Returned item - import charges

[usn90]

My partner bought an item of clothing online, she didn’t realise at the time that they were coming from Amsterdam, the item arrived however she’s bought the incorrect size.

She sent them back via UPS, today she’s tracked the shipment and found the delivery was refused because there’s £31 import charges to be paid, the item was only worth £50..

What happens if she ignores this, will the item be discarded over there? If there’s any chance of fines and letters etc I’ll just pay the charge, just seems false economy

[ZiggyNiva]

Not sure if it works exactly the same, but we have similar when shipping IT equipment outside of the UK, which is then shipped back at a later date. We have always manged to provide evidence the device has come back into the country so no import fees to pay in either direction.

[DavePanda]

Where did she buy it from?

We handle fashion returns to Europe all the time, the retailers supply returns paperwork with the original outbound tracking number which shows that the item was only a temporary export so no charges would be due when it's returned. What paperwork did they supply for the return? Or was it sent by your o/h herself?

[usn90]

Icon Amsterdam, yes I know the clues in the name however to be fair it was the “UK” site she ordered from so she assumed they had a depot within the UK

They said to use UPS and included this commercial invoice form, which was filled out and attached to the parcel next to the label

[Simpo Two]

She returned the item; it was the seller's decision not to accept it back because they didn't want to pay £31. Assuming the seller accepts returns I don't see how she can be fined for the fact they declined to pay Dutch import duty.

[BertBert]

Except looking at the form, I bet it wasn't filled in correctly to handle the return. Not the sender's fault per se, but probably wrong to get it back without duty.

[DavePanda]

usn90 said:

Icon Amsterdam, yes I know the clues in the name however to be fair it was the “UK” site she ordered from so she assumed they had a depot within the UK

They said to use UPS and included this commercial invoice form, which was filled out and attached to the parcel next to the label

Looks like the retailer has made no mention of the original shipment so as far as customs are concerned it's a commercial export from the UK.

[usn90]

So to be clear then, there should be no charge to pay, is this something which can be fixed by communicating with UPS, or is the damage done now?

[Simpo Two]

usn90 said:

So to be clear then, there should be no charge to pay, is this something which can be fixed by communicating with UPS, or is the damage done now?

You said, or implied, that the seller had declined to pay the bill from Dutch customs to get their goods back into Holland. If so then it's their bill not yours. You used the label they gave you.

If the duty isn't paid the goods might even be sent back to you as 'return to sender'...!

[usn90]

Simpo Two said:

You said, or implied, that the seller had declined to pay the bill from Dutch customs to get their goods back into Holland. If so then it's their bill not yours. You used the label they gave you.

If the duty isn't paid the goods might even be sent back to you as 'return to sender'...!

Yes, in the emails there was no reference to a charge needing paying, all they did say was to non-eu customers there will be no refund, but an exchange or voucher would be fine, which is fine for her.




If the item is returned to us, is the charge then cancelled or will they be knocking on our door for the money?

[Simpo Two]

usn90 said:

If the item is returned to us, is the charge then cancelled or will they be knocking on our door for the money?

Cross that bridge if it happens.

[DavePanda]

usn90 said:

Yes, in the emails there was no reference to a charge needing paying, all they did say was to non-eu customers there will be no refund, but an exchange or voucher would be fine, which is fine for her.




If the item is returned to us, is the charge then cancelled or will they be knocking on our door for the money?

The item won't be returned to you, it will sit at the depot awaiting paperwork from you to get it back through customs to the UK but the charges in NL still have to be paid to UPS as they have paid them up front to the Dutch version of HMRC. If nobody plays ball the parcel will eventually be destroyed.