To ask anyone who voted for Brexit to pay my import duty

[Saddlesore]

I ordered a household item online and paid no attention as to where it was coming from (because I never did before). It turned out it was being shipped from Germany and I have to pay import duty and fees to receive it. WTAF!
I’m just having a rant because I fail to see how our lives have improved after Brexit - and don’t get me started on what my relatives in NI are having to endure. And no, Brexit did not deliver a triumph to the UK on vaccines because we would have been just as free to negotiate their delivery to us within the EU.

So, for anyone who voted for Brexit, have your lives really improved and are you happy that UK consumers now have fewer choices and more expensive ones at that?

So, while this is rather tongue in cheek, here goes:

Yes - YABU to want Brexit voters to pay your import fees
No - YANBU to want Brexit voters to pay your import fees

For much of the working class, wages have stagnated whilst their cost of living has increased vastly over the last 20-30 years so I am sure they know a lot about paying more for stuff and getting less in return. Perhaps now these kind of things are starting to affect the middle classes they will have some more understanding and empathy for why the working classes vote in certain ways.

I doubt their priorities are making sure their kids can travel around Europe or study at the Sourbonne and I imagine they voted for Brexit in the hope that their children would be able to afford to live a life that doesn't including competing with thousands of others for minimum wage jobs, housing and school places.

One of my fb friends was moaning about import tax the other day. Basically he voted for brexit, but didn’t realise he would have to pay more tax on stuff and he didn’t think that was fair. I’ve had to hide him, I was so annoyed! He got what he wanted, we are out of the EU, now he needs to deal with the consequences of that.

You’re peddling false information. There’s no custom duty because we have a free trade deal.

Depends on where the goods were manufactured ;)

@catspider

For much of the working class, wages have stagnated whilst their cost of living has increased vastly over the last 20-30 years so I am sure they know a lot about paying more for stuff and getting less in return. Perhaps now these kind of things are starting to affect the middle classes they will have some more understanding and empathy for why the working classes vote in certain ways.

I doubt their priorities are making sure their kids can travel around Europe or study at the Sourbonne and I imagine they voted for Brexit in the hope that their children would be able to afford to live a life that doesn't including competing with thousands of others for minimum wage jobs, housing and school places.

I find these "class wars" ridiculous tbh. Maybe people should stop concentrating so much on class. I mean that shit overrides even racism at one point. Since my DH changed car for more expensive one and got pricy jacket he is treated differently. His face is still arab as fuck as it was before. It's ridiculous. "But x class that" and "y class that". You can go to uni even as working class kid. Why not. There are finance, bursaries etc. I have a feeling that if we were growing up in UK my DB would not have masters, let alone did Erasmus (like many if his friends did because it's funded) because we would be firmly in the "working class" and that would be it. I am just not getting this and this hate between the percieved classes. Maybe I am just bit thick, who knwos

If you think it’s easy for a working-class kid to go to university you are naive.

@Jahebejrjr

If you think it’s easy for a working-class kid to go to university you are naive.

Or not a fan of self fulfilling prophercies? Uni isn't for everyone (and it shouldn't be, many are better off with different education) but I simply don't understand why even talented working class kids "can't really go to uni". And nothing in life is really "easy" os it

Oh behave. The system is set up against them from day one. All this business of, if they work hard they’ll make it is bullshit.

And life is a lot easier for some than others. Even the bloody Tories are starting to realise this.

@Jahebejrjr

Oh behave. The system is set up against them from day one. All this business of, if they work hard they’ll make it is bullshit.

Well that's maybe something uk might want to have a look at then. Not a fault of Eu tho, innit

Ah life imitates art. The voting is 51-49

@PseudoBadger

Ah life imitates art. The voting is 51-49

Bulgarian or Italian?

Never said the class issues in the Uk are the fault of the EU @SchrodingersImmigrant However, it was a contributing factor as to why Brexit happened.

Those who think it’s astonishing that anyone should ever buy art or anything else from beyond the borders of the U.K., could I refer you to websites such as Artfinder. Look, thousands and thousands of artists selling all types of art and look.... some of them live in other countries . Oh my god, they’re offering free delivery and you can purchase at the click of a button. Who knew? What a shocker!

Some artists live in forrin places, like Stanislav Lazarov who has the audacity to live in Bulgaria and offer free international shipping. Well I never...,

Do people really never buy things on EBay or Etsy - sites like that?

When you’re looking for something, do you not research it first? If it’s free (or cheap) delivery, what difference did it make pre-Brexit if something is coming from Manchester or Milan? You pay and the next thing you know is when it arrives at your door. But not anymore.

Ebay tells you the import fees and postage fees though (ime anyway).

Most sites will indicate delivery costs etc, but the point is, there are “surprise charges” now at customs which are well beyond VAT, handling fees etc. How these are calculated is not clear cut and you have no recourse but to pay or send the items back and be liable for postage / loss / damage in transit (and often the seller will not accept returns anyway). It’s not how things were before - it’s total madness.

@borderforce

Exactly!

And yet all the posters sneering at the OP seem to think that the price you are paying is made very clear on "the website".

This is absolutely not the case, and I think hope a lot of those posters may be in for a nasty shock next time they order things online, or maybe find that the cost of their items has increased massively due to the fact that (spoiler alert) not everything on xxx.co.uk is actually made in the UK.

I think a thread warning people to beware of hidden import fees would have met with a much better response than 'PAY MY IMPORT FEES BREXITEERS'.

@borderforce

Most sites will indicate delivery costs etc, but the point is, there are “surprise charges” now at customs which are well beyond VAT, handling fees etc. How these are calculated is not clear cut and you have no recourse but to pay or send the items back and be liable for postage / loss / damage in transit (and often the seller will not accept returns anyway). It’s not how things were before - it’s total madness.

Exactly....

We've had one little "surprise charge" on a (small) delivery levied on goods UK>EU....

Customs took a look at goods at the border and decided money was due on delivery...so through no fault of their own that's another UK vendor off our list.

I posted about this vase I bought from Italy and everyone got peculiarly aggro about the fact it was a vase , but I was trying to warm people - because anything over £130 now may well end up costing you an extra 40-50% (but you will not be able to predict this at the time of purchase, even if delivery / customs charges are stated on the website).

For instance, the price of the vase I bought was inclusive of VAT and free delivery. The next thing I hear is that it’s being held at U.K. customs pending payment if a charge of an additional £190. They said this £190 was VAT and “charges due to Brexit.” The vase was about £400 so the VAT, even if applicable, should have been around 20%, so £80 or thereabouts. But what the other £110 was I will never know.

I contacted the seller who said he was not aware of or liable for these new charges due to Brexit. Fair enough, But I pointed out to him that the price on his website was inclusive of VAT and he should have stated that I had already paid VAT on the delivery label. Many EU vendors are just stating the overall price of the item on the labels (ie not separately listing VAT) because obviously, within the EU it never mattered. But here, it did mean I paid VAT twice. After a lot of to-and-fro, he eventually agreed to refund me the Italian VAT. How the other £110 in “charges due to Brexit” were calculated, I will ever know. You ring HMRC and they have literally no idea. They just tell you to fill in a form on their website and post it in if you want to appeal a charge. But you can only do this with the label off the parcel and to receive the label you obviously have to pay the charge. And you will never hear back from this “Appeals.” It’s just a fob off. The impression I get is that they are overwhelmed and in total chaos.

I think people need to be aware of this because even if you buy something you think is free delivery and being dispatched from within the U.K, it may be that it’s actually coming from a warehouse somewhere in the EU. Previously it would have made no difference and you sound never have known, but now you will find out when unexpectedly contacted by customs and hit for an additional 40-50% of the initial cost.

I think it’s a really tricky time for a lot of people financially and buying an expensive vase from overseas is out of reach for many people. I wouldn’t take it to heart @borderforce

I think a thread warning people to beware of hidden import fees would have met with a much better response than 'PAY MY IMPORT FEES BREXITEERS'.

^This

@mainsfed

Are you the poster who bought that painting from Italy for €800 or something?

I thought that too 😂

Sure, I get that, but it could be anything over £130. If it ends up costing you £200 instead of £130 you might well not have bought it. And many U.K. companies have their stock in warehouses in the EU, but you wouldn’t know that when ordering.

I know @borderforce but these are trying and sensitive time we live in.