Import duty issue?

[plzLOOK]

I’m hoping someone from Spreadshop can advise on the following:-

A customer ordered a product on the 8th February from my USA (dot com) store to be delivered to her sister at a UK address. They did not order from my UK/EU store as it doesn’t provide that kind of product (ankle socks).

She ended up paying $45 for the pair of socks due to a $26.99 “Shipping and handling fee” (expedited delivery) - but she still went ahead with the order as it was a special gift.

The product WAS NEVER DELIVERED as Fedex insisted there was an outstanding import duty to be paid - which in fact they never ever gave the recipient the chance to pay (although WHY was there an outstanding import fee on a $14.99 pair of socks???)

The customer has been told by Spreadshop USA that it was “not their problem” that the import fee wasn’t paid and they refuse to accept any responsibility in this. Fedex also say it’s not their problem even though they never even gave the recipient the option to pay any fees.

The product was returned to Spreadshop who have refused to refund or resend the product.

Seriously???

How can this be acceptable?

Details as follows:-

|Order ID:|12402594-12797790|
|Product ID:|1058434371|
|Product type:|Ankle Socks|

PLEASE can someone from Spreadshop advise how I can get this resolved and also what the heck needs to be done to prevent this from happening in the future???

[yoanesse]

Hello @plzLOOK - thank you very much for this note and of course: we are very sorry that your customer was told that this is “not our problem”.

Please note that we cannot handle this issue publicly here for privacy reasons. Also, we can only handle it personally with the customer who purchased it.

It is important that the customer contacts the customer service department indicated in the delivery, which can be found here in the UK/EU store. Our customer service who delivered will take care of it.

Was I able to help you?

[plzLOOK]

Hi @yoanesse - thanks for your reply - I wouldn’t normally have any customer details but in this specific case it was one of my daughters that ordered the product for my other daughter - so for once I have all sides of the situation from me as the supplier, one daughter as the customer and the other as the intended recipient.

The customer has indeed contacted the USA customer service department and she has kept me in the loop with her numerous interactions via email with them - and it’s quite embarrassing to hear how customers are treated by the USA team who simply insist that it’s not their problem that import duties were due (on socks???)

I wasn’t expecting this case specific to be discussed publicly, I raised this to highlight a potential problem and ask WHY import duties would be due on such a small item and WHY this isn’t addressed by the Spreadshop system and most importantly WHY Spreadshop and FEDEX seem to be so disconnected in the process of getting something delivered?

I also wonder if any other people on here have experienced anything similar?

I’m currently tempted to order something for myself from the USA as a customer (as opposed to the backend) just so that I can see first hand what is happening!