True, but all DHL needs to do is to subtract the $50 from Fr. 62.-- customs allowance which will equal Fr. 17.-- and estimate the shipping cost from China. DHL Switzerland certainly knows how much DHL China charged the seller for the shipping. Most likely it's greater than Fr. 17.--.
Ok well that makes some sense, if they are acting on behalf of the tax man, checking values and collecting tax. Then adding their admin fee. Fine.
So if they did the calculations and found that shipping+goods was under 62chf, would the still charge the admin fee for checking? Do they actually check every package with this level of detail?
Anyways, I'll check the bill tonight and see what's the breakdown.
I'm new to this forum and in general I have recently moved to Switzerland. I have found this topic while searching information about DHL charges in Switzerland. I would really need an advice here.
For the last couple of months I have been ordering mostly clothes online, websites like Asos or River Island and I have been always careful not to order more that 60 chf per package because of the taxes and all. And then I made one day an order through House of Fraser for the first time, amount of around 40 chf, it arrived through dhl, all smooth...
But then a couple of days after, they have sent me a bill to pay: Droits de douanne and Provision pour avance de fonds.
1. Should I complain?
2. Am I entitled to get this money back once I pay?
3. Why they charge for these things when post or other couriers don't do it?
4. Does this mean that I will never be able to shop online from websites that use DHL if I am in Switzerland?
I'd say ignore it. You have the package now. If they were holding the package until you pay the fee, then they have the power. Right now, they have squat.
Recently I ordered some cycling goods from the UK worth around CHF50, thereby expecting to escape any charges. A week later DHL sent me an invoice for CHF60 including CHF31 "droits de douane", the TVA added, plus admin fees. Reading the paperwork, it seems that DHL had declared the goods as 9.7kg of socks, which seemed to attract this special import levy. I emailed DHL (the address is on the bill) who replied the same day to say "the shipment was cleared incorrectly" and cancelled the entire bill.
So, my advice is to challenge DHL if you think you are being charged unfairly, rather than ignore the bill and face a threat of legal proceedings.
I have just ordered stuff from the UK. £126, plus £7.50 postage (that gets taxed too - no idea how they work that one out!). The charges from DHL were the following 14 CHF tax, 19 CHF admin, and 3 CHF charges for cash advance. What ????? They delivered without asking for any tax, then I received the bill in the post. Cash advance my eye...
I am having the same problem and I only have 7 days to pay the absurd bill (only 6 left, actually). Do I have to start by telling them I refuse to pay the bill because they wrongly declared the contents ?! Could you, please, tell me what did you write in that e-mail ? I've never done this in my life and I really don't know how to formulate it
Why did you groan at him? Is your experience different?
I'm a person who shops online, a lot. I've had parcels delivered by all major couriers.
Fedex, UPS, TNT and DHL.
None other, but absolutely none, have taken me on a ride so badly as DHL did many times. The price structure is absolutely non transparent and you never know what to expect to pay in import fees. Good luck getting answers even when you ask. The problem is - you rarely have a choice as online shops usually work with only one courier with whom they have a contract.
That's right ! Experience done - they declared my goods without reading the commercial invoice, only by reading the seller's name "IHerb - Beauty and health supplements", so the VAT and the "droits de douane" (custom duties) where higher than 5 CHF. As leonr23 advised me, I emailed DHL, attached the IHerb invoice with the actual content of the package (Xylitol (a birch sugar) and All Surface Cleaner and Polish) and they replied to say "the shipment was cleared incorrectly" and cancelled the entire bill. That's because the customs duties and VAT (in my case: for cleaning products and sugars) are not charged if the amount calculated is less than CHF 5.00. For Beauty products - as declared by DHL - these taxes were > CHF 5.00. Thank you, leonr23, your advice was great !
A couple of years ago a friend sent me a small package via TNT from CH to Canada. She filled out all forms and made sure to ask about all costs so that she covers it all, and I just get the present without other charges (normal, right?). Lo and behold, a few months later, TNT sends me a bill with charges way above the value of the present itself (declared on the forms) - a very small amount for the tax, plus a very large amount for "handling".
I called the phone provided several times to discuss the issue, but no one picked up. So I left a message that I would gladly pay the tax, but refuse to pay any sort of handling since my friend made sure to pay for everything here. To this day I haven't heard back from them.
I ordered few times from iherb using dhl delivery. Everything was fine. As i read on swiss post website, no import duties for the order amount less $200.