UK postal charges

[DanMan32]

Was there this much of an issue before EU was formed?

 

[DanMan32]

Thanks DanMan32,

I use the UAV forcast and all was OK to fly. The problem occurred with the RTH, i was told the load from the guards would reduce performance but not necessary report to the user. 19% battery life and it basically disappeared, no sign no bleeping and no find my drone at the point it lost the GPS signal.

Sounds like the app crashed. Otherwise you'd have logged information up until a connection loss.

 

[The Fat Controller]

Was there this much of an issue before EU was formed?

I had a couple of occasions in the past where I've been hit by import/customs charges. It depends on what the item is and also on it's value (tech items seem to attract a premium). Since the arrival of eBay/Amazon etc a lot of those postage charges disappeared, presumably absorbed by the suppliers in order to get sales, but it seems that sellers no longer want to cover those import charges, I suppose because they now have extra paperwork to do because of Brexit.

 

[AndreiZero]

Hi all,

Hope you are all flying safe and happy.

I have a DJI Mini ordered, paid in full including taxes coming from the Amsterdam office. DJI have confirmed all payments have been made but the delivery company say a C.O.D charge must be paid prior to delivery.

Payments were made direct to DJI and accepted prior to shipping.

What do I do, refuse deliver again and not pay, let them try a second time until they return to sender.

By the time the charges mount up I could buy the mini 2 more combo for an additional £300.

cancel the order and buy from Drones Direct | UK Partner of DJI, Yuneec, Parrot & ProFlight I got my DJI Mini 2 fly more combo from them with free next day delivery!

 

[African wildlife]

Hi SteeCee. Good on you for being true to our "deep pockets" heritage. (Yes, I'm also Scottish by birth - although I'll admit to supporting England, if not when watching Braveheart, having lived south of the border for almost all of my life.)

Postal charges are sometimes best kept separate in business transactions, but not when buying a drone. Almost all UK retailers offer free delivery.

Stand your ground. Too many people are far too casual with regards to money. Thrift is good.

 

[African wildlife]

cancel the order and buy from Drones Direct | UK Partner of DJI, Yuneec, Parrot & ProFlight I got my DJI Mini 2 fly more combo from them with free next day delivery!

Drones Direct are good. This is where our P4P+ came from Also Heliguy That said, neither offer free returns - whereas the larger retailers do.

 

[SteCee]

Another potential issue?

If the item is returned to Amsterdam for repair under the refresh agreement will this incur a charge coming back into the UK?

 

[African wildlife]

Part of my business is importing goods from the Netherlands into the UK. The EU have always been a bunch of protectionist hypocrites. The words "wasteful" and "gravy train" don't come close to summarising their ineptitude. And now they want to punish the UK for making a democratic choice, out of fear that their political project might collapse. Could you imagine the uproar if one of us wanted to withdraw from being part of this drone forum - yet were severely deterred from doing so?

We bought three Moment landing pads from the USA in December. They arrived here in the UK via FedEx within three days. No unexpected fees. And we have no trade deal with the USA other than basic WTO terms. It couldn't have been easier.

Your simplest solution? Terminate your purchase and deal with a UK retailer.

 

[Barbara]

Don't know about Europe, but here in Canada UPS has a reputation for routinely charging "Brokerage Fees", often more than the value of the item, when bringing goods across the border from the US to Canada. The fees are collected COD and have nothing to do with the vendor. None of the other couriers, or the post office for that matter, charge a brokerage fee. This is why I always make sure that my vendor uses means other than UPS to deliver.

 

[SteCee]

Hi African wildlife,

It's pretty poor if I'm honest. The original was bought in the UK, i believe the mini i had was not fit for purpose and disappeared, weather was good, aircraft interference then signal lost. The drone gone for good. I received a small discount as replacement without liability, paid for replacement including tax with no further costs to pay. Delivered to UK via UPS and charged to accept. If i refused then the sent or returned back a charge would have been deducted from the fees paid.

Nothing i could do but pay and accept.

Talked with Borders and customs who say nobody knows what they are doing and things are charged for when they should not be.

I'll certainly be requesting a refund although UPS take £11.50 straight away for Admin fee so I won't see that again.

 

[petes]

Totally unrelated but last year my nephew had me buy a pair of shoes for his wife here in the States and mail them to him (it was a savings of of 90 pounds).

I sent them to him via the US mail, he got a note from some UK delivery service saying he had to pay VAT on the package of 57 pounds before they would deliver the package, nowhere on the package did it list what was in the package or the value of its contents.

How the hell can they assign VAT on something they have no idea what it is?

 

[zocalo]

Semi-related, but it seems Mastercard is pushing up fees for UK purchases from the EU as well, so there may also be an extra hit on your credit card at some point if retailers pass this extra fee on to the buyer. "Only" from 0.3% to 1.5%, but that's still going to add up on expensive items like drones and so on, and something else you might want to watch out for at the checkout.

More details at the BBC.

 

[zocalo]

How the hell can they assign VAT on something they have no idea what it is?

If it's all above board, then the shipper will have completed a customs declaration form - that you very rarely get to see a copy of (I think I've had maybe two suppliers include a copy of this in my package over many orders where it applied) - detailing the value and type of goods necessary to assign VAT are.

 

[SteCee]

Semi-related, but it seems Mastercard is pushing up fees for UK purchases from the EU as well, so there may also be an extra hit on your credit card at some point if retailers pass this extra fee on to the buyer. "Only" from 0.3% to 1.5%, but that's still going to add up on expensive items like drones and so on, and something else you might want to watch out for at the checkout.

More details at the BBC.

If you can, check out with PayPal, maybe not as much protection as CC's but the costs are converted at the time of sale.

 

[African wildlife]

Don't know about Europe, but here in Canada UPS has a reputation for routinely charging "Brokerage Fees", often more than the value of the item, when bringing goods across the border from the US to Canada. The fees are collected COD and have nothing to do with the vendor. None of the other couriers, or the post office for that matter, charge a brokerage fee. This is why I always make sure that my vendor uses means other than UPS to deliver.

That's good to know, Barbara. It's a sad fact that some companies are lazy and will dump on customers, especially if they think they've got them over a barrel. We've always used DHL, who are extremely reliable - and only have experience of UPS for receiving some deliveries.

 

[Barbara]

That's good to know, Barbara. It's a sad fact that some companies are lazy and will dump on customers, especially if they think they've got them over a barrel. We've always used DHL, who are extremely reliable - and only have experience of UPS for receiving some deliveries.

Indeed, I can remember one instance where I ordered a $20 part for my motorcycle and UPS wanted $40 in brokerage fees, COD.

 

[Mazdaman323lx]

I've cancellled my Amazon Prime account with the UK.
I buy from Amazon.de now (Germany)
The UK economy is doomed.
As the old axiom says " Be careful what you wish for"

 

[Gasjkh2]

This is why I voted for Brexit. Best thing to happen as far as I am concerned as the EU have been on the gravy train against us for far too long. Disgraceful charges.

 

[The Fat Controller]

It's a symptom of Rip Off Britain, always has been. SFA to do with brexit.

 

[zocalo]

It's a symptom of Rip Off Britain, always has been. SFA to do with brexit.

Bit of both really. Johnson went for a harder Brexit and leaving the Common Market, which then means that the import duties are a direct result of the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. The fees charged for the paper pushing and processing of parcels across the border (what the OP was asking about) are entirely on the couriers and UK Customs & Excise, and that's entirely down to the UK side of things - as I noted above, these fees were already being applied for applicable goods brought in from many other places, e.g. the US.