Scandalous, Extortionate Fedex Fees!

[My Friend Same]

The $36 is the OP's tuition cost to learn about importing goods into a foreign country

[Bearnagh]

The $36 is the OP's tuition cost to learn about importing goods into a foreign country

Yet another stand-up comedian..... yawn

[bonobo]

Huh!

I live here and run a business that imports products and even I can not begin to understand what is charged when, where and how by customs here in Thailand. Why on Earth is it up to a retailer to know the exact regulations, laws and tarrifs of every country/port in the world.

So you don't understand the charges and you do this for aliving?  And you expect a casual customer who sees a product on the web to understand them?  That doesn't make too much sense to me.

Swansons, in this case, did not have to put the exact duty amount on the website.  But instead of having fine print elsewhere on the site, why couldn't they have had a very clear statement on the same page that listed the total cost plus shipping that duty may be charged by the destination country?  

Would it be too hard to have soemthng like this?

Amount of Order:    $xx.xx

Shipping Cost:        $xx.xx

Total Amount Due:  $xx.xx

NOTE:  Duties or tariffs may be charged by the receiving country's government.  It is up to the customer to understand these potential charges and to pay any if they are levied.

[Bearnagh]

I thought that since this thread generated so much interest and as many of you were particularly helpful in your replies, I would update you with how it has concluded.

On the advice from a couple of you, I wrote to Swanson and explained that I felt rather let down by their overall service in that they hadn't made me sufficiently aware that their chosen courier, FedEx, would impose additional (and not insubstantial) charges before completing the contract of delivery. I added that I felt this type of activity, albeit by a third party, must surely be losing them customers and ultimately damaging their online and international sales. I suggested that they should be adding a clause to their 'point of purchase' webpage, such as the one suggested by Bonobo in the previous posting here above.

Swanson wrote back to me and their response was pleasantly surprising. They took on board the points that I had raised and accepted that this activity by their courier was not conducive to good customer relations etc., and have agreed to refund my credit card in total.

I've written to FedEx Thailand instructing them to return the goods to Swanson in the USA. No reply from them yet. Perhaps they'll send me a bill for 2 weeks "storage" of my parcel?? :-)

Thanks for your help folks.

Edited October 31, 2009 by Bearnagh

[ballzafire]

I've been ordering Swanson's vitamin and herbal supplements for years (good value, comprehensive offerings) and having them shipped by simple USPS (via my forwarder). Never a problem with customs fees of any kind. That is, until now.

My latest order is now being mailed back to Customs in BKK by the local P.O. because I am challenging their assessment of the value of the items (WAAY overvalued) and, of course, their new 30% extortion fee (over 4000 baht in this instance!.... for mere vitamins!... Ridiculous!!).

Seems they want to slap a duty on practically everything now to shakedown the falungs as much as possible.... Grrr....

Edited October 31, 2009 by ballzafire

[andyww]

Strange that so many people on here seem to be ordering vitamin supplements. Maybe thats a whole different discussion..

Hope people realise that unless vitamin supplements have been advised by a health professional owing to vitamin deficiency they are of no benefit and sometimes dangerous to take them. Hence the recent European clampdown on the false advertising of vitamin supplements as having some kind of universal heatlth benefit.

But if you really do need vitamin supplements why not just buy them from a local pharmacy eg Boots?

[Ulysses G.]

Because they are WAY too expensive!

[sevenhills]

Hi,

A Farang friend of mine suggested that I buy some herbal supplements from Swanson's in the USA, as they are virtually impossible to source in Thailand. I placed my order a couple of weeks ago and the total, including the shipping, came to $25.46 for the tablets and a staggering $24.46 to ship it by FedEx!. OK so Mr. FedEx did rather well out of that small purchase of three bottles of pills.

It gets worse... Yesterday I got an email from FedEx (Thailand) containing what seems to be some sort of delaration form about the contents of my package which has now apparently arrived in Thailand. I emailed them back asking what it was and what I should do, this being the first time I've ever encountered one of these.

I append here the (full) text of their reply:

What we need from you for clearance are

copy of your passport

Good description of each item

Please be notd that after we got the required information as above,

We will use 3-5 business days for clearance and there will be the clearance service charge

Thb1200 exclude the tax.

So I am now being asked to pay Mr. FedEx a further 1200 Baht ($36) as a "clearance fee" (for goods that have a value of only $25) on top of the ridiculous cost of shipping before I even pay import tax!!

What's the game here? Is this normal? Has anyone any experience of this? My Farang friend who recommended this method of buying the health supplements has never had this happen in the 6 years he's been buying from Swanson's.

Also - is it safe to email a scan of my passport? Why would they need that?

I hope someone can shed some light on this, which I am inclined to say, seems to be nothing short of an extortion racket.

The first payment to Fedex should cover the cost to your door, except for import duties? Thats the way it always works for me! never have to pay Fedex twice?

[Bearnagh]

The first payment to Fedex should cover the cost to your door, except for import duties? Thats the way it always works for me! never have to pay Fedex twice?

Well that's the way I always understood it to be but evidently something has changed....

[samtam]

What are duty rates? I used to pay 10%, but the latest (through Fed Up) was 20%, (for an antique picture).

[Bearnagh]

What are duty rates? I used to pay 10%, but the latest (through Fed Up) was 20%, (for an antique picture).

I believe it's 10% - but of course it may have changed.

[anselpixel]

I also sell online and ship internationally. I don't do it on a large scale, but I mail things out a few times a month. For a small seller like me, FedEx and UPS are out of the question, because the fees are very expensive. Using USPS International Express Mail has been the best solution thus far. It's not cheap, but trackable and half the price of the commercial carriers.

I'm always amazed when someone in a country I know nothing about sends me hate mail because they had to pay customs fees to recover their package.

Why would they assume I had any idea what the fees are, or when they will be applied?

I have to agree about Spain as a black hole for mail. I stopped shipping there years ago.

After the last item was "lost" there, I filed a claim with the postal service, and they paid it without question. They told me it wasn't cost efficient for them to investigate all the lost items claims resulting from posts to that country.