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Excessive charges on post

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:00pm
43 replies859 views16 members subscribed
Ginger

Ginger

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Posts: 621

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Location: Fuente Álamo

Joined: 21 May 2018

Has anyone discovered what to do when excessive charges are made? My friend in the UK sent me a small diary to keep in my handbag to record appointments. On the customer label she wrote diary, quantity 1, cost £2.50, She paid the UK postage £3, when the small package arrived in Spain at local Correa’s I received notification to collect and pay 5.50 euros, why? Until the money was paid I didn’t even know what it was nor who had sent the packet. Then another problem raised its head, a form required signing by the recipient of the packet, my husband called at Correos  on my behalf he told the person behind the counter to send the lot back as he certainly wasn’t driving 20kms to get a signature and then driving back, the person just shrugged, thankfully her colleague saw sense and said her to let it go. Is their anywhere to complain about the excessive charges? A 2.50 diary + 3 postage = 5.50 the sum required by Correos. Ok a few coppers adrift due to exchange rates. 

Roland

Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:18pm

Roland

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Posted: Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:18pm

A result of Brexit.

Plenty of other people getting the same & even worse charges than yours.

Baggywrinkles

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:34am

Posts: 186

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Location: Mula

Joined: 16 May 2017

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 6:34am

I don't think it's Correos, it's the customs. I had a Countryfile calender sent custom charges were 16 Euro!! This is a charity calender for children in need. More like Spanish customs in need!

Ginger

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:17am

Ginger

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Location: Fuente Álamo

Joined: 21 May 2018

Posted: Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:17am

Roland wrote on Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:18pm:

A result of Brexit.

Plenty of other people getting the same & even worse charges than yours.

I know I have had charges before and was prepared to accept duty and VAT but I have never had anything where the charges were almost equal ie £2,50 + £3 = £5.50 charges 5.50 euros.

subfiver

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 11:00am

Posts: 36

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Location: Cartagena

Joined: 17 Feb 2020

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 11:00am

There is a fee for 'clearing customs'; this is to assess whether duty is payable or not. This fee is payable whether any duty is applicable or not.  As far as I'm aware this is charged on anything other than a simple letter. 

Other carriers (DHL, FedEx, etc) who may be responsible for customs clearance have different fees for this 'service'

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Ginger

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:57pm

Ginger

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Posts: 621

264 helpful points

Location: Fuente Álamo

Joined: 21 May 2018

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:57pm

subfiver wrote on Sun Nov 20, 2022 11:00am:

There is a fee for 'clearing customs'; this is to assess whether duty is payable or not. This fee is payable whether any duty is applicable or not.  As far as I'm aware this is charged on anything other than a simple letter. 

Other carriers (DHL, FedEx, etc) who may be responsible for customs clearance have different fees for this 'service'...

...

But why is this fee 100% of the original?

Bob1

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 10:10pm

Posts: 89

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Location: Totana

Joined: 15 Feb 2021

Posted: Sun Nov 20, 2022 10:10pm

It’s just a big rip off. I had a very small package containing two little joke birthday badges and had to pay €7? I know that’s peanuts but why is a silly charge like that made?

Mags44

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 2:00am

Mags44

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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 2:00am

Ginger wrote on Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:00pm:

Has anyone discovered what to do when excessive charges are made? My friend in the UK sent me a small diary to keep in my handbag to record appointments. On the customer label she wrote diary, quantity 1, cost £2.50, She paid the UK postage £3, when the small package arrived in Spain at local C...

...orrea’s I received notification to collect and pay 5.50 euros, why? Until the money was paid I didn’t even know what it was nor who had sent the packet. Then another problem raised its head, a form required signing by the recipient of the packet, my husband called at Correos  on my behalf he told the person behind the counter to send the lot back as he certainly wasn’t driving 20kms to get a signature and then driving back, the person just shrugged, thankfully her colleague saw sense and said her to let it go. Is their anywhere to complain about the excessive charges? A 2.50 diary + 3 postage = 5.50 the sum required by Correos. Ok a few coppers adrift due to exchange rates. 

My son-in-law sent us a jar of his home-made jam and paid extra in the UK post office to supposedly cover any customs costs but when the parcel finally arrived in Spain about three weeks later, Correos sent us a form to fill in with all the details of the contents of the parcel, plus a whole list of other questions. We filled in the form and gave the value of the parcel as 2€, which would be the cost of a jar of jam, and returned it to Correos. 10 days later, we received a demand via Correos from the Aduana, demanding 58€ to cover the cost of additional postage, taxes, customs duties, and "handling". The "handling" was the largest part of this bill! We declined and told them to send the parcel back from whence it came! It took another 3 weeks for the parcel to be returned to sender but it did arrive eventually. We picked up the pot of jam personally when we went to the UK the following week and advised our family never to post anything to Spain again!

eviedoll

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:41am

Posts: 167

38 helpful points

Joined: 12 May 2019

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:41am

Ginger wrote on Thu Nov 17, 2022 5:00pm:

Has anyone discovered what to do when excessive charges are made? My friend in the UK sent me a small diary to keep in my handbag to record appointments. On the customer label she wrote diary, quantity 1, cost £2.50, She paid the UK postage £3, when the small package arrived in Spain at local C...

...orrea’s I received notification to collect and pay 5.50 euros, why? Until the money was paid I didn’t even know what it was nor who had sent the packet. Then another problem raised its head, a form required signing by the recipient of the packet, my husband called at Correos  on my behalf he told the person behind the counter to send the lot back as he certainly wasn’t driving 20kms to get a signature and then driving back, the person just shrugged, thankfully her colleague saw sense and said her to let it go. Is their anywhere to complain about the excessive charges? A 2.50 diary + 3 postage = 5.50 the sum required by Correos. Ok a few coppers adrift due to exchange rates. 

My friend sent me an Amazon fire stick fully loaded with programmes and I had to pay €12 to receive it so in my opinion I won't get anything sent from UK in future 

eviedoll

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:44am

Posts: 167

38 helpful points

Joined: 12 May 2019

Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:44am

Ginger wrote on Sun Nov 20, 2022 8:57pm:

But why is this fee 100% of the original?

My Amazon fire stick was only worth ¢45 and yet I was charged €12 ludicrous 

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