The system works.... almost.

[Ash]

I gotta say I HATE the system.


I sent money to a member here for a camera, it cost around £150 give or take. That was including the quoted postage.

The member takes it to the post office over in the USA, they quote him about £15 or so more than the postage was worked out to be. Sting #1


It's sent over the xmas/new year period so takes a little extra time to get here. It SHOULD have been sent as a gift, and marked as such to avoid any nasty surprises. Guess what?

Import duties £7 and VAT (out of nowhere) £35 - Sting #2

And even worse, PARCELFORCE CLEARANCE FEE £13.50!!!!


So even parcelforce get a nice pat on the back for nothing, £13.50! That's more than the import duties cost!

So stung 3 times, and who's going to cover what? I HAVE to pay £55 to get the camera, there's no arguing.

What a bitch. The letter from parcelforce had my surname wrong!!! (now I don't know who to blame, parcelforce or the member here - we'll see when the camera arrives eventually).



I really hope the camera wasn't damaged somewhere down the line, or there will be hell to pay.


ARGH! All this just so I could have a 'bargain' and get into 4x5? I may as well have bought it here for less than that total cost!

rant over..

[Walter Calahan]

Think globally. Shop locally.

Sorry for your troubles.

My 2007 be a banner 4x5 year for you.

[william linne]

I don't know about your situation, but I know when I mail things from the US going overseas, I never mark it as a gift unless it truly is. First off, the Post Office won't allow you to insure it unless you mark it's true value. In other words, if you insure it for 300,then you must mark it's value as 300. I had one guy convince me to mark his item as a "gift" and not insure it, to save him a few bucks. Lo and behold, he claimed it never arrived and then filed a complaint with Paypal and they returned his money. I was out 200 dollars. I know it was a scam because I have mailed literally hundreds of items overseas in the last few years and his was the only one to ever get "lost".

[Kirk Gittings]

I remember when the Japanese gov't used to take 20% off the top of all my stock sales in Japan. Bend over. Not even so much as a thank you.

[BrianShaw]

I gotta say I HATE the system.

The "system" is YOUR GOVERNMENT. If you want to fix it, you can always start a revolution. Start with a tea party

[Ash]

Don't tempt me Brian!

[Bill_1856]

I hope you at least got a sloppy kiss, Kirk.

[GPS]

First time buying overseas?

[darr]

Correct me if I am wrong, but don't the Europeans pay taxes like the VAT and other add-on taxes/fees for their socially ran programs like medical, education, retirement, etc? Here in the states if you are a working slug, professional or not, you have to pay for all that stuff yourself. Either way you gonna pay.

One thing that does anger me is how most US states tax you for retirement funds. After we make our money, pay taxes on it and then invest it, you can get taxed again on your initial investment plus any income made from it. Florida's constitution does not allow for the double-taxation and that is one reason my hubby keeps us in Florida. The other alternative is Tennessee which is kinda cold, but beautiful. Anybody know of any other states that will not tax you on your retirement accounts?

Sorry for the hi-jack Ash, but Kirk got me thinking about our investments!

[stompyq]

I don't know about your situation, but I know when I mail things from the US going overseas, I never mark it as a gift unless it truly is. First off, the Post Office won't allow you to insure it unless you mark it's true value. In other words, if you insure it for 300,then you must mark it's value as 300. I had one guy convince me to mark his item as a "gift" and not insure it, to save him a few bucks. Lo and behold, he claimed it never arrived and then filed a complaint with Paypal and they returned his money. I was out 200 dollars. I know it was a scam because I have mailed literally hundreds of items overseas in the last few years and his was the only one to ever get "lost".

I sold my 645 gear to a friend in holland recently. He was legit (an old school buddy). Wanted parcel post to save cash, said he was very patient when i said 4-6 weeks for delivary. 3 months latter he got the camera which i had marked as a gift.The nice dutch authorities had ripped the package open, determined it was high end camera gear (a pentax 645?) and put a huge tax on the poor guy (No sir no one would mail this type of "high end" camera as a gift). There's goverments for you.