Fed Ex Formal notice??

[Flaming_Telepath]

It was a week later I received a letter from Fed Ex saying I owed them £17.09 in charges or taxes after the fact.

 

Have you asked them for the specifics? Exactly what do these charges relate to?

 

It might be a 'brokerage' fee, but it might be that they've paid import tax and VAT on your behalf...which they should not have done.

[Comicopolis]

Use your six guns on them. No one messes with Jonah Hex!

[Silver Surfer]

Yup paying the VAT directly makes sense otherwise FedEx could just have the parcel delayed in customs if they don't go through this process and then you would have to go to Customs to clear it yourself? I'm sure they have protocol to deal with when it comes to Canada Customs so its probably not their fault that they have to go this route as its the only way that they can maintain delivery times and service levels?

[vacantpassenger]

There is no way (at least by US law) that they can hold you responsible for those charges. If ANYBODY would be responsible for them, it would be whoever is paying for the postage - and at the time of payment for the shipment, not after. Don't worry about your credit, FedEx doesn't have your info nor the power to effect it in any negative manner.

 

This is basically a loss prevention tactic. What happens is that whoever accepted the parcel for shipment somehow forgot to add certain taxes or fees due to the international shipping. It's less cost effective for them to send it back to the shipper, so they pony up and expect the recipient to cover costs, which you are not in any way shape or form legally responsible for.

 

[1koko]

More likely that the labels on the box didn't mention that the item sent was a comic book.

 

There are no taxes in UK on importing comics purchased from abroad.

 

I recently got a fedex box for a Marvel #1 which cost a far lot more than the amount being discussed here.

 

The invoice was included in the document wallet disclosing the actual purchase cost of the comic.

 

No charge from Fedex for paying duty as none should have been applied.

 

 

If the box only had the value and didn't note that a comic was inside the duty would have been applied incorrectly.

[Count]

[VintageComics]

 

I'd never store my Marvel #1 in there.

 

[catrick339]

Oh and a few months ago, I got another Fed Ex box in the mail... (thumbs u

 

 

Well, there you go. If you got a FedEx package in the mail it seems obvious that they won't deliver to you, now will they?

 

HMMMM?

 

Just don't plss off the Post Office, LOL

[Frank_Griffith-migration]

It was a week later I received a letter from Fed Ex saying I owed them £17.09 in charges or taxes after the fact.

 

Have you asked them for the specifics? Exactly what do these charges relate to?

 

It might be a 'brokerage' fee, but it might be that they've paid import tax and VAT on your behalf...which they should not have done.

 

I'm in the same situation as Jonah Hex, except I live in Canada instead of UK. FedEx keeps sending me letters asking for a payment of $17.52. No specification about what these charges are for or anything, it's just a mysterious, unknown invoice. Naturally I suspected this was a scam so I kept throwing these letters away, and I never agreed to such charges. Whatever I order online, I always pay upfront using paypal. If there are extra import taxes or whatever, it's the FedEx guy's job to hold my package hostage until I pay them, and my choice to accept to pay them or refuse in which case the package simply gets returned to the sender.

 

But they are being persistent and this is the third and supposingly "final warning" letter now. After deciding to look up the address I got the letter from online, it does seem to be FedEx's legit office (PO BOX 4626 TORONTO STN A, ON M5W 5B4) which eventually led me to this topic. This time I highlighted the part "If payment has already made, please disregard this letter" part and mailed it back to them. Because whatever this charge is for I either already paid it, or never agreed for this "service".

 

It might be a bit too late hear back from Jonah Hex at this point since this is an old topic, but I'm just curious if anyone else who got harassed by FedEx with these letters could give me an update on how things went after ignoring these letters? I don't care if I get "blacklisted" from FedEx or whatever because I am obviously never ordering anything from them again after having to put up with this . I suspect these are just empty threats and scare tactics, but I don't want to get in legal trouble that would affect my credit in the event that they would really send the dept collectors at my home for such a small amount. Especially if it's money I "owe" for something I never asked/agreed for.

[Comicshrine]

Let me know how things go. Heritage auctions use Fedex and I've been hit with this invoice aswell, out of the last 5 times ordering something, 3 times I received this fedex letter after a week or so. I've paid as of now, as I thought I was paying import duties. I didn't know comic books where exempt.

 

On the next one I might ignore it, just because my credit profile can't get any worse, damn comic book collecting.........

[Comicshrine]

But I never get it when I order from Clink

[Frank_Griffith-migration]

Let me know how things go. Heritage auctions use Fedex and I've been hit with this invoice aswell, out of the last 5 times ordering something, 3 times I received this fedex letter after a week or so. I've paid as of now, as I thought I was paying import duties. I didn't know comic books where exempt.

 

On the next one I might ignore it, just because my credit profile can't get any worse, damn comic book collecting.........

 

Sure, I bookmarked this topic so I'll post here whenever there's an update (I hope this is my last post, ).

 

Well, I just received a 4th letter from FedEx, which appears to be identical to the one Jonah Hex mentioned in his first post. Naturally after ripping the letter to shreds, this was its final destination:

 

 

Hopefully FedEx will realize that they are wasting their time trying to extort a random amount of money from people when they are already spending that much in postage and paperwork! And whatever I ordered from FedEx was on ebay, (since everything I order online is on ebay) and ebay forces us to pay the import charges in advance for international orders. Which means whatever it was I ordered from FedEx, I already paid for the item, the shipping AND the import charges! There is NO reason to charge me extra fees!

 

FedEx is not getting any "donation" from me. What they're doing is extortion:

 

"Extortion, which is not limited to the taking of property, involves the verbal or written instillation of fear that something will happen to the victim if they do not comply with the extortionist's will. Another key distinction is that extortion always involves a verbal or written threat..."

[PIR8]

I work for a different carrier, and I've been told (don't know first hand) that our company never follows through on these, and that unless the receiver has signed an agreement stating they would handle any and all custom or brokerage fees (such as the agreement you sign when you create an account with a carrier) that there isn't a legal recourse for us to take. So as long as you're not an account holding customer, there wouldn't be anything we could do.

 

Again, don't know that that is fed Ex's policy, but from what I've heard its an empty threat.

[bababooey]

I don't know FedEx's policy on this either but not all firms "let these go" - some pursue it themselves for a period of time then move them to collection agencies to pursue & then they'll get a lesser percentage of any payments.

 

It is within the courier's legal right to perform the clearance & pay duty/taxes on your behalf, while the collection of fees is a bit less black & white. Ultimately most couriers can protect their bottom line by going back to the 'shipper guarantee of charges' but most tend to fight it out with recipients and get what they can - it's better than upsetting a large international export customer.

 

I'm sure there are some collection enhancements that have been introduced since the Canadian bound low value shipment threshold almost doubled to $2500 bucks - that means more shipments with no calls prior to delivery. More shipments, higher values means more risk & better processes.

 

One thing a customer who frequently receives shipments via courier can do is establish an account with a broker & notify the courier, in writing, to turn all shipments over to that party. It won't save you fees but you'll be in better control AND can legally tell them to get stuffed if they try to charge you brokerage.

 

 

 

[Flatliner1313]

I've heard that if you note ahead of the time the package will be self-cleared, you can avoid this.

 

Fedex has been holding my shipments until I pay the charges.

Apparently you can declare self clearance after the fact to, if they do this.

[shadroch]

There is no way (at least by US law) that they can hold you responsible for those charges. If ANYBODY would be responsible for them, it would be whoever is paying for the postage - and at the time of payment for the shipment, not after. Don't worry about your credit, FedEx doesn't have your info nor the power to effect it in any negative manner.

 

This is basically a loss prevention tactic. What happens is that whoever accepted the parcel for shipment somehow forgot to add certain taxes or fees due to the international shipping. It's less cost effective for them to send it back to the shipper, so they pony up and expect the recipient to cover costs, which you are not in any way shape or form legally responsible for.

 

....and you know this how/ Do you work in the shipping business or any related field?

[shadroch]

In the US, things like this have a bad habit of biting you on the arse at just the wrong time.

I was at a closing for a building when it was brought up that my partner had a judgement against him for about $35. He'd paid a parking ticket, but paid it late and the check crossed a notice in the mail. He originally owed $10, but they kept tacking on interest and additional penalities. Citibank would not go ahead with the deal until he left the closing, went to DMV and satisfied the judgement. They thought nothing of having two high priced attorneys and a notary sit around for a few hours.

[Frank_Griffith-migration]

I work for a different carrier, and I've been told (don't know first hand) that our company never follows through on these, and that unless the receiver has signed an agreement stating they would handle any and all custom or brokerage fees (such as the agreement you sign when you create an account with a carrier) that there isn't a legal recourse for us to take. So as long as you're not an account holding customer, there wouldn't be anything we could do.

 

Again, don't know that that is fed Ex's policy, but from what I've heard its an empty threat.

 

Thanks for the info, that's good to hear since I never created any account with FedEx, nor signed any agreement of any kind for this "mysterious invoice". After reading your post I am now officially convinced that I made the right decision by not giving in to their scare tactics

[Designer Toast]

Those azz pirates at FedEx tried the same thing on me. I shipped a book to a boardie in Canada and after they held the package hostage for $150, which neither of us saw coming, I stepped up and took care of it.

 

A few months later FedEx sends me a notice saying they want somewhere around $20. They can stick in their arses sideways and do a flip. I tossed every notice and nothing happened.

 

After those two experiences, I will never use FedEx again short of being held at gunpoint - and even then