I just recieved a call from them.

 

it's 7.30pm and said i owe them £180 before they ship my parcel.

 

I am expecting a parcel but i have a gut feeling this is a scam, they know the address and the person on the phone was a foreigner i couldn't understand.

 

My reasons are firstly the time, secondle i couldn't understand them why would customs be using a call centre, thirdly i was under the impression duties were paid for once the item had arrived forthly the amount of duties seems expensive.

 

any thoughts on this would be great.

i would contact whoever it was purchased from, they should be able to find out if its genuine.

My experience has always been that the courier company pays HMRC, then bills you. I'd ask them to write to you, or grab the proper number off the website and explain what you've just said.

 

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

Sounds like a scam to me...I'm not sure that many civil servants work past 4pm nevermind 7.30 at night!

My experience has always been that the courier company pays HMRC, then bills you. I'd ask them to write to you, or grab the proper number off the website and explain what you've just said.

 

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk

 

Yep, whenever I've had a package couriered from abroad the courier arrives with the package, but needs paying the import tax before he/she will hand it over. So I think Pete is spot on with saying the courier pays it then bills you.

sounds like a scam, custom & excise phone you first during normal working hours to talk to you. and if you have to pay any money owning to them they send you a bill.phone customs & excise for there advice.

Courier pays and bills your after, except royal mail who wont release the parcel until you pay them first.

 

No point contacting the sender, customs is your end, not theirs.

 

Just phone Customs & Excise on the number on there website, instead of any number that the caller gave you. If they are holding a parcel awaiting you to pay then they will tell you.

I just called the Customs and Excise advice line, the women on the phone was very helpful and i'm still not sure if it was a scam.

 

She said that it does sounds a bit odd and they have had reports of new scams. She said the best thing for me to do is to old tight and wait until they cool again to get more information.

 

Is there a number i can call to get hold of someone who can look onto their systems and track my parcel and see what duties there are to pay?

I had a similar thing with Fedex, they foned me on my mobile so I called them back, went through some security questions and payed them over the phone. Just checked the Fedex tracking site and my stuff is "in transit" to my house now. :nana2:

I had a similar thing with Fedex, they foned me on my mobile so I called them back, went through some security questions and payed them over the phone. Just checked the Fedex tracking site and my stuff is "in transit" to my house now. :nana2:

 

The difference is buddy is that you had to pay £300 for $6900 and they wanted £180 for $1600 worth of goods. Both lots of items would of been in the same catoagory in taxing as mine is a LSD.

 

Something don't seem right, i'm not in a real hurry for it so i'll wait until they call again and ask them to send me the invoise via post.

The difference is buddy is that you had to pay £300 for $6900 and they wanted £180 for $1600 worth of goods. Both lots of items would of been in the same catoagory in taxing as mine is a LSD.

 

Something don't seem right, i'm not in a real hurry for it so i'll wait until they call again and ask them to send me the invoise via post.

 

That seems a bit much, may well be dodgy then.

SCAM SCAM SCAM.

CONTACT THE PEOPLE YOU BOUGHT IT OFF AND FIND OUT WHO THEY SENT IT WITH IT SHOULD HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER AND GO FROM THERE.

GOOD LUCK.

THEN WORLD IS FULL OF SCAMS.

sorry for the cap lock forgot to turn it off LOL

SCAM SCAM SCAM.

CONTACT THE PEOPLE YOU BOUGHT IT OFF AND FIND OUT WHO THEY SENT IT WITH IT SHOULD HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER AND GO FROM THERE.

GOOD LUCK.

THEN WORLD IS FULL OF SCAMS.

sorry for the cap lock forgot to turn it off LOL

 

i like the CAPS as in this case it needs to stand out. Doh! i have my invoice on my pc some where it might give me all info in there. Better look now.

Customs sent me a bill to pay.

 

It is a SCAM don't pay over the phone for anything.

 

Darrell

As a former manager of a customs & excise bonded warehouse, I can tell you that it's not necessarily a scam, though is a bit unusual. Sometimes the courier office from the country of despatch gets involved. It may be that (hence the foreign voice). Go carefully though, it might be a scam (just don't assume it is).

This is all confusing.

 

The company i bought the part from wont reply to my emails now so i don't know who they used to ship the part with.

Ive just checked up on mine and 3 of the packages are at the Fedex depot in Inverness so they are nearly there :nana2: - but the last bit is still at the Stanstead Airport depot :headvswal

I found the info.

 

It was shipped by Fedex, how do they work if duties are needed to be paid?

Status is in Transit, what does this mean? does it mean it's on it's way and the phone call was gay?

It is rare to get a call from customs late at night, but certainly possible.

Chances are it is UPS it has been sent by and the clearing agent is calling you, also yes many are foreign speaking too...

Next time they call, they will have the details of sender ( this may not match who you think you bought it from, cos it may have been drop shipped) but more importantly they will have the tracking No., simply ask them which coureir firm is handling it and log on with the tracking No, they gave you.

Amount they are asking for is also pretty much correct, it just means that your parcel has been correctly valued, for markgixxer to pay the amount he has, shows it was under valued, which is a dodgy thing when you have over 3k in parcels to arrive ! or he has only been billed for the packages that have cleared.

EDIT, just seen yer 2 new posts, lol fedex do not always bill you later and call literally any time for the wonga. You should stil be able to locate parcel even with a "transit" feel free to PM and i'll look if yer like.

cheers

smithy

Status is in Transit, what does this mean? does it mean it's on it's way and the phone call was gay?

 

 

ygpm m8 ;)

ygpm m8 ;)

 

 

doh!! no you dont - yr inbox is full

It is rare to get a call from customs late at night, but certainly possible.

Chances are it is UPS it has been sent by and the clearing agent is calling you, also yes many are foreign speaking too...

Next time they call, they will have the details of sender ( this may not match who you think you bought it from, cos it may have been drop shipped) but more importantly they will have the tracking No., simply ask them which coureir firm is handling it and log on with the tracking No, they gave you.

Amount they are asking for is also pretty much correct, it just means that your parcel has been correctly valued, for markgixxer to pay the amount he has, shows it was under valued, which is a dodgy thing when you have over 3k in parcels to arrive ! or he has only been billed for the packages that have cleared.

EDIT, just seen yer 2 new posts, lol fedex do not always bill you later and call literally any time for the wonga. You should stil be able to locate parcel even with a "transit" feel free to PM and i'll look if yer like.

cheers

smithy

 

 

are Z1 normally renowned for under valuing their shipments?

 

if not I must just have been lucky ;)

In some cases ANY seller in any country will in order to make the purchase as cheap as possible for the buyer, it's what makes you go back for more if you get a bargain. Of all the companies in the US i have dealt with for 9 years, i don't purchase from Z1, so can't comment.

As you have seen the parcels get split up and 1 can go astray or in the case of the turbos, there is so much in the box which is weighty, it is not unusual for bits to be missing and small hole in the box to be found, so double check everything when it arrives ;)

cheers

smithy

it will be double and triple checked :rofl: cheers

Yep. Smithy's right about the holes LOL.... I bought a clutch from America3 years ago, a hole in the corner of the box allowed the release bearing and line up tool to escape :(

 

Shit happens!