Blissy pillowcases - import customs charges?

[supersplodge]

Posting here for traffic....

These adverts keep popping up for lovely silk pillowcases (including on Mumsnet!!!!) and lots of UK reviews saying they are fab etc.

Decided to treat myself and ordered some. The website tricks you into buying four (I wanted two) as they offer you a 'great deal'. It's hugely expensive but I was seduced by all the blurb etc. Anyway, I ordered four at a cost of £140 or thereabouts (yes, I know.....) and was looking forward to receiving them.

Then a couple of days ago I had an email from some company saying I need to pay another £15 customs charges! The company are apparently the intermediary UK people dealing with imports, and said if I don't pay they will return the goods.

My first thought was that it was a scam. But I emailed Blissy and they said they have included stuff in their small print that they can't be responsible for the customs requirements of any countries they ship to! This despite the fact that they have big notices on their site saying 'free shipping, No additional charges!'

Has anyone had this before? I order stuff from abroad all the time and never had this. Is it a scam? Could I tell the customs people to return the goods and claim a refund? The Blissy website says if not happy in 60 days you can have a full refund - but they'll probably say there are shipping costs or something.

If it's definitely not a scam I could just pay the extra but it just doesn't seem right, and I don't like being robbed (any more than I was already).

Anyone any thoughts or experience of this? Thanks!

It's always a risk when you import goods over certain amounts from overseas;

www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

Not every parcel gets checked, but it's your responsibility to pay the charge I'm afraid, not theirs; you need to pay it, they can't charge it and pay it for you.

If you don't, then eventually the goods will be returned.

It clearly states in their shipping policy that you may be liable for customs charges. And if you want to return, them you are liable for shipping. So don’t think you have much hope, unfortunately.

Oops - didn't mean to enable voting but looks as though I may have....

I got fleeced for a customs charge with something once, but I made a fuss and the company refunded me.

OK seems I may have to live and learn on this one. Thanks for the advice.

This is always a risk when you order items from abroad as you are responsible for custom fees. Have you really never come across this before?

Which company emailed you regarding the custom fees? It will just be the courier eg UPS, DPD etc. You can ask them to return it to sender (most will if you don’t pay) HOWEVER some will pay the fees on your behalf and deliver the parcel regardless...which means that you then owe the company money. If you don’t pay, you’re in debt and they could take you to court unfortunately.

The weird at the women in the ada were caressing the boxes put me off them. Thank god i’m irritable. It sounds a PITA.

How much did you pay for the pillowcases and delivery in total? And how much were you charged in customs?

It’s worth double checking that you have not been overcharged

I don't know anything about this company but they are in the US and it's normal to have to pay customs charges on anything imported from outside the EU.

I have Lily Silk pillowcases that are great. They are in the UK so no import duties. Their 22 momme pillowcases (same quality as Blissy) are £50 and they have a 30% off if you buy 2. They also have 19 and 25 momme.

I've also picked up silk pillowcases very cheaply in T K Maxx (about a tenner).

That probably isn't very useful advice now though...

You say that you order from "abroad" all the time. But whether or not you incur duty and/or VAT depends on exactly where "abroad" your goods are from.

Until the end of the year if you order goods from within the EU27 you will not incur VAT or customs duty because we are still in the Single Market. If you order from without the EU you will incur VAT and/or duty depending on the value of your goods.

After January first it will depend on what agreements we make with other countries and on how the new Border Operating Model pans out.

I just checked the website that you ordered from, and you would have to pay for return shipping to America to return the order.

DHL is their UK courier, so assuming that this is the company that emailed you regarding the fees. Take them up on their offer to return the parcel to sender if you don’t pay the fees as it works out as a free return for you🤷🏼‍♀️

Are you sure it's just £15 in customs charges and not more... £15 is around the cost of the admin charge from a courier and an order of £140 would get a VAT charge of 20% and customs duty over £135, unless it's exempt or has a reduced rate. Had a quick look and it doesn't appear pillowcases would be exempt, so the vat alone should be £28.

Also the request for customs charges should come from the courier company, not a random third party. If it's come from a random third party then you need to make absolutely sure that they are genuine charges for the parcel you've ordered and not a coincidence that you've received a scam email with made up parcel info. Those scams are prevalent.

Thanks all. I did a lot of googling and the company are the official handlers for DHL, so I gave in and paid the charges. Now thinking I maybe shouldn't have if they could have returned without it costing me!

It seems odd that the cost for four is £136 which is exactly £1 over the duty limit. And the Blissy website had lots of UK people saying how amazing it all is - no mention of the charges!

I have ordered many items from abroad but usually via ebay (Hong Kong and China) and mostly cheap stuff so wouldn't have been affected. Although the Gov.Uk site says you should pay VAT after £15 and we've ordered car parts etc from Germany and never had an issue. I think I was just naive - good job I didn't buy anything really expensive......

I’m just commenting for anyone else who may be in the same boat as I was.

I bought a Blissy pillowcase, just one (paid £39.65) but then searched for UK-based reviews and experiences and found many people who had issues with their order, like on this thread, which had be very worried. So if anyone else stumbles across this thread, I am pleased to say I didn’t face any customs charges. I recommend searching online for discount codes to make sure your order is as cheap as possible, and that should help avoid surprise charges. If I bought 4 cases it would’ve cost me £119 total after discounts. Delivery took 9 days.

I just placed a 2nd order for a headband and that was £20 after the referral discount applied, (I didn’t use the referral discount for the pillowcase because I found a better discount code online).