Large DTHC levied at destination port

[mzp]

Hi,

Really hope someone can advise me on this.

I recently went to Pakistan and bought some items as samples. I did the shipping from there with myself as the sender and receiver. It was LCL. Not sure of this is FOB or CIF or if that is irrelevant on this case.

The agent over there told me I might have to pay some charges. I did some research to find DTHC should be no more than £150 for a full container. This was consistent with what the agent told me.

So I paid the guy in full and came back to UK.

Now a few days ago I get a notice from the UK side agent saying my good have arrived in felixtowe and are awaiting clearance and what I need to do. It also lays out some charges. One of them is DTHC at £360. This seems super large to me.

I spoke to the shipping line and they said the charge is only £145 PER CONTAINER and I only have 15cbm LCL. The UK agent tells me the charge is applied by Pakistan, Pakistan says it is not them but terminal charges for felixtowe (which I know to be untrue). The UK agent says I gotta pay up or they wont release it, unless Pakistan take the charge off. They will charge £360 a day for storage if I go beyond 5 days, probs starting tomorrow.

Not sure what to do here.

 

[kayenta]

You need to pay the money due quickly to avoid incurring storage. Then you need to learn your lesson and you should have studied the numerous threads on here about not shipping in this way.

Given the amount of times that advice is given on this forum about using a UK Freight Forwarder to avoid these things happening its hard to believe anybody is still getting caught by this. Your research is flawed about the THC because yes the THC for an FCL at Felixstowe will be about £145.00 but on an LCL shipment the import consolidator will have to move the container to a customs ERTS and unload the container and then load the collection truck. All these costs are included in your £360.00.
You have paid £24 per cubic metre and I think you are lucky because this cost is in the correct ball park for LCL THC from the Indian Sub and you have not been ripped off.

If you were to appear in court for a criminal offence would you defend yourself or would you use a solicitor/barrister who understands the law of the land. Almost everybody would use a legal professional so why wont you use a Freight Professional to ship your goods.
Before anybody asks NO we are not the shipping company who has moved this shipment but I am so frustrated at seeing this kind of question so many times

 

[mzp]

Well, I was stuck in Pakistan and short of time. I was quite busy over there. I spoke to a few UK forwarders as thats the route I wanted to go down, but the first few were not helpful. By the time I got a useful response (Woodland Group - thanks a lot) I had already got a good FCL rate from Pakistan. Someone then mentioned going LCL and after being quoted half the price and being assured no hidden charges/problems how could I refuse.

I initially wanted FCL with a british forwarder. It just didnt work out that way.

Your research is flawed about the THC because yes the THC for an FCL at Felixstowe will be about £145.00 but on an LCL shipment the import consolidator will have to move the container to a customs ERTS and unload the container and then load the collection truck. All these costs are included in your £360.00.
You have paid £24 per cubic metre and I think you are lucky because this cost is in the correct ball park for LCL THC from the Indian Sub and you have not been ripped off.

So £360 pounds to unload a container and place in a truck? And does'nt this need to occur for FCL too?

That doesnt make sense. Theres no transparency here. You're saying they can charge me whatever they like and all I can do is take it or leave it? What if they wanted 1k, or 5k? Is this 'special' LCL charge available anywhere online for me to check?

ERTS shouldnt cost more than LCL clearance. FF apply to give themselves ERTS status. Why would they do so if it is more expensive?

More importantly, if ERTS is the cause, then why is uk agent telling me the charge is levied by Pakistan, and can only be removed if they allow it. ERTS costa should be picked up by UK agent. Also, it should be clearly itemised not just a vague DTHC.

I hope you can respond well otherwise I will be giving your company some bad rep (dishonest/fraudulant) and certainly reporting your posts to admins here

 

[GraemeL]

And you were thinking about a career as a freight forwarder? Pay up quickly and move on. This is peanuts. You will not save money by prevaricating.

You will have read all of this about importing .....

So you will have found this:-

The reason why freight forwarders always bang on about FOB for import shipments all of the time is twofold. Firstly the UK freight forwarder will the one making the money on the freight rather than the Chinese / overseas forwarder, but in addition it is very often much cheaper overall for the importer. This is because many suppliers in China are getting free or even negative ocean freight charges up to the UK. The UK agent of the Chinese forwarder will then make their money back by charging the UK importer extortionate handover / ancillary fees, which can come as a real shock. Therefore if you buy FOB you will at least know your final overall costs and have better control of the shipment.

Read Pakistan instead of China. It might not fit your case but it is an example of what happens if you take a risk to 'save' money.

 

[kayenta]

To say my reply is dishonest & fraudulent is just ridiculous and you are doing the classic case of 'shooting the messenger' because you did not get the answer you wanted.
Again you are not comparing like with like, I said you cannot use the FCL THC as a comparison against LCL costs because of the additional work involved in handling the LCL cargo over and above paying the THC on the FCL.
The reason the agent in the UK said to you that some of the cost is levied from Pakistan is because the freight company in Pakistan will be claiming some money for a rebate on the freight and you have to pay for it at this end.
I have not worked with Woodland but they have a good reputation and you should have used them if you liked their response.
What should you have done when you were told the cost was half price. You should have listened to the alarm bells that should have been ringing in your head and thought this is too good to be true & you should have checked it out properly & then you would have seen all the other threads about this.
There is further post to answer you now from another Freight Forwarder and they have told you exactly the same as I did and referred you to a thread about this situation with shipments from China.
Instead of being very abrasive in your reply to me you should have been thanking me because I was trying to explain a valuable lesson to you, one which you seem very reluctant to learn.