![Shame on you [-X](./images/smilies/eusa_naughty.gif)
On behalf of some members on 6 November I ordered from suppliers in Japan a number of items total price of £649.74. The order was dispatched by JapanPost on 16 November. Tracking showed it was held in customs at Coventry airport on 20 November, then released to local Parcelforce depot on 23 November.
So far, all as expected. It is standard practice for Parcelforce to send an invoice at this stage with total amount of customs charges payable, including VAT and inspection fee. Normally on an order of this size I would expect to pay about £10 for a release fee, £15 for customs charges, and about £60 VAT (which I can claim back). But nothing arrived in the post so I phoned them today. Here's what happened next.
I phoned the local Parcelforce depot and was put on hold for 10 minutes. I was then told that there was a release fee of £166.49. I told them this seemed a bit excessive and could I have a breakdown. I also enquired why I had not received an invoice in the post. So they transferred me to someone in their finance department who said they were unable to give a detailed breakdown as their system was down. So I said that I would pay the release fee anyway, so they transferred me back to the Rotherham depot. Rotherham then said they were unable to process payments without the 17 digit reference number at the top of the invoice (which I didn't have and he couldn't disclose over the phone). So I was then put on hold while I waited for a supervisor. After about 5 minutes the music stopped playing and an operator informed me that I was through to "Customer Services". I said I needed to make a payment but I didn't have the 17 digit number. She said this wasn't a problem; did I have the Japanese tracking number? I read it out to her, and she gave me the long number and told me I could now make payment via the Parcelforce website.
Are you still with me?
I tried entering the number but it said the 17 digits were not recognised and I should contact my local depot. So I phoned Parcelforce at Rotherham once again, went through the whole process, and this time was told they were unable to take payments over the phone at the moment but somebody would phone me back. 15 minutes later a nice lady phoned we back and payment was taken. When I asked for a cost breakdown I was told it would be enclosed with the parcel.
Total time to process this transaction; 55 minutes.