right, just having battled with them for months, I know its a bit of a pointless exercise talking to their brick walls - their debt collection agencys Irish phone number doesnt work even. Pay by Credit Card and take note of your payment number. I carelessly didnt in the second instance above and as they lost their record of payment Im having a lot of hassle.

Graymavyn

Oddly enough I managed to sort it out today. I refused to pay it and they cancelled the charges as a show of good will.

I wouldn't have had a problem paying the charges if they had just told me when I received it that there were charges on it. It seems to be a ludicrous system where any piece of mail you receive could later be shown to have charges on it.

Edit: Actually I didn't even sign for the package, their delivery driver just gave it to me.

TylerIE

Graymavyn wrote: »

Oddly enough I managed to sort it out today. I refused to pay it and they cancelled the charges as a show of good will.

I wouldn't have had a problem paying the charges if they had just told me when I received it that there were charges on it. It seems to be a ludicrous system where any piece of mail you receive could later be shown to have charges on it.

Edit: Actually I didn't even sign for the package, their delivery driver just gave it to me.

Congrats on that, and thanks for letting us know. The admin fees I got scrapped were also done so as a "goodwill" gesture, but unfortunately after 4 weeks I had no goodwill towards them!

Ye they are warped.... One package I paid Cash On Delivery for they later sent another invoice for other admin fees (stating that the package had more than 6 different items in it therefore required extra handling)...

Nwm2

Paulw wrote: »

While you "shouldn't have to pay" you are liable to pay it. You don't get to pick and choose what you pay and what you don't.

Failure to pay the duty plus charges will mean that they pass it on to a debt collector, and they may also report it to the Revenue, which may put you under further attention.

Why are you liable for it?

What contract did you make with Fed-Ex?

FreudianSlippers

RangeR wrote: »

EMAIL? 20 DAYS? Did you not think of phoning them?

This is not as easy as it sounds. I had a real problem with FedEx last year which took the better part of 9 months to solve.
My problem was, in essence, that they were trying to charge me on items I already owned (decided to ship my second suitcase rather than pay the fees - United promotes doing this and they attempted to tax me on the items I shipped into the country :rolleyes:).

They are a disaster to attempt to talk to, they prefer to deal via email and you will never speak to the same person twice.

Marcusm

You have no contract with FedEx and as the shipping agent (of your friend or the seller) they should have collected any duty/VAT prior to release of the goods. I fail to see what claim they have on you and Rvenue will have a claim on FedEx which they will action rather than chasing you. FedEx has screwed up by releasing the goods too early and will only learn a lesson if they suffer the financial consequences. Excise duties are not self assessment taxes.

Paulw

Nwm2 wrote: »

Why are you liable for it?

What contract did you make with Fed-Ex?

You are liable for duty on importation of goods from outside of the EU under the Finance Act. FedEx simply are acting as an agent for the Revenue.

Marcusm wrote: »

Excise duties are not self assessment taxes.

FedEx have assessed the duty, as per the Finance Act, and are acting on behalf of the Revenue, therefore you ARE liable.

Nwm2

Paulw wrote: »

You are liable for duty on importation of goods from outside of the EU under the Finance Act. FedEx simply are acting as an agent for the .

You're changing your argument here. We're not talking about the duty which is owed to the Irish government, we're talking about the arbitrary administration charge tacked on by Fed-Ex.