Another learning experience - The Outcome

I am happy to report that I have just checked my visa statement and found a credit for £17.00 from DHL.

I also contacted CreateSpace about the labelling issue raised by DHL and they have acknowledged and are reviewing my feedback.

Another learning experience Part IV

Just when you think you’re getting somewhere...
I have received an email from DHL which reads:

Customer Accounting

DEBORAH MILES
DUTY & VAT PI PREPAYMENT

Reference: Customer Num: DUTYGBCSH Invoice: XXXXXXXXXXX 13th November 2017

Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for contacting DHL in regards to above mentioned invoice and the tariff used on the entry.

To enable me to submit an amendment to HMRC we are required to obtain the correct Tariff for these goods, along with supporting product or technical literature describing the imported item(s). As the importer is legally responsible for the correct classification it would be appreciated if you could confirm the code along with the classification method using the declaration enclosed.

The correct tariff should be established by reference to the UK Trade tariff and classification guidance provided by HMRC at https://www.gov.uk/finding-commodity-codes, or by emailing the classification enquiry service at classification.enquiries@hmrc.gsi.gov.uk with the information detailed at https://www.gov.uk/guidance/classification-of-goods.

To support the change of commodity code, please provide technical specification for the goods which should include:

• What the product is
• What it is made of
• If it’s made of more than one material please explain the breakdown of the materials
• What it’s used for
• How the product works / functions
• How it’s presented for sale and packaged.

In addition to the above; please supply any extra information (including sales literature and advertising material) that will help to identify the exact nature of the goods.
Alternatively, if you have a Binding Tariff agreement with HMRC, we can declare this to customs on receipt of a copy or Reference Number. This will enable us to make the claim without the below declaration.

With effect from the 9th March 2015 DHL now charge £30.00 Post Clearance Modification fee for all post entry amendments which we are requested to submit to HMRC on our customers behalf. This is listed in our standard tariff guide and will need to be agreed prior to your amendment being completed.

Please provide this information or Binding Tariff confirmation within 7 days. If no response is received you will need to re-log the query via our call centre on 08442 480777
If I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact me on the details below. Further information can also be obtained from Customs on 03002003700 or at www.hmrc.gov.uk

Yours sincerely,

Whilst I realise that it is probably a standard letter, it does not address my particular issue. As I understand it, the tariff was correct on the paperwork, so there is no need to change it. I have replied and answered all the questions they need answered, except the one about how the product works/functions, as I don’t think I could do so without appearing facetious. I have also stated that I do not intend to pay any charges; rather I am expecting a refund.

I wait with bated breath for the next instalment! 

Another learning experience Part III

Well, the email to DHL, providing them with the same evidence HMRC need to process a refund produced the following reply:

We would like to take this opportunity to advise you that the Advance payment / Disbursement fee is applied to those customers who do not operate their own deferment account with HM Revenue & Customs or those who do not wish to authorise us to use their deferment account.

The amount is for advance payments of money that we have lodged with Customs, in order to enable the clearance of those shipments which attract import charges.
The £11.00 is a minimum fee and this increases to 2.5% of the outlay when greater than £440.00.

If you have your own deferment account, then you can authorise DHL to use it for future shipments.

If you are proposing that we should use DHL’s deferment account on future shipments then this fee will be applicable.

It is the shipper’s and importer’s responsibility to look into what charges will be levied on import of shipments.

Unfortunately we are unable to refund you this charge.

Please let us know if you need more assistance.

While this explains how their charges are arrived at, it did not address my particular issue that the VAT was not due on my package. Feeling aggrieved, I sent them a reply addressing the points they had made and ended by telling them that I am not a satisfied customer.

A few days later I received an email from a named individual, not the generic mailbox.

Thank you for your email, which has been passed to me to review.

I have checked the commercial invoice sent by Amazon, and they have stated under description of goods ‘Orchard View’  rather than Book – Orchard View, however they did state a Harmonised tariff code for ‘book’, which should have been picked up by our imports team.

I have advised our collection team to release the shipment without payment, and we will cancel the charges and reclaim them directly from HMRC.

Please accept my apologies for this error.

I am concerned that the writer thinks it is just a matter of waiving charges rather than effecting a refund, so I have sent an email thanking them for looking into this matter and asked for the refund to be sent to my credit card.

Of course, another matter raised in the above email is that CreateSpace, who sent the package, did not label it correctly, so I will contact them and let them know about the problems I have been having because it is something which likely affects a lot of people.

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.