The Amazon Bargains Thread!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 16:29

Royal Mail are such cheeky bastards. The actual apparent TAX fee is £4.96 but I am then charged a whopping £8 Royal Mail Admin fee. £8!

For doing what exactly? It's no more work than storing Recorded Delivery items.

Don't get me started on Royal Mail. I'm confident I've often been overcharged sending stuff as the staff don't know what they're doing. I now try and check before I post something so I at least have a good chance of correcting them when they get it wrong.

Since moving house over the last 6 months, ONCE they've bothered to ring my door bell when I need to sign for something. I'm then left a snotty note to say I'm out and have to waste my time going out of my way to the depot to collect and sign for the item.

How the postman knows I'm out when he's not bothered to ring my doorbell is beyond me. Everytime one has been left (about a dozen times) I've been in and I know full well the door bell works.

When I last went down to complain they actually said do you want someone go round to test your doorbell works. What! It's always the same postman. I've never seen him but it's always the same postman number.

I've even written a letter to complain that made sod all difference and I never got a reply from.

Markgway wrote:Why is it surprising?

Oops typo. I'll correct it.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:08

Fucking Amazon. I've replied telling them they're talking bollocks but it sounds like I'll have to WASTE MY TIME contacting Customs:

Sent: 25 January 2008 16:50
Subject: Your Amazon.com Order # 103-0673446-4433068

Thanks for writing to us at Amazon.com.
I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused to you.
As noted in our Help pages (http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/ ... eId=468632), any customs or import duties are levied once the package reaches the destination country. Additional charges for customs clearance must be paid by the recipient; we have no control over these charges and cannot predict what they might be. Customs policies vary widely from country to country. You may want to contact your local customs office for further information.

Generally, customs forms for international packages will list the value of your order's contents by product type. For instance, orders containing CDs, books, and videos will generally be listed in a way similar to the following example:

Books value: $29.95
CDs value: $9.95
Video value: $39.95

If you used any promotional discounts on an order, please be aware that while the promotion reduces the actual amount that you pay Amazon.com, it does not change the value of the item itself. We are required to declare the actual value of the items in your shipment.

Your privacy is important to us, and we know that you care about how information about your order is used and shared. We would like our international customers and customers shipping products outside the U.S. to be aware that cross-border shipments are subject to opening and inspection by customs authorities.

Also, we may provide certain order, shipment, and product information, such as titles, to our international carriers, and such information may be communicated by the carriers to customs authorities in order to facilitate customs clearance and comply with local laws.

If the order is a gift, the cost of the items is still stated on the customs form. Customs authorities require us to state the value of gift items directly on the package.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.com.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:17

from av forums

If you have suffered a customs and PO charge on an item, where you paid under the £18 threshold but it has been declared above £18, there is a way to claim the charge back.

To claim the customs charge back you need to send them the red label, the customs declaration and also a copy of the invoice showing the full amount and the discount given.

The address to send it to is:

The Correspondence Officer
H.M. Customs & Excise
Mount Pleasant Postal Depot
Farringdon Road
London EC1A 1BB

If you want to phone them customs number is 0207 2392449.

To reclaim back the post office charge you need to send them a covering letter explaining what happened along with a copy of the letter received from customs.

Royal Mail Customer Services
P.O. Box 740
Romford
RM1 1AA

Their phone number is 08457 740 740

Probably a good idea to send it all recorded just to make sure.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:20

I've just spoken to Customs and Amazon are correct they need to mark the full value of the goods but NOT if it's part of a "Buy one Get one Free" deal. His exact words.

He even went on to say they're filling the forms in incorrectly. Get this I now have to send a letter detailing why I want a refund and in 2-4 weeks I'll get a cheque. I'm definitely not bothering with Amazon.com HD Deals any more

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:30

saltysam wrote:To claim the customs charge back you need to send them the red label, the customs declaration and also a copy of the invoice showing the full amount and the discount given.

Not exactly easy when Amazon have stuck them to the parcel but I'll try.

saltysam wrote:The address to send it to is:

The Correspondence Officer
H.M. Customs & Excise
Mount Pleasant Postal Depot
Farringdon Road
London EC1A 1BB

That's the address on the label but I was given a different address:

HM Revenues and Customs
Coventry International Hub
Postal Imports and Exports
Siskin Park West
Coventry
CV3 4HX

saltysam wrote:If you want to phone them customs number is 0207 2392449.

I was given 0845 0109 000

saltysam wrote:Royal Mail Customer Services
P.O. Box 740
Romford
RM1 1AA

I've just spoken to Royal Mail and I was given:

PO BOX 740
Stoke on Trent
ST1 5XZ

You need to send all details along with a P58 International Claim Form too.

I cannot believe to get my £12.96 back I have to send a letter to Customs then wait for their refund (2-4 weeks) then send a second letter to Royal Mail to get the Admin fee back.

In the days of e-mail and fax it's crazy everything has to be done by post. I wish I'd refused th items now!

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:37

Amazon customer service is arse. You send a detailed letter and they send you a generic response that doesn't even address the issue you raised. Better to phone them I'd say. I knew they were breaking the law with incorrect customs forms. Make sure you tell them that (ie. what customs told you) when you contact them again. They won't cease for the sake of the customer but they might in the face of legality.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:40

I've just replied to their e-mail again telling them what I was told but I doubt they'll listen. I'm not going to call them as they won't refund me and it's Amazon America anyway.

I'm unsure which Customs postal address to use. I was told one address on the phone but even the Red Label Charge sticker says the postal address given at AV Forums. I think I'll trust that rather than what someone told me over the telephone.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:45

I'd remail amazon and threaten not to use them again.i've heard this works in some cases. btw in that other deal where blu-rays and hd-dvds were less than half price they listed the price paid- $29.98 for untouchables and streets of fire hd-dvds.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 17:49

saltysam wrote:I'd remail amazon and threaten not to use them again.i've heard this works in some cases.

As it happens I've done just that.

saltysam wrote: btw in that other deal where blu-rays and hd-dvds were less than half price they listed the price paid- $29.98 for untouchables and streets of fire hd-dvds.

So they're not even being consistent

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 25 Jan 2008, 19:44

looks like i may have an issue with Amazon on my brother's behalf

he is a collector of old horror movies and he spotted one on Amazon.com a couple of weeks back. he asked me to get it and it turned up today,apparently it's a dvd-r with no case! bear in mind this wasn't an amazon marketplace guy,it was amazon themselves selling it !

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Jan 2008, 20:07

Surely Amazon aren't sending actual DVD-Rs??? If so that's shocking.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 26 Jan 2008, 02:23

Some niche companies in the US distribute DVD-Rs. I've read about that in Video Watchdog.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Jan 2008, 02:30

Really?

I know many small software houses use them (and CD-Rs) or even cheap proper discs but I've never heard of movie houses using them before. I don't care about software being sold on a CD-R/DVD-R from a small software house as it's a computer file so easily copied off but to sell movies on a DVD-R is definitely not on.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Jan 2008, 18:43

here's the dodgy amazon disc. fuck it wasn't cheap either,$30 with shipping.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Jan 2008, 18:45

OMG that's shocking.

What have Amazon said?

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Jan 2008, 19:27

they haven't replied yet.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 Jan 2008, 20:18

Amazon's customer service (US/UK) used to be great IMO but as theyve grown bigger when you ask them a question they dont answer it personally, just sending an automated reply

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Jan 2008, 20:27

I find if you're lucky you have to ask the same question three times before you get an answer.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Jan 2008, 21:01

not happy about this at all-if it was $2 and advertised as a dvd-r then i'd accept,but it wasn't-here is the link to the product,no indication that i can see that it's a dvd-r. quality is atrocious as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Uncle-Was-Vampire ... 189&sr=1-1

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Jan 2008, 21:51

Is it so rare you'd have to live with it or send it back?

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Jan 2008, 22:27

bradavon wrote:Is it so rare you'd have to live with it or send it back?

it's not mine it's my brothers. i want a refund, the laugh is he already had a dvd-r of this (i transferred it from vhs for him) but he thought this was an official new release.the quality is worse than my homemade dvd-r

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 Jan 2008, 11:07

I'd send it back.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 27 Jan 2008, 11:14

they've replied overnight,told me they are sending me a replacement, refunding mt card then charging it again :x i've fired off an another email to them.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 27 Jan 2008, 14:36

Unsurprisingly they didn't read your e-mail, if they had they'd know sending a replacement will just give you another one.

Why would they refund you then charge you again? That makes no sense.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 27 Jan 2008, 14:41

bradavon wrote:
Why would they refund you then charge you again? That makes no sense.

it's their new system of dealing with replacements,i've read many complaints elsewhere about it.