Importing Amazon DE to UK

[JackyJacquard]

I’ve never imported from Amazon DE before.

I dallied and missed out on Galaxy Quest in the current 4 for €50 4K deal, got a bunch of low stock stuff in my basket yet I see I get charged an ‘Import Fees Deposit’ (equivalent to VAT) even though once the discount is applied my order value is under £135?!

It says ‘deposit’ would that mean any chance of getting it back? Amazon cocked up? Or I just have to keep it below £135 before discounts too?

[UnionJackMix]

Originally Posted by JackyJacquard

I’ve never imported from Amazon DE before.

I dallied and missed out on Galaxy Quest in the current 4 for €50 4K deal, got a bunch of low stock stuff in my basket yet I see I get charged an ‘Import Fees Deposit’ (equivalent to VAT) even though once the discount is applied my order value is under £135?!

It says ‘deposit’ would that mean any chance of getting it back? Amazon cocked up? Or I just have to keep it below £135 before discounts too?

I can only assume that the same thing happens to UK customers as when I buy from amazon DE to CH. What Amazon has been doing for several years now is that they themselves apply to you the VAT due in your country and remove the EU one (previously they would only remove the EUR one and leave the receiving country's customs deal with it, as in charge it or not). The upside is that you will never pay the absurd "handling" charges of the customs department, the downside is that they charge you VAT ignoring the fact that there is a threshold to be reached before a customer must pay local VAT.
That amount you mention is the UK VAT. I have never got a cent back from VAT charged.

[Nitroes]

I've had that deposit thing paid back from .com and most of the other Amazons.

It's been many months after the original transaction though so it may be down to a collection error by HMRC.

[the13thman]

I'm hoping someone in the UK can help me with a problem I am having with Amazon.de - I can't seem to return anything to them using Royal Mail.

The last time I had a successful return it was because I asked for a postal address to use in place of their labels. I recently had three Mediabooks to return and begged them for that option this time but TWICE they refused and were ignorantly unpleasant about it too. So I had no choice but to use their labels and of course my return failed, the parcel was rejected ("refuse" box was ticked) by customs in Slovakia and it came back to me today.

I used the labels Amazon.de provided, attached one in a plastic bag to the outside of the package AND paid for Royal Mail International Tracked postage. I also made sure the Post Office electronically completed and included the additional Royal Mail customs information form that is required these days. My question is this:

Have you successfully returned anything to the "Amazon Returns Department" in Sered using Royal Mail? If so, how did you do it? What labels did you use, what forms did you complete?

Alternatively if you don't use Royal Mail, what is the easiest way you have sent something back to Amazon.de from the UK using Amazon's labels?

I complained to Amazon and they have refunded me and let me keep the damaged Mediabooks but this is at least the fourth time this has happened and I would much rather be able to return things with no hassle than keep trashed items. If this continues at some point they will just stop me buying or returning anything so I need a solution urgently.

[DTSBOY]

Originally Posted by the13thman

I'm hoping someone in the UK can help me with a problem I am having with Amazon.de - I can't seem to return anything to them using Royal Mail.

The last time I had a successful return it was because I asked for a postal address to use in place of their labels. I recently had three Mediabooks to return and begged them for that option this time but TWICE they refused and were ignorantly unpleasant about it too. So I had no choice but to use their labels and of course my return failed, the parcel was rejected ("refuse" box was ticked) by customs in Slovakia and it came back to me today.

I used the labels Amazon.de provided, attached one in a plastic bag to the outside of the package AND paid for Royal Mail International Tracked postage. I also made sure the Post Office electronically completed and included the additional Royal Mail customs information form that is required these days. My question is this:

Have you successfully returned anything to the "Amazon Returns Department" in Sered using Royal Mail? If so, how did you do it? What labels did you use, what forms did you complete?

Alternatively if you don't use Royal Mail, what is the easiest way you have sent something back to Amazon.de from the UK using Amazon's labels?

I complained to Amazon and they have refunded me and let me keep the damaged Mediabooks but this is at least the fourth time this has happened and I would much rather be able to return things with no hassle than keep trashed items. If this continues at some point they will just stop me buying or returning anything so I need a solution urgently.

Unfortunately it's the same as Amazon Italy. Print off their returns label take it to the post office get proof etc and then a few weeks later you'll get the same box returned to you.

And then, after you chat to someone they'll refund you and let you keep the item. Even when I told them the replacement was perfect.

There is no fool proof way of returning anything to a European Amazon address. Not that I've read about anyways.

Is there a limit on how many times you can return stuff? I wouldn't be surprised if there was.

I still have the damaged 4K Matrix collection steelbook (return) unopened in a drawer. Discs are probably fine but the outer steel is badly dinged.

[Nitroes]

Since Brexit I've had 4 or 5 items needing returned and 2 were sent and came back many weeks later. The customs people in Slovakia stamped it as incorrect paperwork.

In all cases Amazon just refunded after I complained.

Last occasion was a few weeks back I was sent the wrong version from Amazon.fr (an impossible thing with the UK IME but Amazon.fr overlabel the EAN code often = errors) and I was asked to return it. I asked for a UK address which they said I'd be given and then got a label with Slovakia on it. I complained again and they refunded. €35 item sold by my local chairty shop for 75p.

The paperwork they send is simply incorrect and doesn't meet the requirements for the EU single market.

[the13thman]

Unfortunately it looks like I have another doomed return, I just got The Master through and while I could live with the crushed digipak with a creased spine, I can't live with scratches all over disc 3. Amazon offered me a €3.36 partial refund if I wanted to keep it but that's way too little so back it has to go. Once again it's the same useless label that is bound to be rejected, is there any way I can use that label and actually have the item delivered?

[Nitroes]

Originally Posted by the13thman

Unfortunately it looks like I have another doomed return, I just got The Master through and while I could live with the crushed digipak with a creased spine, I can't live with scratches all over disc 3. Amazon offered me a €3.36 partial refund if I wanted to keep it but that's way too little so back it has to go. Once again it's the same useless label that is bound to be rejected, is there any way I can use that label and actually have the item delivered?

Don't accept it. Try speaking with someone else.

It's a lot of work dealing with mainland Europe Amazon so I've done my best to reduce spending with anything that's risky or unknown.

[the13thman]

Originally Posted by Nitroes

Don't accept it. Try speaking with someone else.

It's a lot of work dealing with mainland Europe Amazon so I've done my best to reduce spending with anything that's risky or unknown.

Tell me about it, I've cut my spending on German imports to a minimum but some of those editions are world-beaters so I will put the extra effort in to get them in new condition. There's always a very good chance of discs in a Mediabook being scratched but when there's no standard edition I have little choice.

I have previously gotten an alternate address for Germany out of customer service but they were very unhelpful last time, in any case I will wait until I have the replacement set through as it's possible that will also be damaged and I'll have to send them both back.

Update: the replacement set came and that had small scratches on two of the discs but thankfully not the third, which was the one I needed. The digipak was also crushed but I can live with that. After several painful conversations with Customer Service I was forced once again to use Amazon's unfit for purpose labels so they'll end up having to refund me £14 for the postage and £40 for the item which will end up being returned to me once Slovakian customs reject it.

Again, I will leave this question here: does anyone know how to reliably return an Amazon.de item from the UK?

[JackyJacquard]

Ugh, wish I’d followed this thread before trying to return The Green Knight.

My mum seems to have thrown away my proof of postage so I’m out £20 now instead of like £14

Although I can see where RM staff actually botched it in the post office too so maybe I can push for a refund of that part at least

[lateralspin]

Originally Posted by DTSBOY

Unfortunately it's the same as Amazon Italy.

I managed to get two through to that Italy (Spilamberto) warehouse address, but most get rejected for no reason.

I recently sent back a Red Eye 4K (I don’t need a duplicate 4K disc) - Let’s see if it gets rejected or not for no reason.

[the13thman]

Unsurprisingly my Ninja Master return has failed and I just got the package back, customer service again have been utterly useless. One definition of insanity is repeating the same process and expecting different results and that's what they are doing, making me pay to send it back to Slovakia a second time WITHOUT refunding me for the failed attempt. Emailing their customer service is proving to be a Kafakaesque nightmare. My question therefore remains open:

Does anyone know how to reliably return an Amazon.de item to Slovakia from the UK?