DHL Customs Charge

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 2:46 pm

I just got the customs bill for my Wested jacket. It came from DHL Worldwide Express, not PBB Global, and it was for $79. The invoice shows the following charges:
Customs Duty $9
Customs MPF $25
Processing Fee $5
Single Transaction $40

I was expecting the bill to be $25-30. That's what most of the bills from PBB seem to be. I had it shipped to my work, so they sent the bill to the shipping/receiving dept. instead of to me directly. Would they charge more for a business than for an individual? I'm trying to figure out why there is such a big difference between the PBB and DHL bills.

FLATHEAD · Post by **FLATHEAD** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 3:21 pm

That is outragous!! The bill should not be that high!

The duty on any object coming into the United States is calculated by
taking the declared value of the object, which is what Peter should have
written on the customs documentation, and you multiply that amount
by 6 percent.

Customs recieves a 6 percent fee for any object with a declared value of
200 american dollars or more. Your jacket should have had a customs
fee of about 15 or 16 dollars. (This is slightly higher than in the past due
to the american dollars current exchange rate).

Then, the DHL charge should have been $7.50, for a total of between
$22 and $23 dollars american.

That extra $40 bucks is bulls**t. On your receipt, there should be a
number to call customs. It is usually the customs agency in New York.

Call them, and ask for the paperwork to dispute your charge. I had to
do that once, and they were actually pretty good about it.

It took them 90 days, but I did get my money back.

Now, the fact that you had your jacket sent to a business may be another
thing altogether. You wouldn't think so, but in todays world, you never
know.

Flathead

IndianaFist · Post by **IndianaFist** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 3:23 pm

That 40 dollar charge looks like there charging you shipping? Did you pay for shipping through Peter? Because it looks like there trying to get it out of you again!

Captain D · Post by **Captain D** » Tue Mar 09, 2004 10:50 pm

Dang! I've got a new Wested coming in about 2 weeks!!!

I didn't count on a $79 dollar fee!!!!

Captain D

Bufflehead Jones · Post by **Bufflehead Jones** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 3:06 am

I would check on that bill to see why they are charging you extra. I just got my bill from DHL and it is $17.33 for Customs Duty and $5.00 for Processing Fee for a grand total of $22.33.

Scandinavia Jones · Post by **Scandinavia Jones** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 4:35 am

I think I got off lucky - maybe because I'm in Europe - I didn't have to pay any extra tax. What about you other European gearheads- is it an EU thing?

Yep, intra-community business is (or, at least, should be) duty-free.

When shipping between Europe and USA, the customs fees can be outrageous. When you ship with USPS or other official mail services, the stuff mostly slips through customs. When shipping with one of the big freighters - DHL, UPS, FedEx - they are obligated to record the shipment and report it to the customs officials. In other words - they provide a reliable service, but the again, you won't get away with the import fees...

/SJ

PETER · Post by **PETER** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 5:48 am

THat is not right. Send me an email with your details and I will check it out with DHL.
Cheers
Peter

Indiana Ace · Post by **Indiana Ace** » Wed Mar 10, 2004 7:05 am

I live in the E-U and had no extra charge at all when i received my jacket from Peter 2 years ago.
But i ordered a whip from Robert Duke and i'm very affraid of the amount of the taxes i'm gonna have to pay

SAB · Post by **SAB** » Thu Mar 11, 2004 6:14 pm

Try being in Australia.

The customs charge is enormous.

Mr. Das · Post by **Mr. Das** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 2:07 am

Same with Canada. I can't remember my amount, but it's close to a hundred.

Indiana Weasel · Post by **Indiana Weasel** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:18 am

Well, if I remember rightly, the EU has what the french call T.V.A. which is translates roughly to an added value tax, which is already added in the price. So whenever you go shopping overseas you never have to worry about pesky sales taxes like you do in the states. Since the current state of the EU I think it is pretty much a free trade area with all countries involved, so there shouldn't think there were any duties to be paid. Kinda like US, Canada, and Mexico. Well, at least tequila (nod to Dalex's Joes Cuervo) and whiskey are cheaper.......

Raider · Post by **Raider** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 12:54 pm

come on guys - don't be so surprised. I paid +50% of the Jacket's value!
Welcome to Poland...

I'll tell you one thing. I feel my authentic lamb was worth all money of the world

Greetings

:junior: Raider

Indiana Ace · Post by **Indiana Ace** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 2:50 pm

Raider, at least you have ONE good reason to be happy that Poland is about to enter the EU. At least there will be no more import taxes on your future Wested jackets

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 11:44 pm

I called DHL and asked about the charge. The single transaction charge is for some sort of bond. If I fax a copy of the bond to them, then they will remove the $40 charge. I'm not sure what the bond is really for, or what sending them a copy of it does, but that's what they told me.

Raider · Post by **Raider** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:34 am

Indiana Ace - right!

That's why I'm waiting until may with other possible decisions

:junior: Raider

IndyMo · Post by **IndyMo** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 8:40 am

cknight wrote:I called DHL and asked about the charge. The single transaction charge is for some sort of bond. If I fax a copy of the bond to them, then they will remove the $40 charge. I'm not sure what the bond is really for, or what sending them a copy of it does, but that's what they told me.

Geesh! that still a $39 customs fee - That seems a bit high.

Mike

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 10:31 am

The actual customs duty was only $9, witha $5 dollar fee to DHL. I forgot to ask what the $25 MPF fee was for.

-- edit - MPF fee was $25, not $5

IndyMo · Post by **IndyMo** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 10:43 am

cknight wrote:The actual customs duty was only $9, witha $5 dollar fee to DHL. I forgot to ask what the $5 MPF fee was for.

Oh - ok that does seem a lot more reasonable.

Mo

FLATHEAD · Post by **FLATHEAD** » Sun Mar 14, 2004 11:39 am

I called DHL and asked about the charge. The single transaction charge is for some sort of bond. If I fax a copy of the bond to them, then they will remove the $40 charge. I'm not sure what the bond is really for, or what sending them a copy of it does, but that's what they told me.

They seem pretty open like the customs people once you show them that
THEY made a mistake.

BUT, you will ALWAYS have to show them their errors! These types of
businesses will never admit they made a mistake. But once you show them
they did, they are pretty quick to fix it.

It may take a few weeks up to three months to see your money back,
like I did when I disputed my customs charges awhile ago, but I did
eventually get my money.

They want you to fax them a copy of your information because the
person you talked to didn't have a clue as to where to look for your
information!

This is what happened to me with PBB for over a year! Not one single person
I talked to there could find my information about the mistake THEY made
about what I owed them! And I sent them the information 4 different
times!!

It wasn't until Shalimar offered to help me because he lives near PBB
that my problem ended. He had to again, give them ALL my docuements
because they couldn't seem to find a single document of mine that
they are supposed to have had.

Just keep up with these people, and don't give in.

Flathead

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 9:22 pm

FYI, I got some more info from Wested:

"According to DHL this end it is all customs charges as your jacket went
through a "Bonded Warehouse". This is a Customs facility and is
normally reserved for Tobacco, Alcohol and other highly taxed items.
Why your jacket has to go through it no-one knows. "

Maybe someone (or some dog) at DHL thought the leather smelled like tobacco.

And some good news - my altered jacket has been shipped, although its been stuck in Cincinnati for about 3 days.

Indiana Weasel · Post by **Indiana Weasel** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 9:34 pm

a scene from beverly hills cop comes to mind, ahh but that was cleveland, not cincinatti......

Captain D · Post by **Captain D** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:45 pm

My DHL charge.......$170 dollars

:evil:......Is this right, or should I fight it?

kind regards,
Captain D

Indiana Texas-girl · Post by **Indiana Texas-girl** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:56 pm

Captain D wrote:My DHL charge.......$170 dollars :evil:......Is this right, or should I fight it?

kind regards,
Captain D

Oh my, that doesn't sound right. I'd fight it and let Peter know as well. With the couple of reports of overcharges lately, it's makin' me scared to order a Wested or anything from overseas.

cknight · Post by **cknight** » Tue Mar 16, 2004 9:22 am

I would definitely call and see why its so much. They were pretty easy to deal with when I called.
I'm sure Peter/Gerry would be willing to help, but its probably easier to for you to do it because of the time difference and its on our side of the ocean.