Page 1 of AMAZON.COM SUCK!!!

I recently ordered some DVD`s from Amazon.com. I thought they were reasonably priced until I went to the checkout. They cost a bomb load in shipping costs. I paid about £20 extra for shipping. When they arrived they shipped them in 3 different packages, I ended up having to pay Import Duties, VAT, Customs Tax and Post Office Clearance Fees ON ALL THREE PACKAGES. I ended up paying about £50 in total just for Postage Costs!!!

NEVER AGAIN - Im sticking to DVD BOX OFFICE or other trustworthy sources. Preferably ones with FREE SHIPPING!!!

I don`t care if the discs are not available elsewhere, I`d rather go without than have to use AMAZON.COM again.

Has anyone ever had similar experiences with either Import Duties or AMAZON.COM?

Sandy

This item was edited on Friday, 6th July 2001, 11:08

"I paid about £20 extra for shipping"

Ok, that equates to about 28 dollars, so either :-

a) you bought 12 DVDs and shipped them via "Standard International Shipping"
b) you bought 6 DVDs and shipped them via "Expedited International Shipping"

Whichever of these is the case, you probably spent at least $100 on the DVDs themselves, which puts you way over the personal importation limit of £18 (approx $25.20 at today`s rates)

Packages shipped via "Standard International Shipping" tended to avoid the attention of customs in the past, although it seems that they are being picked up more frequently, certainly with larger parcels. All other shipping methods will definitely incur customs charges, as the shipping firm often pay up front and then bill you for the charges plus an admin fee.

I have nothing but praise for Amazon.com - it`s fair to say that their prices are not what they were, and that bargains are few and far between, but their customer service is excellent, even when they make a mistake.

If you want to be safe, you need to stick to that customs limit. Otherwise, you just have to take your chances. Although we may not like it, it is the law.

Rich

Its well known which e-tailers you will end up paying duty on, and which you don`t. As for shipping costs, it was your choice - you knew before you gave them your credit card details what is was going to cost you.

PS I hope you used an Amazon.com coupon - should have saved you $10...

you must be new to all this online ordering bizz. some time ago i was too and didnt know anything about customs and stuff so i ordered a sh*t load of discs from cdnow.com and got hit with a £10 customs charge as well. now i know better. when ordering from abroad i order 1 disc at a time or get the retailer to mark the package as a gift. This will give more allowance(£36 i think)rather than the normal £18 allowance for value of goods from abroad.

Thanks for the info. I have never ordered from them before and now I know what`s happening thanks to you guys. I did order 9 discs from them, yes I did know how much I was paying before they shipped them. But I didn`t expect the customs charges, now I know to order only one at a time, I should be okay. Thanks again for the info and I can`t really blame Amazon, it is the law like someone mentioned and it`s hardly their problem if customs incur fees. I shall give them another shot in the future.

Thanks guys!

I recently slagged off http://www.amazon.com and it was wrong for me to do so. I feel dissapointed that I slagged them off like I did because it really wasn`t their fault, it was my own. I ordered a number of discs from them without looking into the charges and the probability of the incurred customs fees. I have used http://www.amazon.co.uk on numerous occasions and am always very pleased with their service. I don`t see why I shall feel any different about .com, now I know about customs.

P.S - Sorry if I seem like a newbie but what`s an amazon.com coupon?
I don`t want to do anything underhand or against the law!

This item was edited on Saturday, 7th July 2001, 08:52

Amazon coupon codes are perfectly legal, they publish them to get people to come to their site - which works .... although you`ll find at the end of the day there products are slightly more expensive, so it works out the same. Just type "amazon coupons" in to google and a whole host of sites come up.

As for customs, amazon do put the full value of the items on the box, as required to, (this value does not take allowance of any coupons).. You`ll be taxed on this if it is (i) over £18 and not a gift, (ii) over £32 and is a gift (hence always make it a gift). Any non-uk site will do this, including play247 as they are in the Channel Islands, although some sites do get around this - one to try is dv-depot.com (read their message boards)..

Good advice, Rupert.

Just one small note - the Customs limit for gifts is actually £36 - more power to the credit card there !

If I don`t want to be charged customs fees when shipping at Amazon.com what is the best way to go about it?

Do I make the item a gift at the checkout page, or how else can I make it a gift.

I also need to order the discs individually to avoid going over the limit.

Any infomation on this would be greatly appreciated.

Ta` Very Much!

The safest way is to order one item at a time, and make sure it costs less than £18

You *can* make it a gift during checkout, which increases the limit to £36, but technically that is only for gifts from one individual to another, and doesn`t really apply to companies. This does seem to be a bit of a grey area though...

Rich