Club Obi Wan

I got a Wested Horse 2 weeks ago, and had it delivered to my work address so it wouldn't sit outside at home. I paid for shipping up front, along with the order on my debit card. Last week my boss sold the company without telling us and a bunch of us were fired for being 'redundant'. In any case, now my former employer's book keeper is trying to tell me that DHL is trying to bill them 30.00 for shipping because of my jacket?


What the #### is that about? Ive emailed my order summary to my former employer that shows the shipping already paid for, but since I paid for it on my personal card, why would my former employer even be involved if there was some charge? Why wouldn't it just be charged to me?

Why would there be some other charge, anyway, since I paid for shipping up front?

Im really confused?

FYI
We have received a shipping bill from DHL for $30.43 for a leather jacket you received. That amount will be deducted from your last pay check.

Customs charges

But why is my former employer getting it? Why isn't it just charged all at once? Every other thing I have ever ordered international has not had a separate customs fee 2 weeks after the item delivery, including the first Wested I ever bought in 2001. Ive always paid the price for whatever up front. Either Peter needs to adjust his pricing, or DHL need to get thier head out and charge that stuff up front.

I got terminated last week and now my former employer (That is holding all my money while they sort out 'payroll issues') gets to extort a little more from my last check. It just adds more embarrassment onto the fact that they paid no severance to anyone, and we had all worked there for 5 years or more.

*sigh*

Did you have the jacket delivered to your company address? If so, that's where the custom bill was sent.

As was said above, more than likely their customs charges, and that billing isn't issued from or through DHL. It's charged by what ever company handled the customs inspection at the time it entered the country. DHL has nothing to do with it.

Regards! Michaelson

Michaelson wrote:Did you have the jacket delivered to your company address? If so, that's where the custom bill was sent.

As was said above, more than likely their customs charges, and that billing isn't issued from or through DHL. It's charged by what ever company handled the customs inspection at the time it entered the country. DHL has nothing to do with it.

Regards! Michaelson

Really? When Peter was using Parcel Force, did anyone in the States get slapped with customs fees? I never did.

If you receive a customs bill after you receive the package it's up to you whether you want to pay it or not. A lot of these companies (UPS is the most notorious, at least in years gone by) charge random brokerage fees for getting your stuff through customs (even if customs didn't put a charge on the package themselves). It's almost like a "hidden fee". Usually when customs requires payment to get packages cleared, the courier company then contacts the recipient about the additional charges. There have been times, for example, where I've refused to accept a package based on the customs charges, and it's then up to customs to destroy the package or waive the fee.

Kind regards,
Magnoli

Forrest For the Trees wrote: Really? When Peter was using Parcel Force, did anyone in the States get slapped with customs fees? I never did.

I did. $20 something bucks.

Problem is that, since im no longer there (along with about 1/3 my company that was in that building) My last check still is, so in order to get paid Ill have to pay it anyway. The comptroller for the sister company in the building handled payroll/receivable/payable for both companies. I could explain all this to her, but she's a witch and would charge it to me out of spite anyway. The tone of the rest of her emails to me, today, all but implied that I did it on purpose.

I politely reminded her that, two weeks ago, had her boss bothered to let us know he was selling our jobs and livlihood to a larger conglomerate, I wouldn't have saddled them with such a huge burden, but out of my last money for who knows how long Ill make sure that they get what they feel they are entitled to receive.

Forrest For the Trees wrote:

Michaelson wrote:Did you have the jacket delivered to your company address? If so, that's where the custom bill was sent.

As was said above, more than likely their customs charges, and that billing isn't issued from or through DHL. It's charged by what ever company handled the customs inspection at the time it entered the country. DHL has nothing to do with it.

Regards! Michaelson

Really? When Peter was using Parcel Force, did anyone in the States get slapped with customs fees? I never did.

I did when I had things shipped to my house, but it stopped when I had it shipped to my place of work instead.

Regards! Michaelson

Seems to be some inconsistency to that .....

I have always had Wested jackets shipped to my house & I have yet to incur customs fees using either DHL or Parcel Force.

I've had it happen with DHL a time or two, but never with other carriers. Not that it means much...I could just be lucky. Unfortunately, there are sometimes legitimate duties placed on items and the cost is carried over to the recipient at whatever address it is being delivered. DHL and customs don't know where your home address is, just where the package is going. So it's the unlucky sod on the receiving end that gets stuck with the bill. At my company they would simply refuse it, so I guess maybe you can happy you are at least going to get it? I suspect that, had it been refused, it would have been chucked into the bin and you would be out a jacket *and* what you paid for it. Not good.

Sorry about the job situation. That sounds seriously unfun. I wish you the best of luck!

Interesting approach that DHL bill you after delivery. The times I've been charged here couriers have held onto the package to make sure I'd paid up. It does add insult to injury that they charge you an extra handling charge to do it, but from their point of view: Why should they be a tax collector for free?

But as the others have said, stuff from abroad theoretically should attract taxes/duty/whatever? It's just that most of the time we expect to get away with it!

So you do seem to have a choice (personally I'd bite the bullet as the bureaucracy of dealing with shipping companies would be worse than the money lost!). It may not be worth it to make sure you get your paycheque.

Things seem to be handled a bit differently here in the States than over there in the U.K., KT.

Sometimes they charge a fee, and sometimes they just throw the package from the ship directly onto a delivery truck and send them on. There's no real pattern one can put their finger on as to how it will be handled from one shipment to the next.

Deliveries have slowed down considerabily since 9/11, but not the fee collecting pattern, or lack there-of.

Regards! Michaelson

I received one of those bills from DHL as well.
Last time the delivery guy demanded payment at the door, but, this time they billed me after the fact.
$20 customs duty plus a $6 administrative fee from DHL.

The U. S. Post Office used to require payment due at drop off/pick up when they were shipped by Parcel Force....predecessor to the DHL shipper choice.

Regards! Michaelson

In Japan most deliveries aren't handled by DHL staff, but by a company called "Black cat/Kuroneko" (In Japanese), and I've had the bills, bit several times have asked to pay them later, and then just forgotten about the bill (the first time, then not really forgotten but didn't pay), and each time there's been no comeback at all from DHL.. I didn't like the idea of paying 30+ online to Wested to ship it, and then being charged more or less that when it arrived, since if that was "essential" for the cost of sending, I'd have (surely) been charged when it shipped...

But, DHL don't seem worried about recuperating their "costs" in anyway, so I'm guessing that it's just something that they throw in to try and get a little extra out of the deal...Which is rather dodgy business practice in my opinion?

If it's essential, we should be billed and told about the cost before we click the shipping charge at the site we're using...Doing it otherwise is a little snide...

I reckon...

fifthchamber wrote:In Japan most deliveries aren't handled by DHL staff, but by a company called "Black cat/Kuroneko" (In Japanese), and I've had the bills, bit several times have asked to pay them later, and then just forgotten about the bill (the first time, then not really forgotten but didn't pay), and each time there's been no comeback at all from DHL.. I didn't like the idea of paying 30+ online to Wested to ship it, and then being charged more or less that when it arrived, since if that was "essential" for the cost of sending, I'd have (surely) been charged when it shipped...

But, DHL don't seem worried about recuperating their "costs" in anyway, so I'm guessing that it's just something that they throw in to try and get a little extra out of the deal...Which is rather dodgy business practice in my opinion?

If it's essential, we should be billed and told about the cost before we click the shipping charge at the site we're using...Doing it otherwise is a little snide...

I reckon...

Hey, Fifth, I think you are slightly misunderstanding what this charge is. The courier company is obliged to take a random sampling of packages and check them for value, then charge duty on them if applicable.

With this method, sometimes you get away with out being charged, sometimes you don't. It's not Wested's, or DHL's fault if you get picked for sampling. It's a bit like going through the green channel when coming through the airport, you probably don't go through the red channel and declare everything every time do you? (Canadians I know you guys kinda have to...).

I guess it's possible to declare the value and ask to pay duty up front, but why do that when most packages don't get picked up for the charge? I agree that the inspection charge/handling fee is quite hefty. But like I said it's caused by Customs in your country.

Michaelson wrote:The U. S. Post Office used to require payment due at drop off/pick up when they were shipped by Parcel Force....predecessor to the DHL shipper choice.

Regards! Michaelson

This is exactly how it went down for me. In the past, when I ordered, and then received a jacket from
overseas, whether it was from Wested, or places like Aero Leather in Scottland, I got a notice in my mailbox
from the post office that said if I wanted my package, that I had to come down and pay the customs fee.
I could not get my package unless I paid for it first.

I had one custom B-3 jacket made by Aero that cost me $78.00 in customs fees!

Anyone remember the company PBB? And the nastygrams they used to send out about collecting
customes fees after a package was delivered?

I had a HUGE battle with these people over a customs delivery fee pertaining to a Wested jacket
that I sent back for alterations that I already paid customs fees for originally.

One of our memebers here on this forum, who lived near the PBB building stepped in, and helped
get these people off my back, and stop their threatening letters.

Hopefully PBB is long gone! No one should have to endure what I went thru with them with any
delivery company.

Flathead

FLATHEAD wrote:[ Anyone remember the company PBB? And the nastygrams they used to send out about collecting customes fees after a package was delivered?

Yep.

I was never on the receiving end of one of those nastygrams, but that topic popped up every other week around here when someone DID get one.

I haven't heard of them since Peter changed to DHL shipping.

Regards! Michaelson