DHL payment issue
Discussion
Not sure if this is the correct forum (mods please move if needed).
I bought some lights on-line from a US site and when they were shipped I received a notification stating they were being held by DHL as duty needed to be paid (£17).
I checked the website and according to the tracking the lights were in Hong Kong, I called up a day or two later (post weekend) to pay (no facility to pay on-line) and paid over the phone, but was then told the item was out for delivery?!?!?
Luckily my 81 year old MIL lives in a granny flat and was able to take delivery, however the driver was adamant that duty needed to be paid and she paid this from her pension (unbeknown to me). So I get home to find I've paid twice for this package to be delivered 2x £17.
I call DHL and have to email their duty team, I forwarded the electronic receipt for payment within the email. They have now come back and denied that the driver pocketed the cash and need proof the MIL paid. I've got a paper receipt but probably cleverly the driver hasn't indicated this has been paid on the receipt given. I'm going scan what I have and send this back but I'm not holding much hope out to get the £17 back.
It's not a vast amount of cash, but he knowingly stole this from a pensioner (I've given her the money back don't worry) and how many others could he be defrauding.
Any suggestions?
I bought some lights on-line from a US site and when they were shipped I received a notification stating they were being held by DHL as duty needed to be paid (£17).
I checked the website and according to the tracking the lights were in Hong Kong, I called up a day or two later (post weekend) to pay (no facility to pay on-line) and paid over the phone, but was then told the item was out for delivery?!?!?
Luckily my 81 year old MIL lives in a granny flat and was able to take delivery, however the driver was adamant that duty needed to be paid and she paid this from her pension (unbeknown to me). So I get home to find I've paid twice for this package to be delivered 2x £17.
I call DHL and have to email their duty team, I forwarded the electronic receipt for payment within the email. They have now come back and denied that the driver pocketed the cash and need proof the MIL paid. I've got a paper receipt but probably cleverly the driver hasn't indicated this has been paid on the receipt given. I'm going scan what I have and send this back but I'm not holding much hope out to get the £17 back.
It's not a vast amount of cash, but he knowingly stole this from a pensioner (I've given her the money back don't worry) and how many others could he be defrauding.
Any suggestions?
Freakuk said:
Not sure if this is the correct forum (mods please move if needed).
I bought some lights on-line from a US site and when they were shipped I received a notification stating they were being held by DHL as duty needed to be paid (£17).
I checked the website and according to the tracking the lights were in Hong Kong, I called up a day or two later (post weekend) to pay (no facility to pay on-line) and paid over the phone, but was then told the item was out for delivery?!?!?
Luckily my 81 year old MIL lives in a granny flat and was able to take delivery, however the driver was adamant that duty needed to be paid and she paid this from her pension (unbeknown to me). So I get home to find I've paid twice for this package to be delivered 2x £17.
I call DHL and have to email their duty team, I forwarded the electronic receipt for payment within the email. They have now come back and denied that the driver pocketed the cash and need proof the MIL paid. I've got a paper receipt but probably cleverly the driver hasn't indicated this has been paid on the receipt given. I'm going scan what I have and send this back but I'm not holding much hope out to get the £17 back.
It's not a vast amount of cash, but he knowingly stole this from a pensioner (I've given her the money back don't worry) and how many others could he be defrauding.
Any suggestions?
You're saying that the driver knew that an online payment was already made but he nonetheless charged the recipient for the same duty payment at the door. I bought some lights on-line from a US site and when they were shipped I received a notification stating they were being held by DHL as duty needed to be paid (£17).
I checked the website and according to the tracking the lights were in Hong Kong, I called up a day or two later (post weekend) to pay (no facility to pay on-line) and paid over the phone, but was then told the item was out for delivery?!?!?
Luckily my 81 year old MIL lives in a granny flat and was able to take delivery, however the driver was adamant that duty needed to be paid and she paid this from her pension (unbeknown to me). So I get home to find I've paid twice for this package to be delivered 2x £17.
I call DHL and have to email their duty team, I forwarded the electronic receipt for payment within the email. They have now come back and denied that the driver pocketed the cash and need proof the MIL paid. I've got a paper receipt but probably cleverly the driver hasn't indicated this has been paid on the receipt given. I'm going scan what I have and send this back but I'm not holding much hope out to get the £17 back.
It's not a vast amount of cash, but he knowingly stole this from a pensioner (I've given her the money back don't worry) and how many others could he be defrauding.
Any suggestions?
That would seem to be a very short sighted strategy to steal only £17, since nearly everybody waiting to receive such a parcel would know whether or not they had paid the duty beforehand, therefore unmasking the potential thief tout suite.
Not quite, the MIL didn't know there was a delivery let alone a payment to be made, so paid it on my behalf.
The driver may not have know, however he would have to pay the cash somewhere in The depot I guess maybe wasn't prompted and bagged it. The issue is he's denying it as DHL claim no record of him taking the cash.
The driver may not have know, however he would have to pay the cash somewhere in The depot I guess maybe wasn't prompted and bagged it. The issue is he's denying it as DHL claim no record of him taking the cash.
Nickyboy said:
DHL don't collect on delivery, they either inform you beforehand or you get an invoice after delivery
This is what I was thinking. Never once had an item not delivered because of it though. I've never even been told by a driver that duty was owed. It usually comes in an invoice after or sometimes I'll get an email/text before delivery to say it's owed if the seller has given DHL my details.. Sounds like DHL driver was taking advantage. If it was inexpensive and I had the time I'd be tempted to re-order and get her to take delivery again but have the encounter filmed. Then get him fired if he tried it again.
Stormfly1985 said:
I really doubt they take cash - there's no reference to being able to do that on their website. I've paid UPS via cheque at the door or you could pay by card over the phone while they wait. If your MIL really did pay cash then somethings very wrong.
So how would my MIL know how much the duty was? Are you saying my 81 yo MIL is lying and pocketed the cash? And are you saying when you call DHL they didn't tell me I could pay the driver?These are the facts, the driver rightly or wrongly has taken £17 from an OAP, but DHL are denying any knowledge of this transaction, so I'm guessing DHL's policy is to request x cash from the driver when he returns to the depot, but as this payment was made he didn't hand over the cash, something smells wrong here.
It's a bit weird, i've never known DHL to collect money on delivery and their customer service would certainly know whether the driver is collecting it on delivery. If we (UPS) delivery something that requires charges and don't collect the money it's noticed the following day when the office cashes up
Edited by Nickyboy on Sunday 29th January 22:17
Freakuk said:
So how would my MIL know how much the duty was? Are you saying my 81 yo MIL is lying and pocketed the cash? And are you saying when you call DHL they didn't tell me I could pay the driver?
These are the facts, the driver rightly or wrongly has taken £17 from an OAP, but DHL are denying any knowledge of this transaction, so I'm guessing DHL's policy is to request x cash from the driver when he returns to the depot, but as this payment was made he didn't hand over the cash, something smells wrong here.
I'm not saying it didn't happen, I'm saying it's very unusual for couriers to accept cash. The risks are high for the driver (robbery etc), as well as inconvenient for the most part (having to carry change etc). If DHL actually do accept cash it should be easy for them to confirm that in writing and provide the process for getting a receipt. These are the facts, the driver rightly or wrongly has taken £17 from an OAP, but DHL are denying any knowledge of this transaction, so I'm guessing DHL's policy is to request x cash from the driver when he returns to the depot, but as this payment was made he didn't hand over the cash, something smells wrong here.
As it stands, it's your word against the drivers, you have already paid the duty electronically and your MIL doesn't have a receipt with proof she paid cash. If the driver is a thief hopefully they will get caught however what do you expect DHL to do?
Nickyboy said:
It's a bit weird, i've never known DHL to collect money on delivery and their customer would certainly know whether the driver is collecting it on delivery. If we (UPS) delivery something that requires charges and don't collect the money it's noticed the following day when the office cashes up
DHL wouldn't collect cash, but this driver has seen an opportunity to pocket a bit. Mandat said:
You're saying that the driver knew that an online payment was already made but he nonetheless charged the recipient for the same duty payment at the door.
That would seem to be a very short sighted strategy to steal only £17, since nearly everybody waiting to receive such a parcel would know whether or not they had paid the duty beforehand, therefore unmasking the potential thief tout suite.
Quite a good strategy if approached in the right way. "There is duty due on this delivery, do you know if this has been paid?". As the MIL didn't order this item nor knew whether or not it was paid at this time, the answer would be "I don't know". The driver could then suggest paying him directly, and away he goes. All seems quite innocent to someone unfamiliar with such deliveries.That would seem to be a very short sighted strategy to steal only £17, since nearly everybody waiting to receive such a parcel would know whether or not they had paid the duty beforehand, therefore unmasking the potential thief tout suite.
StuTheGrouch said:
Mandat said:
You're saying that the driver knew that an online payment was already made but he nonetheless charged the recipient for the same duty payment at the door.
That would seem to be a very short sighted strategy to steal only £17, since nearly everybody waiting to receive such a parcel would know whether or not they had paid the duty beforehand, therefore unmasking the potential thief tout suite.
Quite a good strategy if approached in the right way. "There is duty due on this delivery, do you know if this has been paid?". As the MIL didn't order this item nor knew whether or not it was paid at this time, the answer would be "I don't know". The driver could then suggest paying him directly, and away he goes. All seems quite innocent to someone unfamiliar with such deliveries.That would seem to be a very short sighted strategy to steal only £17, since nearly everybody waiting to receive such a parcel would know whether or not they had paid the duty beforehand, therefore unmasking the potential thief tout suite.
Already gangs are targeting pensioners by collecting the £30 in cash to save them £3 as they know they won't be online.
All it takes is a clipboard
Catch 10 a day for £300
The DHL situation does seem like a lot of effort for £17
Dhl couriers can collect duty if it's a small amount, this sounds like a mix up more than a driver taking advantage, all cash is collected when the courier returns to the depot, and married to paperwork.
Call centre for duty and vat is overseas so may not have ticked the correct paid box, call into dhl will resolve, happy to assist if you pm me waybill.
Call centre for duty and vat is overseas so may not have ticked the correct paid box, call into dhl will resolve, happy to assist if you pm me waybill.
DHL will tell you to talk to HMRC, HMRC will tell you to talk to DHL in the end you'll be passed from buck to buck.
I tend to use Parcelforce for bulky items of low value but DHL for expensive items.
Not sure if every DHL depot is the same but my local one does have a huge chip on my shoulder. It's really regimented and everyone seems to be a complete tool with a huge chip on their shoulder. The best way to describe it is like the local nick on the weekend or going to a US embassy or consulate. Just a strange arsey vibe about the place.
I tend to use Parcelforce for bulky items of low value but DHL for expensive items.
Not sure if every DHL depot is the same but my local one does have a huge chip on my shoulder. It's really regimented and everyone seems to be a complete tool with a huge chip on their shoulder. The best way to describe it is like the local nick on the weekend or going to a US embassy or consulate. Just a strange arsey vibe about the place.
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