New glasses! ~ A tale of Japan and customs fees

じーっ

I got some new glasses! Some cheap half-price frames from Japan, by glasses company JINS. Unfortunately, it also became a cautionary tale about proxy delivery and customs charges.

The proxy - Tenso
Company doesn't deliver outside of Japan? Got no Japanese friends? Now you do, because this is where proxy delivery services like Tenso come in. The product is shipped to this company's address within Japan, and they forward it on to you. Their site was in clear English and within a few minutes I had my own address in Tokyo to send mail to. Very fast and cool service.

The problem - Parcelforce
It was when it hit England that things went wrong. For future reference, here's how you calculate customs and taxes when importing goods into the UK.

• Customs Duty - Only charged on items worth over £270 at 2.5%. If your total duties come to less than £9, though, this is waived.
• Excise Duty - Only if you're bringing in alcohol or cigarettes. Excise duty rates here. 
• VAT - Charged on the cost of item, shipping and duties at 20%.
• Handling fee by carrier - THIS IS THE KICKER. I had no idea about this one. You see, my parcel was picked up by Parcelforce. And Parcelforce 'kindly' pay your fees to customs for you to release your parcel, then hold it hostage themselves and demand a flat £13.50 for the pleasure. This nearly tripled my border fees.

Another thing to note about Parcelforce is though you may see 'Awaiting payment of charges' through their online tracking, you cannot immediately pay online. You either ring them up and give them your credit card details over the phone (not an option for me when I'm at work) or you have to wait a day or two for them to send you a letter with a reference code, and then you can pay online. Just... what?

I tried to speed it up by ringing up the depot to get my code over the phone, but the operator stubbornly maintained that she was not allowed to release it as 'We wouldn't know if you are who you say you are.' Seriously? Why does it matter who pays it, if it gets paid? Is there some problem with reverse-bandits paying people's customs fees?

Being unable to wait around at home for a parcel, I went up to Camden myself and reluctantly coughed up the fees. I noticed there were multiple signs and leaflets by the window proclaiming the handling fee as 'legal', and 'very reasonable' - it seems that quite a few complaints had been made in the past. Personally, I too cannot even begin to imagine the amount of arduous labour which justifies £13.50 in a single parcel's handling fee. I expect it to be along the lines of at least three postal workers breaking their fingers while punching numbers into a calculator.

But at least that saga is over. If these are okay, I might get prescription lenses fitted.