Custom duty discussion on blu-rays imported

1. Recieved "Dirty Harry 5 film collection" via Aramex - shipped on 19-Oct, delivered today.
2. Ordered "Martin Scorsese Triple Feature (Goodfellas / The Aviator / The Departed)", "Apocalypse Now (Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux / Hearts of Darkness) (Three-Disc Full Disclosure Edition)" and "Kill Bill: Volume One / Volume Two (Double Feature)" on single order. Order was split into two shipments...

a. Received "Apocalypse Now (Apocalypse Now / Apocalypse Now Redux / Hearts of Darkness) (Three-Disc Full Disclosure Edition)" and "Kill Bill: Volume One / Volume Two (Double Feature)" via DHL - shipped on 23-Oct, received today.
b. "Martin Scorsese Triple Feature (Goodfellas / The Aviator / The Departed)" was shipped on 24-Oct via UPS and currently in Dubai.
 
The Aramex delivery arrived when I was not home. The guy demanded Rs. 101 as clearance charges. Did not give any receipt. My son paid it. I complained to Aramex cc. They said they will investigate; possibly these are Octroi charges. I said in that case where is the receipt. Luckily the Aramex distribution centre is very close to my home - less than 400m. The manager said that they have received the complaint and he refunded the amount. The manager said sheepishly, "the delivery guy must have mistaken with someone else's charges". Now really?

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Last edited:
rajivnedungadi said:
I am in Mumbai (Chembur), I ordered Fast and Furious 5 BD set from amazon UK. Will I have to pay Customs Duty? I paid Rs.1491/- for the item including shipping, so how much would be the customs duty (if any).
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You may have to pay custom. It will be anywhere between 35% to 45% of the total package value, including shipping.
 
rajivnedungadi said:
Considering it as 45%, I will end up paying 650 as customs duty, so ideally its of no benifit buying cheaper items from abroad, it will cost the same by the time it reaches me
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It is a judgment call. Sometimes it works cheaper, sometimes not. Original BDs are priced between Rs. 799 to Rs. 1499. Typically English/Hollywood BD are priced as follows:

- many/most Disney BDs are 799
- very few BDs are priced 899 to 999
- majority of BDs are priced at 1299 (this constitutes nearly 75%)
- 3D BDs are priced at 1499
- box sets are priced totally different

I have observed that if a BD is priced 10 or below in Amazon.co.uk or $15 or below on Amazon.com, it is cheaper to buy from there inspite of shipping/customs. Box sets are usually much cheaper on Amazon. For anything else, buy local.
 
And that my friend, is the Ugly truth. On a lighter note, you may not be asked for any custom :-). Apparently Mumbai Custom has become very vigilant and hence more of us are being slapped with Custom duties.
 
It is not Mumbai Customs. It is the Mumbai GPO that is now more vigilant and vigilante. The official duty is 26% or something. Yet PO is charging 40~47%.
 
how to file a compliant against them..the official price is 26% and again for indiana jones set..have been charged 42% duty!!

really pissed off!
 
The effort may be futile. Please refer to the response i got from them:-

Sir,

Duty is charged as per the Customs Tarrif 9804.

SUPDT. OF CUSTOMS (P),PAS, MUMBAI.
 
I had to reject one package from Amazon because of excessive duty charged. Amazon kindly refunded me the order cost.
 
The original order was 45 or something that was never delivered. A replacement order came for free but the CIF valuation was put as 110 or something. The duty charged was Rs. 4800 or something. So I refused to pay and rejected the package. I reported to Amazon and they refunded the full amount.
 
rajivnedungadi said:
yeah, you mentioned the same in this thread earlier.

I bought 5 BDs worth Rs.1491/- (17 Pounds) from amazon.uk. How much do you think the customs duty would be? Is the no duty on items less than 2000 still there or how does it work?
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You may escape the duty but that is a chance. Be prepared for 43% duty.
 
rajivnedungadi said:
They confirmed to refund it if I am charged. I need to scan the receipt and send it to them
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if they refund that will be great..i asked the same regarding customs to amazon and they replied they arent responsible for custom charges and the same has been mentioned in our terms and condition.

neways thanks for the info...will mail them again now :)
 
I also sent Amazon a feedback ...

---------------
11/03/12 07:10:25
Comments:I have some issues with delivery from Amazon.co.uk. For example, I placed one order around 15-Aug. The order was dispatched as promised but I never received it. When I reported this, you sent me a replacement order. You put the customs valuation as over GBP 100 or something (as against the original value of GBP 45 or something). This caused a great grief because I was asked to pay very heavy import duty on the same (around 47%). So regretfully I chose not to accept the delivery.

The problem lies with the Indian Postal Department as they are levying arbitrary import duty rates. There is very little option of disputing the claim as one has to address the grievance to Mumbai GPO and this never gets addressed.

Secondly there is a huge delay in clearing and forwarding from the Indian Postal department - sometimes as high as 3 weeks. And finally, sometimes packages never get delivered.

Hence I have stopped ordering from Amazon.co.uk.

May I suggest that you use a shipper other than Royal Mail for delivery to India. I have no complaints against Royal Mail per se but the issue is with Indian Postal Service. For example, Amazon.com dispatches via international courier companies such as DHL, UPS, Aramex, etc. I would suggest that you do the same. Thank you.
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---------------
Reply:
Hello,

I am very sorry for the issue you had with the customs duty. I have now forwarded this issue to our transportation department to immediately review this issue.

This kind of feedback is invaluable to us, as it helps us continue to improve our website and provide better service to all of our customers.

Please feel free to forward further comments and suggestions about our website to us. Each suggestion will be read and taken into consideration by our business team.

We will surely review this and take a decision so as to not send items via ROYAL MAIL which are shipped to India so that we can avoid issues with customs duty and clearance time.

If you have any further questions please contact us by clicking the following link and well do everything we can to help you.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/rsvp-mi?c=vvqhhhaq3663011976&q=uko2

Please note: this e-mail was sent from an address that cannot accept incoming e-mail. Please use the link above to send us your reply.

If you prefer to call us, we're available 7 days a week 06.00 to midnight, local UK time. Freephone within the UK:

0800 496 1081

International customers can reach us at +44 0 207 084 7911.

I'm very sorry that we weren't able to meet your expectations this time around. I hope that you will allow us another opportunity to serve you in the future.

I hope this helps, your understanding and patience in this case is appreciable.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.co.uk and we look forward to see you again soon.

Did I solve your problem?

If yes, please click here:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/survey?p=A3DVQCY1I0TZX5&k=hy

If no please click here
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/survey?p=A3DVQCY1I0TZX5&k=hn

To contact us about an unrelated issue, please visit the Help section of our website: Amazon.co.uk Help

Warmest regards,


Valli Sasank Tippavarjula
Amazon.co.uk
Your feedback is helping us build Earth's Most Customer-Centric Company.
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