- This topic has 16 replies, 10 voices, and was last updated 11 years ago by footflaps.
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£8 Royal Mail International 'Handling' Fee
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mikehopkinsFree MemberPosted 11 years ago
Can the handling fee be avoided/reduced?
Avoiding the royal mail handling it?
er…
lastyFree MemberPosted 11 years agoA rip-off but ive never managed to avoid it … 👿
Even when i pick the package up from the sorting center.mikehopkinsFree MemberPosted 11 years agoHow do you pay it in advanced?
Not usually if you want your goods…
Well…
jota180Free MemberPosted 11 years agoI don’t think it’s a bad price for them to collect the tax/duty and process it onward to HMRC
nickdaviesFull MemberPosted 11 years agoNo – it’s their charge for paying your duty and taxes. It’s pretty good considering the others usually charge £15-20 + VAT.
Only way of avoiding it is to have goods sent as a gift, not that anyone condones that…. 😉
footflapsFull MemberPosted 11 years agoYep, avoiding it is simple:
Set up your own import / export business with a bonded wharehouse. Sign up a agreement with overseas postal companies to handle incoming mail. Arrange with Customs to pay import duties on arrival and then try and recover them back from customers via your own network of local delivery offices…..
Rubber_BuccaneerFull MemberPosted 11 years agoSo FedEx and UPS also charge a handling fee? I didn’t think they did but perhaps that only applies to their tracked services?
footflapsFull MemberPosted 11 years agoWhen you send stuff Fedex or UPS you can normally either specify Duties paid or unpaid, with the latter someone has to collect the package from the local office and pay the duties.
The Post Office pay the duties on your behalf and then collect the payment (if you collect them package), so charge for that service. With Fedex etc, I suspect it’s all bundled in the mailing charge, although they might also charge a levy for handling duties etc.
mikehopkinsFree MemberPosted 11 years agoWhen I said avoid it, I meant is it possible to pre-pay the VAT with HMRC so that Royal Mail don’t have to ‘handle’ it? :/
CountZeroFull MemberPosted 11 years agoCan someone explain why I get these charges added when I buy things from the US, but I’ve never had them added when buying from Hong Kong/China. And why the US charges $30 to post a smallish box, but a large package containing a jacket and trousers from Hong Kong cost $1.20?
hammyukFree MemberPosted 11 years agoRoyalmail don’t actually pay HMRC a penny until you pay them.
Their “fee” is actually illegal as under the Postal Services Act they “must not interfere, withhold, interupt or delay the queens post”.
This happens a lot over on the Airsoft forums.
Go to the sorting office and mention the Postal Services Act, Non-contract, etc and it it surprisingly easy not to pay their “fee.
They rely on the fact that A. You don’t know any better and B. You accept their “contract”.
10mins with Google and you do know better and both parties MUST agree for a contract to be in place.
If they didn’t ask you if you wanted them to pay it on your behalf then they cannot under standard contract law infer that a contract exists for them to charge you for a service which you did not request….
Just make sure any package in future is either “Gift” below a certain value mind…. a “Commercial Sample” or it’s face value INCLUDING POSTAGE (if airmail/express) is below the threshold and that way there will be no charge anyway.mikehopkinsFree MemberPosted 11 years agoRoyalmail don’t actually pay HMRC a penny until you pay them.
Their “fee” is actually illegal as under the Postal Services Act they “must not interfere, withhold, interupt or delay the queens post”.
This happens a lot over on the Airsoft forums.
Go to the sorting office and mention the Postal Services Act, Non-contract, etc and it it surprisingly easy not to pay their “fee.
They rely on the fact that A. You don’t know any better and B. You accept their “contract”.
10mins with Google and you do know better and both parties MUST agree for a contract to be in place.
If they didn’t ask you if you wanted them to pay it on your behalf then they cannot under standard contract law infer that a contract exists for them to charge you for a service which you did not request….
Just make sure any package in future is either “Gift” below a certain value mind…. a “Commercial Sample” or it’s face value INCLUDING POSTAGE (if airmail/express) is below the threshold and that way there will be no charge anyway.I don’t wanna be annoying to them, I just want to pre-pay the VAT so they can’t slap on a handling fee
And by that logic it’s also ‘illegal’ going to pick stuff up without ID and getting told to come back later (withholding) with ID…
…it’s not illegal
it’s not really illegal (I’m guessing) they are just doing what they are told to (by HMRC or who ever), so it’s unfair to go reciting law/acts to your local postie.
Thank you for your’ advice though. 🙂
konabunnyFree MemberPosted 11 years agoThey rely on the fact that A. You don’t know any better and B. You accept their “contract”.
10mins with Google and you do know better and both parties MUST agree for a contract to be in place.
If they didn’t ask you if you wanted them to pay it on your behalf then they cannot under standard contract law infer that a contract exists for them to charge you for a service which you did not request….You also didn’t request them to deliver the package to you and they didn’t agree to deliver it to you.
hammyukFree MemberPosted 11 years agoNo Konabunny – They are legally obliged to carry out their duties as a postal carrier of the delivery destination to carry the post as paid and contracted by the sender. Their “handling fee” has already been paid – the postage is “To your door”. Same as from here to HK/USA/etc.
The id Mike is not illegal as they are simply verifying who you are as they are not knocking on your door.
If you kick up a stink in the main sorting office you WILL get the parcel.
What RM do is to charge a “handling fee” for paying the duty “on your behalf” – this is where they fall down as again you haven’t requested them to do so.
The actual law is The Postal Act of 2000 sections 83,84 and 104 – “it is ‘illegal’ for a courier to hold a parcel in lien of payment”.
Any goods go the the Customs Clearing House in Coventry – IF it is marked **GOOD TO BE CUSTOMS CLEARED BY IMPORTER** – when your goods arrive at the customs hub in Coventry, Customs will send you a form to complete regarding costs of the item etc. This is then sent to another HMRC office who then calculate how much you need to pay. They send you a letter requesting payment, you pay, fees are paid and then it is given back to parcelforce or whoever to deliver.
If NOT and HMRC consider its value/status to be declarable then whoever the carrier is is informed. They then pass the charge to you to pay.
What they legally can not do is not deliver it as that is a breach of the very act of parliament they are bound by as the Royal Carrier.
UPS/Fedex, etc all invoice you after they have made delivery.
You can also call HMRC directly, pay any duty owed and RM/PF again will have no choice but to deliver it.
This is a massive business to them and they will use every trick to make you pay their “handling fee” but there are also thousands of people who fight back every day.http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=351900
http://www.benchtec.co.uk/forums/thr…rance-fee-quot
http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk…ty-etc)/page16
and many many more……
footflapsFull MemberPosted 11 years agoWell the contract is with the sender as they sent the package. As the receiver, you have no contractual relationship with Royal Mail and they are under no obligation to deal with you. However, as contract law is superseded by statue law, I guess the details are in the various acts covering Royal Mail.
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