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sturgm

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  1. Once again, thanks very much obiter dictum. Always there with reassuring advice that lighten's the mood. I wish it worked as well with my wife, who fears we will end up destitute .
  2. Hi to everybody who is interested Just to let you know that the demand from Controlaccounts has gone up from £25 to £65 in only 5 days. Once again the letter is quite menacing and demanding. Ignoring it is quite a challenge.
  3. Hi obiter dictum and Old Cogger Once more thanks very much for your input and advice. It looks as though I have two options. Ignore them and wait for them to 'run out of steam' or send them something in writing in the hope that they will desist from contacting me. All this hassle sure makes me wish that I had paid the £23 to FedEx in the beginning (sigh!). I will have to have a think about this and let you know the outcome. Once again thanks for the help
  4. Hi obiter dictum, Thanks for the response. The company are (drum roll) ... Controlaccount. Based in Worcestershire. They have made my life quite unsettling for the last few months with their stream of ever demanding letters and phone calls.
  5. Hi Old Cogger, Thanks for your input. I have (as mentioned earlier) actually paid FedEx direct the £12 and received an email from them notifying me that the account has been settled in full. The more worrying turn is that I have now been contacted by the DCA demanding their costs of £25. Advice on this would be appreciated and hopefully I qualify as a 'genuine peep' ?
  6. Hi ericsbrother, Thanks for the reply. As I have written earlier it is not the money but the way in which it is assumed that they can charge what they like and not get challenged. They just billed me £12 with no explanation as to what it related to other than the generic term 'Admin' Is £12 good value? Was I given the option to decline and do as you suggest? If you engaged a company to cut your grass for an agreed price (say £25) and when finished they came back and informed you that an extra amount of £50 was due because they had also cut your hedge as it was needed (in their opinion) to access the lawn. Would you pay? Once again thanks for you view.
  7. Oh Dear, Looks like I have missed the boat
  8. 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
  9. Having read this Default Re: Royal Mail Customs handling Fee Response all what follows is pretty well useless Oh dear Looks like I have missed the boat. Hi all, Having had some time to think about my situation with FedEx a few ideas have surfaced. But before I start I will apologise in advance to anybody who may feel that I have misrepresented or distorted the facts to justify my hypothesise about the subject. These are just the type of thoughts and ideas that wander through one’s head in the early hours of the morning. So here I go. FedEx et all will never take any one to court over the admin fee as it stands to loose a massive revenue stream if it looses the case. Why? Current business model for £100 value item of weight 500gms for a casual importer. Offer to ship item for £22 from China to UK house address. Deliver said item to address. Send recipient a bill for customs fees (£30) and admin charge (£12). Previous year’s Model of costs £22 carriage and £8 admin. Hypothetical next year’s carriage cost £22 and admin £18. This is looking very good. Next year cost £22 and admin £24. This is looking even better. They have kept their offer price of carriage fixed at £22 but increased their revenue by approximately %150. And it gets better still. The logistics of getting a parcel from China to the UK is no small challenge. Whereas a few key taps on a PC key board is generating more revenue. It would appear that FedEx should become an admin company and subcontract the carriage I know that is could be viewed as quite simplistic, but it should give one a flavour of the idea. Well what about the other carriers. It would appear that they are all doing the same. Where is the competition? No need to increase your quotes just increase the admin. Cartel? Transparency? Confusion? So, If you refuse to pay what will any of the carriers do? Well originally not a lot. I noticed that most successful results against Fedex are historic. If you complained they would waive the admin cost. However a recent visit to Controlaccounts web site boasts For a leading global freight company weimproved cashflow by 12%, see how we can do the same for you. And who might that be? Now this is the Nub of the issue. Fear and threats work on most people where money is concerned and getting a DCA involved allows FedEx to be hands off. Threatening to sue clients is not their businesses. Also the task of defending your action against such a barrage of threats is quite daunting especially for £12 along with no guaranteed chance of winning against the might of a giant international corporation and no clear precedent. The outcome is pay up. However if by chance a valiant knight comes to the rescue and challenges the Dragon what might happen. Without doubt, FedEx would walk away long before it went to court as the last thing it wants is a precedent to be established about this very grey area against the plaintive. Why? They could lose, and that risk of £12 vs. £10000’s of annual income is not a good bet. And so for as long as this situation lasts one has two choice (1) pay up and shut up (2) Do not pay and be prepared for a long unpleasant time of threats, abuse, fear, anxiety, lasting over many months that should result in no £12 admin fee being paid.
  10. 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
  11. 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
  12. 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?
  13. 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
  14. 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
  15. 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.
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