I spoke to the managing directors office at parcelforce and got my parcelforce charge waived. At the onset of my transaction I had never been aware of the parcelforce charge. It is quite simple. The parcelforce charge has nothing to do with customs charges. I knew at the onset what my customs charges were and paid them straight away.

There is no £10.00 charge. Where I have on a number of occasions made it clear what my objection is you still bring up customs and Vat charges. The title of this thread is Parcelforce fees for collecting VAT. Can you therefore keep any response to this subject and not again advise on Customs and Vat charges. My concern would be that consumers would think that clearance fees, vat and duty are one and the same when they are not.

Why am I not in a position to dispute? I read the shipping terms of the retailer and they advised all costs would be covered for shipping. Had they stated clearance or handling charges would be added I would have checked what those were. I have not been invoiced yet, but noted you have advised it will cost another £10.00. That seems like a lot of money to generate an invoice, but then £13.50 is a lot in clearance fees. I did speak to manager at my local parcelforce depot about paying the customs charges and not paying the clearance fee. He was fully aware of the laws on this and agreed to invoice me later for the clearance fee. He did not mention a £10.00 charge at any point. Can you please advise further as it's the first I have heard of this. I am aware of the duty and taxes and they have nothing to do with my post. I did not need the shipper to advise me the duty tariffs on importing footwear into the UK as I know what they are.

I don't expect Parcelforce to do anything for free. I expect the shipper to advise me of the full charges involved in getting the parcel from the shipper to the receiver. This involves the courier taking into account all of their overheads. Clearance is an overhead to the courier in shipping the product I purchased. Therefore clearance should be taken into account as an overhead and added onto the shipping fee. I should not later receive a clearance bill. If the actual cost of clearing my purchase is £13.50 why are parcelforce not passing this on to USPS who can then pass it on to the shipper? I would then receive an actual cost of shipping when I make my purchase. USPS would be in a better position to negotiate this cost down than I am. USPS maybe already think they are paying parcelforce for clearance. I don't know. Until I see the contract between USPS and parcelforce I have no idea what USPS are paying parcelforce for. If USPS are aware there is a further courier fee and are not advising this to the retailer this is a different matter. Or maybe USPS did make the retailer aware and they did not pass this information on. I was given certain information when I made my purchase and it did not involve clearance fees. When I get the bill from Parcelforce I can go down the chain and see who was misinformed. I just want everyone else on the forum to be aware that Parcelforce cannot withhold a parcel if you have paid customs duty and vat. They will later bill you for the clearance fee. The clearance fee is the only point I am disputing.

I have clearly explained that both the retailer and myself were fully aware that there would be a duty and tax charge. I have no issue with the this. The full customs and tax charge is £18.00 which I have paid. There is however an extra charge that is nothing to do with customs or the import laws of the UK. It is a £13.50 charge that parcelforce have added on for clearance. My shipping charge was $35.00. Parcelforce should charge USPS a fee for clearing and delivering their parcels in the UK. The shipping charge I was given should have included all costs. If my actual shipping costs are actually approx $56.00 then I want to be made aware of this upfront. Once I receive the bill from parcelforce I will be taking this up with the retailer and USPS. It maybe that USPS are aware the receiver will receive this charge - if so I will take this up with the BBB. However it may also be the case that Parcelforce are charging USPS for clearing and handling and then charging the customer. Until I receive the bill and take this further I do not know who is at fault. I must be clear that my post is nothing to do with customs or tax it is only about courier charges.

The carrier should always declare the goods and as I stated I was happy to pay the £18.00 duty and tax. I checked with customs today and they only charge the actual duty and tax. There is no extra charge as you have advised. The £13.50 is charged by Parcelforce not Customs.

You missed my point. 1. I didn't know I was going to be paying £13.50, neither did the retailer. It is an extra added charge by parcelforce. 2. This charge should be added into the shipping cost so the consumer is aware of it. Everyone has overheads and costs in business - they add it on to the final consumer cost. Parcelforce seem to think they can take SOME overheads and pass them on to the receiver. I am not interested in what it costs Parcelforce to get a parcel to me in breakdown I just want a correct shipping charge when I place an order.

I ordered shoes from a retailer in the US who advised on their website: 1. $35.00 flat shipping charge 2. Any additional duties and taxes assessed by customs are the responsibility of the receiver I worked the duty out about £17.50. Then I got a letter from parcelforce advising I wouldn't get my package until I paid £18.00 duty and tax and £13.50 handling fees. I called parcelforce and said I wouldn't pay the £13.50 but would pay the duty of £18.00. I then advised once I paid the duty they would be holding my parcel illegally. They agreed with this and delivered my parcel but are billing me for the £13.50. I contacted the retailer and they had no idea I would get these extra charges. I am faxing them the bill when I receive it and they are taking it up with USPS the courier they have a contract with. Parcelforce are in partnership with USPS to deliver parcels when they reach the UK. To me that means they handle them through customs and successfully deliver them. All costs incurred should be charged to USPS and not the receiver. I have no idea what the contract is between USPS and Parcelforce. However a shipping fee should include all charges included in getting the parcel from the shipper to the receiver. Customs do not levy an extra charge - they only request the actual duty and tax. Someone has earlier explained why Parcelforce have this charge. However this charge should be included in the shipping fee - not as an additional the receiver is unaware of, they are in effect charging extra for just doing thier job. They could start delivering parcels and charging extra taxes on fuel etc. It is the responsibilty of couriers to fully take into account all costs they will incur and pass a correct fee onto the shipper at the time they send the parcel. They are trying to charge me £13.50 - but really they could charge me anything they like as I was never made aware I had to pay a clearance/handling charge. I will be writing to them and telling them to take it up with the shipper and not me the receiver.