dvds from AU arrived in Europe

[mr p]

Overseas orders were charged 40us$ for shipping when pre-ordering.
So instead of 20us$ they had to pay 60us$.
Later the shipping fee was set to 18 us$.So many people probably don't realize that they are owed 22us$ by AU.

I had decided to just forget about thse 22 bucks.All I cared about is the dvds to arrive.

So UPS rings the doorbell and asks me to pay them 34 Euros(app.34 US$).(!!)

I snapped and told him to keep the package.

Final words from mr P to everyone and anyone who is involved in the DVD project:
Keep your f***ing dvds and f*** you and die.




love,
mr p.

[Hardware]

Hi Mr P,

I think you may have been in a minority - the general rule of thumb was that AU were only going to charge shipping when the parcel was dispatched, not when you ordered.

When I placed my order (early March), I paid $20 deposit, then another $79.98 in April and was double billed another $79.98 in August. The double charge aside, I paid $100 (which was what I expected) and then was expecting another shipping charge when the discs actually went out.

AU have now said that shipping is FREE to all the pre-order customers so you really shouldn't have paid anything for it at all - maybe you should check your statements (it wasn't clear in the order process).

The E34 that you were asked to pay will be the customs charge that UPS will have had to pay to import the package, plus their handling charge.

[palace]

I'm in the UK, Oxfordshire, and they arrived via UPS from AU this morning!!! HURRAH!!!

18GBP and a few pennies for "government charges" so i guess that's import duty

let's hope they work ok

[Hardware]

How come? I have to pay UPS about £18 for tax, plus a £10 "Brokerage Charge"! Total £28.37

[starbug]

How come? I have to pay UPS about £18 for tax, plus a £10 "Brokerage Charge"! Total £28.37

that's insane. I paid a £12.15 customs charge....

a £10 'Brokerage Charge'?? Is that American for shipping costs? AU were meant to be covering that, even for international customers...

What I don't understand is the difference between the tax for Amazon and AU customers. I suppose what they are doing is putting the tax on the value of the goods as stated...

Retail value of AU set $99-ish not accounting for fraudulent charges
Retail value of Amazon set $60ish.

Using handy maths stuff, I have deduced that (converting into £)

$99 = £64. Tax of £18 is 28% of the value of the goods.
$60 = £39. Tax of £12.15 is 31% of the value of the goods.

Close enough...

All figures approximate but you don't have to be einstein to work out that this is another way that you've paid more for the pleasure of ordering from AU.

but 'brokerage' is just some kind of cruel joke.

[xyzzy]

How come? I have to pay UPS about £18 for tax, plus a £10 "Brokerage Charge"! Total £28.37

Me too. I could understand paying the tax/customs stuff but £10 brokerage charge seemed a bit of a rip-off. Especially as they expected cash right there.

Now I'm going back to my regularly scheduled chasing AU up about double-charges and the promised extras.

At least I can watch MSCL again though

[Tracy]

The thing about all people who preordered getting free shipping as a "we fucked up"...was that an official statement, or was that just message board talk? Meaning, if they do charge me shipping (if my DVDs ever get here), can I complain to them that they weren't supposed to?

[so-called customer]

You can complain all you like, but AU hasn't done squat for anyone else who has complained about their various screw ups and criminal behaviour, so don't think it will get you anywhere.

[Tracy]

Yeah, I know that I can't expect AU to actually do anything they're supposed to, but my question is, can I legally state that I should not have to pay shipping? Was free shipping actually promised by AU?

[Natasha (candygirl)]

The amount that a company charges for shipping is separate from the amount that a country charges for customs.