Another learning experience Part II

Well, of course it is not straightforward...

I have paid DHL the £17.00 requested to have the parcel delivered and it was delivered the next day.

Today I thought I'd reclaim the overpayment. I started to fill in the BOR286 and noticed that at the top it says it is for Royal Mail and Parcelforce deliveries only.

So back to HMRC and their web chat. Again, it took only a few minutes to connect to an adviser and this time I was directed to Postal Form C285.

It appeared to be an online form so I started to fill it in. On page 2 of the form, I find that information HMRC needs is not on the waybill I have from DHL. So the only thing to do is contact DHL. The phone number on the waybill is 08442 09 01 02. It rings and a voice says 'The number you require has changed...' and reels off the new number and tells me I have not been charged for this call. I call the new number and and get the information I need read over the phone.

It is not until I reach the page where I am asked how much the overpayment is, that it tells me that they do not refund fees charged by the agent. I am now beginning to wonder if it worthwhile continuing as I am only going to get £6.85 back.

I called DHL again to find out if I can claim back the advance payment of £10.15 as I was not liable to pay the VAT on the parcel. The answer is no, but the operator gave me an email address to write to. I will email DHL because the payment was not due.

Back to the form. I have completed it and find it has to be printed and sent by post with supporting evidence to HMRC. A bit more expense! I expect a lot of people give up trying to get a refund at this point, because it is taking a lot of time and energy asking for such a small amount to be refunded.

This could happen to me every time I order copies from CreateSpace, so perhaps I should think about using a UK-based printer in future.