Admin charges from GLS Courier

Archeotech

Hi sorry if this has been answered before or if this isn't the right place but I got something from China valued under €22. I paid a lot on shipping though so I could get it quicker via express post. Thing is it arrived in the country in the middle of last week and is now in the possession of the courier company GLS I believe.

I rang them to see if there was any problem and they took my number saying they'd call me back. Later on I called again and they said it was in customs at their facility and waiting clearance from me. They said they needed my phone number so I gave it again and they said they ring me later. Today I rang them first thing this morning hoping to clear it so it could be be shipped to me asap. Was told he'd ring later and then this evening he finally called saying it was a low value item and had no customs charges but I'd have to pay an admin fee of €11 for clearing it! On the tracking it says it was cleared by customs in Germany already but he told me they were just scamming me and they didn't do it. They just forwarded it to them to sort out.

Can they get away with this or is my package a hostage until I pay them for keeping it nearly a week in their facility? The point of express shipping has already been lost.

sandin

you could have done the clearance yourself - get the taric code, present the invoice, await customs inspection, get the clearance docs, send them to gls and then they will deliver.

Or pay a fee of €11 and have them do it through their system.

When you purchase something from outside the EU, even at a low value, it has to go through the clearance procedure. There's a cost involved in this and An Post charge €6 whilst others cost up to €16.

btw - the cost customs use is the cost of product + cost of freight. So a $30 product with a $40 shipping fee is a $70 product.

Also, they cannot under any circumstances release a product that is awaiting customs clearance until it is cleared. It not always the declared value customs go for - they want to see if goods match the description and the value given is a true value.

dudara

Moved to Online Buying & Auctions

dudara

Archeotech

The point is there is no customs charges though and it's already been through customs in Germany. It's just an admin fee to them after they held it for near a week.

Nody

Customs and duty is based on the total cost of item + shipping and yes they can.

sandin

Archeotech wrote: »

The point is there is no customs charges though and it's already been through customs in Germany. It's just an admin fee to them after they held it for near a week.

How do you know it cleared customs in Germany? - that would be highly unusual.

It would have transported through a freight hub in germany and the tracking may have said "customs" but they simply would have passed on it as it is not their jurisdiction.

At the end of the day GLS were 100% correct in their procedure.

Archeotech

Nody wrote: »

Customs and duty is based on the total cost of item + shipping and yes they can.

There is no customs or duty and yes I know how customs and duty is calculated and that sometimes there is a admin fee but in this case I'm only getting charged an admin fee after waiting nearly a week. How are their other packaged processed? Does everyone have to wait a week and pay €11 admin fees?

@Sandin - On the tracking it states "Customs clearance in progress" and "Released from customs" while in Germany.