Transmitter purchase

On the 20/05/15 I purchased a Quad transmitter from HobbyKing for £167.18. This price included carriage by FedEx to my door.

On the seller web site was a page for selecting a carrier.

The default choice by the seller was FedEx and was highlighted by a button selection.

All of the carriers offered carriage at about the same price (DHL etc).

The carriage price offered by FedEx was the most competitive at $33.32

and I continued with the payment process.

At no point was I advised of any other affiliated costs or charges.

I paid the full amount as directed via PayPal.

I was informed that as soon as the parcel was despatched I would receive a consignment number.

The carriage cost in GBP was about £22 which I thought quite acceptable.

I was well aware at the time that an item at this price would attract import duty of about £30.

A few days later I received the parcel from Fedex.

All seemed fine until some days later I received a request for £45.75.

I thought this was a bit high for import duty.

I sent Fedex an email as I was unable to contact them by phone and enquired as to the amount.

I received a reply which informed me that the bill was in fact two separate amounts.

One for the duty (£33.75) and one for an amount labelled Admin.

I done some research on the Web and discovered that the ‘Admin’ charge was for processing the duty requirements, or there abouts.

This was news to me as I had no prior knowledge of any such cost.

I contacted Fedex by email and advised them that I had no intension of paying the admin charge

as I had not been informed at anytime of this fee. But I would pay the duty charge as shown.

I sent Fedex a cheque for £33.75 with a covering letter explaining my position again.

A month or so passed and then I received a reminder from Fedex about the outstanding admin amount.

I sent Fedex an email covering my position again.

A few months went by with no further correspondence.

I received a Payment demand from a DCA for the amount of £12 along with various frightening statements that would happen if this amount was not paid.

This has escalated to more letters and phones calls demanding the money along with the sum being demanded increasing with each contact.

I am at a loss as to how a company can demand money when I have never been asked to agree to the service offered.

I have signed no contract with Fedex and have not asked them to do any service for me.

Where does the figure of £12 come from this could be any amount at all £1200 even.

I have read some posts on this site and noticed that this admin fee has increased by over 150% in one year originally being about £5.

This ‘admin’ fee was not featured at the sellers web site at time of purchase.

This however has now been amended.

It now advices that there may be an admin fee on some items.

But no amount is specified.

Any thoughts or advice greatly appreciated.

PS I have donated the £12 to this site.

£12 advancement fee im guessing?

I sent an email on behalf of my brother to Control account and fedex and got the charge wiped...

Just reply back to the dca that you do not acknowledge any debt to them or their clients and any legal action shall be defended vigorously. Check cag library for templates to be adapted and used.

Hi,

Thanks for the speedy replies.

At the moment I have just been bin'ing the letters and ignoring the phone calls but it is getting a bit too much.

As such I am very uncomfortable about putting my head up above the parapet. So I will have to have a good think about this one.

Once again

Thanks

Same as Royal Mail and customs duty

The admin fee will be for FedEx to pass the item through customs, a handling charge. It has nothing to do with the seller

£12.00 Admin is the same as Parcel Force charge, Royal Mail is £8.00

You need to think yourself lucky, the majority of other couriers charge up to £40.00 admn fee to pass the item through customs

Hi obiter dictum, Thanks for the reply.

Well I understand your view,

but it is not the amount,

it is that I cannot believe that it is legal for a company to demand payment from me for a service

that I did not know anything about bearing in mind that I have no contract with them for any service at all

as the contract is between the carrier and the seller,

and as I wrote originally who decides the amount?

As I have not been advised of any cost and given the option to decline

, it could be set to any number that they feel that they can get away with.

Once again thanks

I have now received a LETTER BEFORE CLAIM from the DCA and the amount has increased to £37 from the orignal £12 and a county court is being considered. Any further thoughts?

My opinion is that you are liable for the £12.00 original FedEx fee

The DCA can go and swivel as their charges are unlawful

Pay the £12.00, swollow your pride and tell the DCA my response as to your charges are the same as in Arkell v. Pressdram (1971)

http://www.nasw.org/users/nbauman/arkell.htm

Hi obiter dictum, Thanks for the reply.

 

Well I understand your view, but it is not the amount, it is that I cannot believe that it is legal for a company to demand payment from me for a service that I did not know anything about bearing in mind that I have no contract with them for any service at all as the contract is between the carrier and the seller, and as I wrote originally who decides the amount? As I have not been advised of any cost and given the option to decline, it could be set to any number that they feel that they can get away with.

 

Once again thanks

I also believe there is no legal obligation to pay their admin fees. No contract was agreed with them and therefore there is no legal liability to pay the admin fees.

IF they issue a court claim they will need to prove legal liability for the debt. As you did not create a contract and there is no LEGAL statute that grants them the power to bill you for a service not requested they should not be able to support their claim.

I have sent out an SOS for other site team input.

ALSO a DCA cannot take you to court for a debt they do not owe. It is a threatening letter, nothing more. They have the same right to take you to court as I do for that £12 (and any charges they imposed)

Plenty of authority on contracts of carriage, would guess [without looking at the terms you agreed to] the contract was formed with the airway bill or bill of lading. Whether you understood what you agreed to or the ancillary charge for clearance is another matter entirely, as far as the business is concerned it had your authority to act on your behalf. If the information was witheld from you by the consignor your gripe should be with it not the agent acting on your instruction, perhaps the consignor will reimburse you the fee?

Can't say whether the fee is reasonable or not in the circumstances but if you feel that strongly about it don't pay it and move on. Seems commercial suicide to sue for £12.00 so I'd imagine it will send a few begging letters and give up, it certainly can't attack your credit files so there's relatively little it can do to pressurise payment.

For info please check the Companies Terms & Conditions mentioned in post#1 (Hobby)

As they state:

Do your listing prices include tax?

None of our product pricing includes tax and we do not charge taxes or extra fees on top of our advertised product price and shipping/handling.

However, it is your responsibility to pay any fees charged by your local customs or postal office, should they be incurred.

It also states in their T&C they are Governed by Hong Kong Law.

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies. Lots to think about so a bit confused. Also getting lots of heat from my wife to pay the money and move on!

I will let you know what the outcome is.

Regards

Mike

don't pay any admin fees to anyone.

and what you might owe

pay the courier directly

dx

I myself had this issue with FedEx in 2012

I left a rather expensive jacket in my hotel room in Vegas. It cost me £50.00 to get it back through FedEx

A month later i was hit with a supposed VAT and handling charge of about £35.00.

Strange as i purchased the jacket in the UK before i left and still had the original receipt. I eneded up with a letter before action from some pseudo solicitors.

At the end of the day i emailed the solicitor threatening them with a counter claim etc. They never responded and i was never contacted again.

I am still of the opinion you pay the £12.00 direct to FedEx and forget the extra collection charges. Do not give your debit card details, use a cheque or online banking. I stuck to my guns and they did capitulate, but they were trying to stuff me for both VAT and a handling charge

Once again there is no legal basis on which to force the OP to pay admin fees.

The contract is with the seller not the person receiving the parcel.

Legally the receiver of the parcels are responsible for VAT but NOT admin fees unless agreed with in advance.

Unless you can come up with a statutory instrument that gives the courier company legal right to create and enforce a contract on a a third party without consent, then advising them to pay this charge goes against CAGs aim of Consumer Protection.

I understand that Sabresheep

This goes back to Royal Mail and their own customs handling charges.

These companies have been doing this for decades with no litigation through the courts, you have to ask yourself why??

I am looking at ths through logical eyes

They are asking for £12.00

Put that against putting in a court claim with no Guarantee of sucess

No one has explained why they canot charge these fees being a commercial operator that is probably buried deep in the small print

I am not saying it is right or fair, just peace of mind

Hi obiter dictum,

Thanks for the heads up. I Have contacted Fedex and paid the £12 and got a confirmation number along with an email showing the account is now fully paid. However I did pay using my Card, so I am a bit concerned.

While chatting with the call centre operator she noticed that the account had been passed over to Control account and became a bit windy about accepting the payment. However, after a bit more chat by me, it all went through ok.

I must say that I am not happy but my wife is.

Hi SabreSheep,

Thanks once again for your input and if it was only me I would do as you suggest, but it is not. I still feel that it is not over yet as Control account are bound to fight on for their share, what ever that is.

I have however got my wife's backing in not paying them a penny. So as they say 'watch this space'.

Best regards and thanks

Mike

well done..

dx

Should they take the extra from your account now that they have the details, you can claim it back as an unauthorised payment.

Sabresheep

I have used your comment in an official complaint direct to Victioria Embankment subject to the official complaints procedure. 56 Days now and counting backwards to bypass the usual corporate sensitive phone drones on this issue

I will update with a response when received

Indeed I cannot find a single case where these couriers have taken a someone receiving a packet to court for ADMIN fees.

Mainly because there is no legal instrument to IMPOSE a contractual obligation on a third party without prior consent. They would not be able to prove their claim.

Now even if their company says T+Cs etc, that is irrelevant. The t+Cs apply only to the sender.

Think about it. Credit card company's say their T+Cs allow them to charge various administrative payments for going over limit or late payment. BUT they have 99% settled before court the cases taken against them. Just because a company or industry do something for decades and have it in their T+Cs, does not make it legal or lawful or enforceable.

I understand that Sabresheep

 

They are asking for £12.00

 

Put that against putting in a court claim with no Guarantee of sucess

 

No one has explained why they canot charge these fees being a commercial operator that is probably buried deep in the small print

 

As already said, small print is not binding on a THIRD PARTY

Noone has explained why they CAN charge admin fees. And in court a debt owed has to be PROVED not disproved.

As already said, small print is not binding on a THIRD PARTY

 

Noone has explained why they CAN charge admin fees. And in court a debt owed has to be PROVED not disproved.

Depends what the importer/consignee agreed to.

International conventions [CMR, Hague Visby etc] are a different animal to domestic carriage.

If the original poster on this thread was invited to contract carriage [which by his own account is the case]

including ancillary fees its a contract between the carrier and the consignee.

Not sure how productive a defence of 'I didn't read the T's & C's' would be.

If the consignor supplied the goods on ex works terms its a contract between the carrier and the consignee,

if the consignor supplied the goods on FCA terms its a contract between the carrier and the consignee.

Not sure why the rights of third parties would apply except perhaps in the event that the heads of sale/purchase were agreed on DDP terms.

To be frank, I think £12.00 is a reasonable price. I seem to remember that at one time Fedex charged import clearance and advancement [on deferment] as 2 separate fees but it now appears to have combined the 2 with no charge for the clearance. Its fees are published for ocassional importers and available on its website.

I'm all for not paying where no service is provided or where the fee appears penury but in the instance of clearing imports I'm pretty sure you'd have an uphill battle convincing any judge the charge was disproportionate.

As I said; if the op felt that strongly about it and had chosen not to pay I can't imagine any business pursuing a £12.00 fee in court.

Hi all,

I have started a new thread

Why Fedex will never take you to court(in my opinion)

I am interested in views and comments