I had to pay customs duty fees for my Zavvi order delivered to Germany. WTF?

[geauxwave]

I just received my Thor Ragnarok 4k Steelbook from Zavvi UK, and I was slapped with a 13 euro customs duty fee / additional delivery fee. As far as I know, Great Britain is still in the EU (Brexit is still in process), so this was a surprise. I've contacted Zavvi customer support, and will report back with what they say, but I wanted to see if anyone else here that's located in the EU has had to pay customs fees for a Zavvi UK order recently.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by geauxwave

I just received my Thor Ragnarok 4k Steelbook from Zavvi UK, and I was slapped with a 13 euro customs duty fee / additional delivery fee. As far as I know, Great Britain is still in the EU (Brexit is still in process), so this was a surprise. I've contacted Zavvi customer support, and will report back with what they say, but I wanted to see if anyone else here that's located in the EU has had to pay customs fees for a Zavvi UK order recently.

It was probably shipped from their Guernsey or Jersey warehouse. Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the EU.

[geauxwave]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

It was probably shipped from their Guernsey or Jersey warehouse. Guernsey and Jersey are not part of the EU.

Well, damn, that sucks. The customs paperwork even said "GB" as the exporting country. I wonder if there's a way to tell which warehouse it will ship from (perhaps I can message them before ordering?). I just can't stomach paying 50 euros for a steelbook.

Edit: You're exactly right. I checked the postage label, and it says Guernsey.

[Todd Tomorrow]

It was a Brexit preview.

[geauxwave]

Originally Posted by Todd Tomorrow

It was a Brexit preview.

Lol!

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by geauxwave

Well, damn, that sucks. The customs paperwork even said "GB" as the exporting country. I wonder if there's a way to tell which warehouse it will ship from (perhaps I can message them before ordering?). I just can't stomach paying 50 euros for a steelbook.

Edit: You're exactly right. I checked the postage label, and it says Guernsey.

Usually products costing less than €22 are shipped from Guernsey, Jersey or a US warehouse. Anything above comes usually from their UK warehouse.

If I remember correctly a few members on the Dutch budgetgaming.nl forums had to pay import fees on very rare occasions, but in pretty much every case they received a refund from Zavvi customer service.

[geauxwave]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Usually products costing less than €22 are shipped from Guernsey, Jersey or a US warehouse. Anything above comes usually from their UK warehouse.

If I remember correctly a few members on the Dutch budgetgaming.nl forums had to pay import fees on very rare occasions, but in pretty much every case they received a refund from Zavvi customer service.

That's (generally) good news because we don't pay customs if the value is less than €22, but I guess I was just unlucky on this one. Oh well.

I'll message Zavvi to ask if they can tell me from which warehouses the Star Wars TLJ 4k and Black Panther 4k steelbooks will ship. I'll report back if they give me an answer.

Edit: Just caught the part you wrote about the refund. That's promising!

[jimidini]

Originally Posted by geauxwave

perhaps I can message them before ordering?

When express delivery is available, they typically ship from within EU. Doesn't have to be, but it typically is.
And for more expensive box sets, I use express delivery anyway, which they have to ship from UK otherwise it wouldn't be express anymore. Arrives within a few days and is just a few pounds more.

Keep it mind that sometimes express is available, but is free. That's fake express and won't get you express at all.

we don't pay customs if the value is less than €22

I'm pretty sure that in Germany tax below 5€ is not charged, which means the limit is atm around €26,30.

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

received a refund from Zavvi

They got really lucky then.
Custom fees are the problem of the receiver. It's not Zavvi's fault.

http://help.zavvi.com/index.php?acti...156&artlang=en
"Orders being placed for delivery outside of the UK may be subject to customs charges or import duties which are levied by the importing country at the time the delivery arrives in your country.
These charges must be paid by the recipient of the parcel."

[geauxwave]

Just heard back from Zavvi. I messaged them letting them know about the customs charge, included a photo of the receipt, and just asked if this was a mistake or a normal thing (I did not yet ask for a refund). They promptly responded with the reply below, saying they were issuing a refund. While I didn't receive any explanation, I do consider an immediate refund great customer service. So I will keep my pre-orders of Star Wars and Black Panther 4k steelbooks, and continue to order 4k's from them moving forward if all continues to go smoothly.

@jimidini, Thanks for the heads up about express shipping. I'll keep an eye out for that in future orders. Also, good point about the Germany tax. I remember reading something about that. I may have to order a €25 steelbook to test it out, you know, for research purposes.

Hello,

Thank you for getting in touch.

This will be refunded back to your payment method and usually takes 3-5 working days.

If you have any problems with this refund or should you have any further questions, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Kind regards,

Lyle

Zavvi.com Customer Service Team

[geauxwave]

Just wanted to pass on a bit more info about the situation. This is good news for us folks in the EU.

Me (in reply to their message saying they would issue a refund):

Thank you! If I were to order the Star Wars TLJ and Black Panther 4k steelbooks from you, and the same situation happened, could I expect another refund? I don't mind having to pay customs as long as it gets refunded. Thanks again.

Zavvi's reply:

Hi,

Thanks for contacting us about your order.

Typically we aim to ship all of our items from our U.K warehouse, however due to stock levels we do sometimes ship from an offshore warehouse.

As such if you are required to pay any customs charges as long as you pay the fees and get the receipt for them we will happily refund these for you.

I hope this has helped to resolve your query.

Thanks,

Olly

Zavvi Team

[jimidini]

Originally Posted by geauxwave

"...as long as you pay the fees and get the receipt for them we will happily refund these for you."

Wow, really nice of them.
I'm surprised.

[Si Parallel Universe]

Originally Posted by geauxwave

Well, damn, that sucks. The customs paperwork even said "GB" as the exporting country. I wonder if there's a way to tell which warehouse it will ship from (perhaps I can message them before ordering?). I just can't stomach paying 50 euros for a steelbook.

Edit: You're exactly right. I checked the postage label, and it says Guernsey.

Blame the UK Conservative Government for closing the VAT Loophole of the Channel Islands and the never ending nightmare that is Brexit.