Steering clear of the online sharks

Posted on 12 Oct 2009 at 11:55

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"If you buy goods and the declaration is found to be incorrect, you may be liable to financial penalties or prosecution," says HMRC. "In addition, the goods may be seized."

While the costs may not sound unreasonable, there is a secondary charge by Royal Mail that can really bump the price up on small purchases. Richard Hill, from London, was disgusted when the charges on a £19 DVD totalled the same amount again. He'd paid £19, plus £10 postage. The package had been stopped at Customs, who judged Hill needed to pay £5.72, but the biggest charge came from Royal Mail's "handling fee" of £13.50 to cover collecting the Customs payment.

Royal Mail won't release goods until it has been paid this handling fee. "If we receive a parcel from overseas for import customers, we will pay any Customs duties and taxes on their behalf to HMRC," said a spokesman for Royal Mail. "However, we will require payment for this, together with our Customs clearance fee, before the parcel can be delivered to them.

"We have two levels of clearance fee for import parcels: £13.50 for express parcels networks and for high-value standard parcels (valued at over ?1,000). All other import parcels incur an £8 charge."

Consumer outrage

Consumers are outraged by this unsolicited charge, and some have had success in clawing the payment back through the small claims courts. Duncan Chong, from Edinburgh, for example, pursued his case by claiming the fee was both illegal and unreasonable under postal service law, and he claims Royal Mail has refunded him the money in out-of-court settlements. "I just paid a few £8 charges and then claimed it back," he says. "They settled very quickly."

As with the other payment conundrums on the internet, it's as much about protecting yourself from the fallout when things go wrong as it is about the saving and safety of the initial payment.

Author: Stewart Mitchell