Purchased good and charged for customs?

18 on 17/08/2014 - 17:38

I purchased a few wraps from Slickwraps, and spent $57.45USD on it, thus being eligible for the free shipping. I was extremely surprised when I was charged $67USD instead. I emailed them regarding why I was charged an extra $10USD and was told:

"Hello,
I see that you did receive free shipping on the order and only paid us $57.45. If the additional cost was charged through customs then I apologize. Slickwraps is not responsible for any additional fees that may be charged by customs.
Respectfully,
SlickWraps Support Team"

I've never heard of this before from my whole time using online shipping, did I get ripped off or something? Cheers.

General Discussion

Comments

  • donga100 on 17/08/2014 - 19:13

    Customs fees are not unheard of. If Slickwraps didn't pay them the item would just sit with Customs until you paid the fee directly yourself. Still, $10 seems pretty steep and my understanding is that type of item wouldn't be subjected to any charges anyway. From the Customs website:

    You do not have to pay duty and taxes on goods (excluding tobacco, tobacco products and alcohol) with a value of under A$1,000.

  • Alan Fartridge on 17/08/2014 - 19:50

    I've bought a lot from US stores and never been charged customs fees. The quote above is how I understood it too. No fees for goods under $1000 (excluding tobacco etc.). Was it SlickWraps that charged the extra $10 or customs. Something is up if it was the former.

  • 2jzzzz on 17/08/2014 - 20:31

    Ask for an itemised invoice and copy of the fee paid to Customs. Sounds like BS

  • jaackyy on 17/08/2014 - 23:36

    pretty sure the terms and conditions they quoted you, refers to if once it arrives in Australia, customs holds it and charges you. They shouldn't be charging you in the transaction

  • Cheeper on 18/08/2014 - 00:35

    Ask for proof of the customs assessment and evidence that it was paid.
    Say that if such evidence is not supplied you will report the matter to customs authorities.
    I imagine this sort of activity would be seriously frowned upon by US customs.
    This sounds as shonky as can be.

  • juventino on 18/08/2014 - 02:55

    They shouldn't be charging any extra fees since it is well below $1000 threshold. Sometimes, Fedex might charge you custom brokerage fee otherwise your items will be held in custom. But this isn't the case since Fedex is not used.

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