DHL - estimated freight charges

[jimmy]

Customs charges - watch out for DHL. I got a customs bill 1 month after recieving an item, a cheap camera flash off ebay from china, and because it had no price for shipping on it (probably cost £6-£8) they decided it cost £83.80 to post.
I called twice and spent ages on the phone - only to get no result or find out what was going on.

I had also been charged some extra VAT because I am a company they said - because the seller had used my ebay name and not my real name.

I got told I had to get some exhaustive proof of the actual cost of shipping and the item itself, from the seller in China and provide this within 48 hours.

I basically told them to shove it and that I was retroactively denying acceptance of the parcel. I told them they could come round and take the flash and I will buy another.

HMRC said it was 100% DHL and there was no problem with customs. How on earth can DHL value the freight of a small box as £83.80? What sort of crack are they smoking.

Not heard anything since early last week from DHL about it. Not sure if they will try to pursue me for the money they stupidly paid to HMRC on 'my' behalf - but there's no way I am jumping through the crazy hoops they want me to. I don't mind paying the vat and duty on an item but when its on ebay with free shipping how the blummin heck am I supposed to know how much it cost or indeed why should I get a written and signed letter from the seller to show the actual cost they paid. This isn't my job.

I've never heard of this before - I've never had it before but apparently it does go on. I wonder if they thought because I'm a company (I'm not) that I would just pay it and not care.
The fact their postage estimate is vastly more than the item including shipping didn't seem to bother them.

Just something that I thought I'd share since this took me by surprise.