Has anyone had this customs charges situation and how have they resolved it?

Don't worry, after noon on April First the problem will go away.

They are an item with a value, so customs will demand VAT be paid. If you dont want to pay it ask An Post to return to sender. They should have that down to a fine art by now.

@OP Why not go over to the UK and just collect it yourself. It would save you a lot of stress and hassle. Customs is just the way of things now if you buy something of value outside if the EU. That's just the way it is. It's a bitch but thats it and that's life.

They are not "Irish fees"

UK is not part of the EU. These are EU duty and vat fees that unless you have lived under a rock, you should know they apply to goods coming from the UK unless stated otherwise.

It is the EXACT same is you sent goods TO the UK, The recipient would have to pay UK duty & VAT.

If you purchased from an online site you would ahve agreed to the terms and conditions and they will have stated quite clearly that you accept responsibility for taxes and duties

So the person to blame is in the mirror

But it is an interesting situation, no?

The tickets are for an event in the UK. It is a bit like buying a car in the UK, that you intend to only use in the UK but being charged tax because the key to the car is posted to you in Ireland. The ticket is not what you are buying, it only allows you access to what you have purchased. For e.g. had entrance to the event been via an RFID chipped wristband customs would be none the wiser.

This is all shooting the breeze by the way. I wouldn't bother arguing with customs. I will, however, bear this in mind and only book tickets that can be sent to my phone in the event of attending anything in the UK.

Have you actually talked to anyone in AnPost. I have found them helpful when things go wrong. Clearly, when it gets back to the UK it is simply routed to the addressee (you) when it should be routed to the sender. Either it is not marked correctly by An Post or any mark is are being ignored by Royal Mail.

I do think you are lucky the item has actually got back, twice, without problems. i have had items returned because of insufficient information on the customs declarations and they have gotten lost in the process.

almost certainly that the sender entered in the wrong information and a wrong value but in fairness to them there's probably no category for "wrist band for UK concert"

If they get them back, tell them to send it as a gift under category "plastic wrist band" with a value of under £20, thus including postage it should be under €40 and no fees

Ignore the request for the fees and get on with your life.