Rip off
Other
Hi, a while ago someone posted an offer from a company called Gift Boxed. It was a personalised chain £20 but i just had to pay delivery £3.99. They won't respond to my emails but when it arrived with the post man this morning I had to pay £17.12 custom fees. Unfortunately i couldn't keep the necklace. Surely this isn't right? I know i can't claim anything back but thought you should know before someone else makes the same mistake as me. Sammie x
The vast majority of Freebies that charge P&P are rip offs. If the charge is more than P&P would reasonably cost then buyer beware.
It looks like you've been the victim of a drop shipper - they usually sell junk (shipped from abroad) but because they say it's worth more the customs get involved and make a charge.
If it's any consolation it isn't a £20 chain you've lost just the extortionate P&P you were charged.
Hope this doesn't offend anyone but do people genuinely think people are giving away items worthg £20 just for the p&p charges - do they think those giving away valuable items look like this. 
Yeah, freebies that cost shipping should be categorized as deals. Freebies implies it's free in some way already, but if there's shipping then you're kinda paying for the item itself.
Is it worth it sometimes? Sure, but that's not the point.
Im dumb i guess. I've got the order confirmation and shipping confirmation emails. I didn't keep it and the postman said it will be shipped back to where it was from. It might sound petty because we all struggle with money so it wasn't just the cost it was because she's not selfharmed for 8 weeks now and the necklace had her name on
I'll try Argos next time.
Thanks for all your help and wishing you all a great weekend 
I agree. Its a bit like false advertising. Hope I'm allowed to say the company name Gift-BOXED Rockman
Here's yet another another FREE CHAIN supposedly worth £49.99 but yours for ONLY £9.99 p&p - and as pointed out in comments can be bought on ebay for 99p with free p&p.https://www.latestdeals.co.uk/deals/free-chain-perlaluxe
Furthermore as the item will not be shipped with a false price... customs and excise won't upset the recipient even more.
Fortunately only 10 members liked the special offer of only £9.99 p&p. So that conman will have made less than £100 (from this site) unless some mugs bought a few - but not bad if you consider he gets FREE advertising here.
Or heck, think about the Nigerian scams.
He'll "give" you $100m but you need to transfer to him $500. 
In this case it's a scam rather than a rip off, though. But the same mentality kinda applies.
Not on here but there was website giving away makeup but you pay postage but if you had read the T&Cs you would find out that they could charge you whatever. Multiple people had said that a new link would come up after they paid and they would end up with a bill of 4 times the postage with no ability to get a refund. I almost was going to go ahead with the freebie but decided to check if it was legit and found out it wasn't
So did you pay the customs fees to get the necklace? Otherwise, how did you know it was the necklace?
You say you can't keep the necklace, which is why I ask if you paid the fees already? If you paid, why can't you keep it?
Now, I think you might actually be able to claim the customs fees back. You're only meant to pay customs if the value is over £15 - you didn't pay that. I would file a claim with HMRC and see if you can get it back. I had to file a claim years ago because they had categorised my item wrong and overcharged me hundreds - I got a couple of hundred back!
Check out this page:
The shippers claim the value is £20 (or more) to fit in with the scam - it's not up to Customs to get items valued they accept the stated valuation. Many of these items look valuable until the gold plating (perhaps less than a thousandth of an inch thick) wears off. Even light rubbing against skin (before it turns green) is enough,
davidstockport this is quoted from their site:
"You’ll be charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods. VAT is charged on the total value, including:
the price paid for the goods
postage, packaging and insurance
any duty you owe"
Note it says the price paid. Just because the sender valued it higher, doesn't make that the price you paid.
SammieAgar If you did get this and paid customs, I'd suggest looking at the above link, scrolling down and looking for form BOR 286 - should be what you need to claim back the customs charges - you'll need to provide evidence of the actual price you paid though (email receipt?).
I didn't keep the necklace had to let the post man take it back. As it was customs charges and my order number on the form the postman had it was my necklace. Live and learn x
SammieAgar if it wasn't delivered to you though (because you didn't accept it), presumably you're getting a refund?
MeestairChrees Unfortunately a refund of the p&p is highly unlikely - it was sent but because of the extra charge was not accepted. It's time we had decent action on fraud in this country, these con-artists know that they can continue getting away with this type of fraud. Some brush it off as "only £3.99" etc - but multiply it by several thousand and they're making a fortune.
davidstockport with non-delivery though (even if because it was declined due to customs) I'd hope a refund is still possible. Especially as the customs charge was the fault of the sender for marking the price wrong!
It is a US company? They can not be in the UK...that is why it get the custom fee.
But interesting if u order from Wish they never charge those fees.
I've never had any issues with Joom, Wish or Amazon. I knew I'd not bought anything that amounted to paying that price customs.
Thank you again x
Thank you for your feedback. This website has now been blocked from Latest Deals.
Join for free to get genuine deals, money saving advice and help from our friendly community
Chief Bargain Hunter
