For real or scam?

[larryc]

I recently purchased some kits from an overseas vendor. (I won't name him or the country because I don't want to have anyone not buy from him because of this one incident.)
Anyway, about a week after receiving my last order for about $250 I got a statement from the shipping company that I owed them $40 for duty on the purchase. (I have since gotten a follow bill.)
The vendor says that when he contacted the shipper they gave him the run around and stated that it was a US problem. There is supposedly a $400 duty free limit.
I find it hard to believe that a shipping company would shell out money for duty and then try to collect from the customer after the goods have been delivered.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

 

[azamiryou]

Whenever I've had to pay duties, I've had to pay them as a condition of delivery, not after the fact. Usually, the buyer is responsible for import duties and they are not included in the shipping and handling fees charged by the vendor/seller.

If I were you, I'd contact customs to see what duty, if any, should have been. If there's a duty, it's commensurate with what they're asking, and you didn't already pay it, then it's probably legit.

 

[Holz Mechaniker]

Customs Info

more info avail at the US International Trade Commission

 

[TellicoTurning]

I recently purchased some kits from an overseas vendor. (I won't name him or the country because I don't want to have anyone not buy from him because of this one incident.)
Anyway, about a week after receiving my last order for about $250 I got a statement from the shipping company that I owed them $40 for duty on the purchase. (I have since gotten a follow bill.)
The vendor says that when he contacted the shipper they gave him the run around and stated that it was a US problem. There is supposedly a $400 duty free limit.
I find it hard to believe that a shipping company would shell out money for duty and then try to collect from the customer after the goods have been delivered.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

The shipping company doesn't collect duties unless they are a customs house brokerage firm in addition to being a shipping agency.... if there is a legitimate duty amount due, you should have a customs invoice and customs entry documentation attached to the broker's invoice... the customs laws are pretty strict about documentation attachments.... I've forgotten all of the rules since retiring, but as I remember if it's a dutiable item and a commercial shipment, over $250 invoice value, you need a customs broker to clear and there isn't a "duty free" amount... If you have a local customs office at the airport nearest you, call them and ask questions... they're actually pretty helpful to the general public...

And you are correct about advancing charges... unless you have an established relationship with the brokerage/shipping company, charges are most often paid upon delivery. .. One thing that could have predicated the additional billing... the customs broker calculated the customs charges, collected from you, delivered the goods, then were audited by customs and assessed additional duties... the brokerage house may have classified the entry under one number and after the audit/review, customs reclassified the entry number and re-assessed the duties... this was a very common occurrence since the customs TSUSAS is very much open to interpretation.... you might should call the brokerage house and ask them why there are additional charges.

 

[larryc]

I had a telephone conversation with the shipping company today and they stated that the reason for the duty was that the seller probably did not put the right code on the shipment. They further stated that they would "take care" of the duty fee. (I'm still not convinced it wasn't an attempted scam.)

 

[Canadian_Kid]

Let me guess TNT shipping. They have tried it twice on me. I told them that I would pay the HST (bc + Canada sales tax) and duty (a total of like $3.00) but not their $28 in service fees. They got all ****y with me so I told them that I wasn't going to pay anything. Haven't heard from them since (for some reason they try and collect the tax/duty/fees after the delivery). The US has a 400 duty free from AU but Canada has a low $20 duty free. The seller puts the value of my goods at $20AU but when converted to CA it is like 20.51 therefore making it a tax/duty item.

 

[SCR0LL3R]

You really have to get used to how the different methods of shipping work when you are having stuff shipped in or you will end up with nasty surprises like that. FEDEX never used to charge brokerage (or it was extremely cheap) but now they charge around the same as UPS. Purolator has the lowest rates last I used them. I believe UPS has come down by a few $ but it's still quite a lot and they were the first to start with the massive brokerage fees. When mailing something into Canada, if you can ship it for less than $40 within the postal service, then that is probably your cheapest route.

The brokerage part should be included in the shipping rates. They just do that so that they look cheaper when somebody looks up shipping rates when actually they are more expensive than the competition. I think it's a shady practice and it isn't right.

If they leave the package and then send me a bill, I refuse to pay. I didn't choose their service, I didn't agree to any of their terms, the seller did. I didn't sign anything giving them permission to pay taxes on my behalf.

 

[Smitty37]

Yes

I recently purchased some kits from an overseas vendor. (I won't name him or the country because I don't want to have anyone not buy from him because of this one incident.)
Anyway, about a week after receiving my last order for about $250 I got a statement from the shipping company that I owed them $40 for duty on the purchase. (I have since gotten a follow bill.)
The vendor says that when he contacted the shipper they gave him the run around and stated that it was a US problem. There is supposedly a $400 duty free limit.
I find it hard to believe that a shipping company would shell out money for duty and then try to collect from the customer after the goods have been delivered.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I have gotten bills from FedEx and DHL after taking delivery. You are responsible for import duties and they can also include a fee for paying them for you. However if the declared value on the customs declaration is less than $400.00 there should be no duty due.

 

[Texatdurango]

.............I find it hard to believe that a shipping company would shell out money for duty and then try to collect from the customer after the goods have been delivered.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Happens all the time!

I placed several orders last year and the year before with Sorby. THey charged me for the goods and shipping then the "carrier incurred customs duties and sent me a bill. It was all legit because about a month after paying the duties I received a bill from Customs to the penny of what I had been charged.

Instead of holding the goods in customs until duties are paid, the shipper will just pay the duties and bill you.

Definately not a scam!

 

[Smitty37]

I recently purchased some kits from an overseas vendor. (I won't name him or the country because I don't want to have anyone not buy from him because of this one incident.)
Anyway, about a week after receiving my last order for about $250 I got a statement from the shipping company that I owed them $40 for duty on the purchase. (I have since gotten a follow bill.)
The vendor says that when he contacted the shipper they gave him the run around and stated that it was a US problem. There is supposedly a $400 duty free limit.
I find it hard to believe that a shipping company would shell out money for duty and then try to collect from the customer after the goods have been delivered.
Has anyone else had a similar experience?

The shipping company doesn't collect duties unless they are a customs house brokerage firm in addition to being a shipping agency.... if there is a legitimate duty amount due, you should have a customs invoice and customs entry documentation attached to the broker's invoice... the customs laws are pretty strict about documentation attachments.... I've forgotten all of the rules since retiring, but as I remember if it's a dutiable item and a commercial shipment, over $250 invoice value, you need a customs broker to clear and there isn't a "duty free" amount... If you have a local customs office at the airport nearest you, call them and ask questions... they're actually pretty helpful to the general public...

And you are correct about advancing charges... unless you have an established relationship with the brokerage/shipping company, charges are most often paid upon delivery. .. One thing that could have predicated the additional billing... the customs broker calculated the customs charges, collected from you, delivered the goods, then were audited by customs and assessed additional duties... the brokerage house may have classified the entry under one number and after the audit/review, customs reclassified the entry number and re-assessed the duties... this was a very common occurrence since the customs TSUSAS is very much open to interpretation.... you might should call the brokerage house and ask them why there are additional charges.

If they ship express shipping (and most of them do) the brokerage is handled by the shipping company - TNT, DHL, FedEx and probably UPS are all used by people shipping from the Hong Kong area. TNT and DHL rarely charge anything extra - they use the number put in by the shipper.
I have on three occasions gotten a bill after having received the goods. It has always been a small amount with a small fee for their services.

Normally Duty and customs fees must be paid befor the goods leave the bonded wearhouse, so in order to deliver they must pay the duties and sometimes it is more than they charged for when they collected for shipping. If they don't the stuff will sit in the wearhouse until you pay.