VAT bill from courier seems wrong

witnessmenow

I had a voice mail from the driver of a well known courier company saying I owe €51 for a package. The total cost of this package, including delivery, was $65, the goods are electronics components.

So I rang up the courier company to find the breakdown (I don't have a tracking number so that has been some ordeal)

Eventually after identifying myself by address, the person on the phone told me the breakdown was €35 vat and €15 fees (and some change on both)

VAT on that package should be around €14 right? Is there anything I'm missing on this? It's below the Duty threshold right?

When I questioned this, I got transferred to a different department. They refused to help without a tracking number. So I called back into the customer service again and this time they wouldn't identify me by address, so now I'm waiting back for a call from a manager.

whiterebel

witnessmenow wrote: »

I had a voice mail from the driver of a well known courier company saying I owe €51 for a package. The total cost of this package, including delivery, was $65, the goods are electronics components.

So I rang up the courier company to find the breakdown (I don't have a tracking number so that has been some ordeal)

Eventually after identifying myself by address, the person on the phone told me the breakdown was €35 vat and €15 fees (and some change on both)

VAT on that package should be around €14 right? Is there anything I'm missing on this? It's below the Duty threshold right?

When I questioned this, I got transferred to a different department. They refused to help without a tracking number. So I called back into the customer service again and this time they wouldn't identify me by address, so now I'm waiting back for a call from a manager.

Usually what happens is the shipper doesn't show that the terms are CIF or free delivered uncleared. The couriers have to work under the guidelines approved by Revenue, which means they must show a credible amount for shipping. The couriers operate off their own tariffs which can be very different from the rates the shipper is getting. DHL show on their site, for example, their tariff less 30% is the amount for undeclared shipping. You are entitled to a copy of the customer entry from the courier, ask that they scan it and email it to you. This should show the amount, in $, conversion rate and the rate used for carriage, if this is what happened. If you have an invoice from the shipper, showing the price is delivered to you, you should be able to reclaim some of the over charge back.
Ask the shipper to give you the tracking number.

witnessmenow

whiterebel wrote: »

Usually what happens is the shipper doesn't show that the terms are CIF or free delivered uncleared. The couriers have to work under the guidelines approved by Revenue, which means they must show a credible amount for shipping. The couriers operate off their own tariffs which can be very different from the rates the shipper is getting. DHL show on their site, for example, their tariff less 30% is the amount for undeclared shipping. You are entitled to a copy of the customer entry from the courier, ask that they scan it and email it to you. This should show the amount, in $, conversion rate and the rate used for carriage, if this is what happened. If you have an invoice from the shipper, showing the price is delivered to you, you should be able to reclaim some of the over charge back.
Ask the shipper to give you the tracking number.

Thanks for the info.

I have an invoice from the seller (it is completely reflective of the transaction), $32.71 of the $65 is shipping, so should be pretty credible amount for shipping!

Who am I claiming the overcharge back from, Revenue or the courier?

China is on Vacation this week, so I cant get the tracking number off them, never got a call back from courier so it looks like it's going into next week.

whiterebel

W

witnessmenow wrote: »

Thanks for the info.

I have an invoice from the seller (it is completely reflective of the transaction), $32.71 of the $65 is shipping, so should be pretty credible amount for shipping!

Who am I claiming the overcharge back from, Revenue or the courier?

China is on Vacation this week, so I cant get the tracking number off them, never got a call back from courier so it looks like it's going into next week.

Start with the courier. They may have worked off the label on the outside of the parcel if they didnt have an invoice.

witnessmenow

Got the tracking number off the delivery driver around 4 o clock, no one answered for the rest of the evening at the customs department though

Thanks for the advice

CramCycle

14.95 plus whatever handling fee they charge for doing that.

Cherry_Cola

I bet this is DHL. Seems they've been making a habit of this recently.

jeffrey

Cherry Cola," Dhl seems to be making a habit of this lately" Not lately they are at it for years, the most arrogant company I have ever dealt with, it is a total waste of time trying to get them to correct errors (probably deliberate because they always seem to overcharge)

EdgeCase

I wonder would it be worth writing a letter, outlining your case and concerns to the Chinese Embassy in Dublin as it is basically a non tariff barrier / hurdle to trade being invented by a courier.

witnessmenow

Hi all, expecting delivery of this today. I've has such a bad time dealing with the company that I don't mind naming them. It's UPS and I hope I never have to use them again. The seller is far from innocent in this too, because of the fact they never shared the UPS tracking number with me, but UPS themselves have just been awful to deal with.

WhiteRebel correctly suspected the problem. Got through to the Customs department yesterday morning and the person on the phone was very helpful in fairness. I explained the situation and she took a look at the system and said that there was price quoted for delivery on the invoice, only for goods, so they assumed a delivery price ($150!!!) and charged VAT on that. She asked me to email her the invoice and she replied back within a couple of minutes with the adjusted price for customs, E31, still seems a couple of euro on the high side but I just wanted this over and done with.

I called customer service to pay the bill, after being on the phone for maybe 5 or 10 minutes they told me they can't process payments over the phone from Ireland that it was COD only. When questioned that COD couldn't be the only option to pay for this, they mentioned that "maybe I can do it on the website......"

I checked the website and could not find an option to do it, even signed up for a UPS account because it seemed to reveal more options (it didnt) so I had to put the delivery driver off til today because although my wife was at home, she wasn't feeling well so I couldn't ask her to go get the cash out.

I don't have a problem with the charge, I'd prefer to not pay it, but I expect a €15 admin fee from couriers for dealing with it.

Summarize problems I had with UPS:
- One agent was able to pull up my package without tracking number, other one wasn't
- Same agent was able to transfer me to the brokerage department (customs), 3 others weren't
- Agent that transferred me should have told me I'd need my tracking number (maybe I should have asked too)
- When I asked for my case to be escalated to a Manager, I was told I would get a call within the next hour, I'm still waiting :pac:
- Two service reps told me there was no charges due on the package, I had assure them as much I wanted that to be true there is charges, and then after a minute or two they found them??
- "Just select option 6" in a phone menu with no mention of numbered options, none of them seem to know that the menu was voice controlled. When mentioned it was voice, they said to try "borkerage", which didn't work ("customs" does btw) Even if they just said "when you get to the phone menu press 6 and it will bring you to customs"
- Not being able to pay for the charge online or via phone, or if you can pay it online burying it so deep that it near impossible to find.
- Would be nice if they gave me a ring about the invoice rather than assuming a shipping cost of 5 times the value of the goods

Seller:
- Should have given me the tracking number
- Should have put in a price for shipping in the invoice
- Shouldn't have been on holidays last week :pac:

whiterebel

I know its not ideal, but if the couriers had to start ringing to check every consignment, you'd probably get to clear 2 consignments a day. The Chinese sellers know they should should the price as delivered uncleared, but when they don't the couriers have an agreement with Revenue to show an agreed tariff. Remember, this value is only used in the Customs clearance, so it is Revenue that benefit from extra VAT, not the courier.

The UPS website is unbelievably bad to find a way around. It turns out that Customs Clearance is done by UPS Supply Chain Services, and good luck finding their rates etc there.