Date: 28-03-24  Time: 10:03 am

Author Topic: Parcelforce and import charges  (Read 3770 times)

Red Ceri

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Parcelforce and import charges
« on: 26 September 2017, 11:21:32 am »

Tuesday morning gripe, has anyone else had something similar to this?

Ordered a Chinese rad for my Gen1 and was tracking the shipment from China, when it was released from customs into the hands of parcelforce on Friday


Today Got my letter from parcelforce with the charges on it, a vat charge of £9.72 (ok) and a parcel force clearance fee of £11.25  :eek .


Went to pay fee on-line but was told number on parcelforce letter was incorrect, so I called the telephone number on the letter, that is a premium 03XX number. Wading through the automatic menus took another 4 minutes, again to find out the system did not recognise the reference number given. Many requests (5+) by the system for me to input the number when finally I got back to the main menu and was able to connect to a real person, they then took the number and again it did not show on the system so went back to the tracking number, this checked out and details found. After usual security checks  now told by operator that they must put me on hold to set-up the payment (why?) after about a minute came back and ready to accept payment, this again was stalled by operator asking multiple times for card number. Finally payment was made and then asked 'do i want it sent out asap?', no shit sherlock, finally after over 11 minutes on the phone and at least another £4 poorer (have to wait for my phone bill to find out how much) my parcel is on its way here.


Feels like a money making exercise for parcelforce with the length of the call and 'Clearance Fee'


Anyone else had anything similar happen to them with the parcelforce reference number not being recognised on-line or on the phone?


Also why does it only take 3 days from order in China for parcel to be in the UK, but 8 days before I get a letter to say I need to pay charges?


Rant(s) over , have a good day people :D

BBROWN1664

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #1 on: 26 September 2017, 11:41:41 am »
I have received stuff (well the Mrs has) that Royal Mail paid the customs fee on. Fee was about £1.50 and they added £8.50 on for handling charges. Did it all at the post office though so didn't go through the call centre.
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jimjenko

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #2 on: 26 September 2017, 12:00:52 pm »
I've received from UPS where they didn't add a handling charge, and delivered in good faith that I would pay the import charges later

F4celess

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #3 on: 26 September 2017, 12:19:22 pm »
Have ordered a lot of hobby parts (in the past), plus a few bike parts recently from the States!
It appears completely pot luck, if tax gets thrown on a package, while the next (similar value/originating country), might come through with nothing to pay. :look



Tefer

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #4 on: 26 September 2017, 12:44:44 pm »
I got a chinese rad for my 600,  was delivered with no charges.


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BBROWN1664

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #5 on: 26 September 2017, 12:52:05 pm »
Sometimes it depends on what the seller has declared it as on the paperwork. Other times, its down to the value declared and finally its down to random checks by Customs.

We have had things delivered with no charges and other things where we have had to pay.

Motorbikes from China was a big bill before the shippers would release them. A crate full of spares, no issue and no charges.
Clothing from the states is hit and miss.
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tommyardin

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #6 on: 26 September 2017, 05:15:59 pm »
Yeah it certainly is hit and miss by the sound of it.
I have ordered lots of 'Rip Off' electrical goods Ie: Microphones, Speakers, Radio Mics and transmitters and receivers, so far have never had to pay any import duty or VAT, long may it continue. :lol

tommyardin

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #7 on: 26 September 2017, 05:37:18 pm »
Thinking about the Post Office in general, they make me wonder WTF is going on with them.


You go into the post Office to post off a parcel and they want to know the contents and the value of the contents, now to some degree I can understand them asking what is in the parcel with all the terrorist stuff that's going on, but, if I was sending off a package that was going to cause harm or injury to someone am I likely to tell them what is in it, Derrr! I think not.

One woman asked what was in a parcel I was posting, after I told her it was  a secondhand Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone that I had sold on eBay
, she replied you had better insure it as it might go missing in the post, I replied, if I said it was a broken torch that I was returning would you think that might go missing in transit, she said that a lot of packages go missing in transit. I said it does not bode well if a lot of stuff goes missing or does it mean it gets nicked, perhaps I should not have told you it was a Samsung Smartphone and it also sounds like the Post Office is not a good bet anymore, she just replied do you want to send it or not?

Anyway the upshot was that two days later the parcel arrived in Derby. I think she was telling me that the Post Office have a lot of thieving bastards working for them :eek
Sorry to anyone in here that works for the Post Office, and do you have any cheap phones for sale?   :rollin :rollin :rollin 

BBROWN1664

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #8 on: 26 September 2017, 05:49:01 pm »
I think she was telling me that the Post Office have a lot of thieving bastards working for them [/font] :eek

:agree
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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #9 on: 26 September 2017, 06:19:40 pm »
Quote
Thinking about the Post Office in general, they make me wonder WTF is going on with them.


They've been creamed (all those independent postal services) and now they have been privatised.  So basically will now go to the dogs.

op was lucky he did get hit with import duty as well as VAT.



dazza

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« Last Edit: 26 September 2017, 07:16:39 pm by dazza »

maddog04

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #11 on: 26 September 2017, 09:58:12 pm »
I'm sure with all this junk mail that if you write "return to sender" and put it in the postbox, the originating Company gets charged for it being delivered back to themselves

win win situation
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Hugh Mungus

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #12 on: 26 September 2017, 10:40:21 pm »
I'm sure with all this junk mail that if you write "return to sender" and put it in the postbox, the originating Company gets charged for it being delivered back to themselves

win win situation


No it doesn't. There are certain items that will get returned to sender and there are others that get binned. It is up to the discretion of the manager in charge of that department. Anything that is obviously junk mail being returned to sender gets binned or 'killed' as it is referred to in the Post Office.


Which is a lose, lose situation as you have spent time and effort 'returning' the junk and the Post Office has to spend money to dispose of it. This costs a lot of £££'s every year which knocks onto the price of stuff you wish to post.


I only worked for the Post Office for a short while as it's not a great job. The lack of respect from the public doesn't help either.


As for import duty and handling charges etc - It seems to be pot luck. I've had lots of things from America and China and not had to pay except for a couple of times. Maybe if we moan about it enough we can get charged for every item from abroad...

Red Ceri

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #13 on: 27 September 2017, 01:44:07 am »
I'm not so worried about the customs charges (I was only charged VAT [£9.25] so it looks like they valued the item at half the invoice cost), but the charges and the way you have to pay (premium phone number, massive amount of auto menu options, being put on hold etc.) that seems like a money spinner for parcelforce,


Just wondering if anyone else had experience with parcelforce that was similar to my own and if this was a regular thing where they ask you to pay on-line but then don't recognise their own reference number and seemingly make you pay over the phone on a premium phone number that they get a kick-back from.

Grahamm

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #14 on: 27 September 2017, 02:08:44 am »
Went to pay fee on-line but was told number on parcelforce letter was incorrect, so I called the telephone number on the letter, that is a premium 03XX number.

03xx numbers aren't premium rate, they were a replacement for the old 0845 numbers and should cost no more than a local call. They are usually also included in free minutes on mobiles. See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/what-are-03-numbers

Even better, check the number on https://www.saynoto0870.com/ and you may well find a free equivalent :thumbup

BBROWN1664

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #15 on: 27 September 2017, 03:11:23 pm »
No it doesn't. There are certain items that will get returned to sender and there are others that get binned. It is up to the discretion of the manager in charge of that department. Anything that is obviously junk mail being returned to sender gets binned or 'killed' as it is referred to in the Post Office

Putting the junk mail into the pre-paid envelopes that the junk mailers send sometimes is rewarding though,
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BBROWN1664

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #16 on: 27 September 2017, 03:13:49 pm »
03xx numbers aren't premium rate, they were a replacement for the old 0845 numbers and should cost no more than a local call. They are usually also included in free minutes on mobiles. See https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/what-are-03-numbers

03 numbers are generally classes as "low-call" as they are charged (normally) from a landline as a local call charge. Not all mobile companies include these within your minutes though and can charge you quite a bit more.
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Hugh Mungus

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #17 on: 27 September 2017, 07:33:22 pm »
Putting the junk mail into the pre-paid envelopes that the junk mailers send sometimes is rewarding though,


Ah yes, I have done that too. Even more rewarding if the envelope is empty  :rollin

F4celess

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #18 on: 12 October 2017, 12:33:33 pm »
I've just received a new set of Handlebar Clamps/Risers, from the States.
Converted currency:

£35 for the Clamps.
£25 for the International postage.

THEN, collecting them from Parcelforce, there was ANOTHER £30 added! Import tax plus Parcelforce own "handling charges".  :eek

.....Oh, plus did I mention the items don't fit !!!!!  :oops The Fazer has a "hollowed" triple tree... not solid billet metal, like most other bikes.
The bespoke fixing Bolts with this Kit I picked up have exceedingly long Bolts that feature a LONG collar (prior to the thread), making them unusable on the Fazer.

Lesson learned - TRIPLE check what parts you require, while stook at your bike. Plus don't buy into anything that doesn't include full measurements added to the image(s) of the product.

I've also found its actually exceedingly difficult to pickup any aftermarket Handlebar clamps in 22mm 7/8 size. Noone really makes them!
Unless you settle for ebay Chinese knockoffs.

Hugh Mungus

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Re: Parcelforce and import charges
« Reply #19 on: 12 October 2017, 06:11:29 pm »
Plenty of aftermarket handle bar risers available. Nip down to a custom bike shop. Make sure they do other stuff than for Harleys.
If your meaning the top yoke being hollow,  this is a Yamaha thing. I had the same problem on an FJ 1200. I ended up getting an alloy top yoke made. Cost a fortune.