An update for people like @sqw , I received my Pro Glowforge on 22nd, unfortunately it was damaged in shipping.
Customer service at GF was great and got a warranty replacement unit out quickly.
Again, unfortunatly the value on the customs form they sent with it was for the retail price, not preorder price or marked as a warranty replacement.
This meant the £690.49 Duty I had to pay for the broken GF (which I am claiming back via HMRC) was now $1388.90 for the replacement GF according to UPS.
GF again were quick to send me a commercial invoice for the correct preorder value and after a call to UPS this morning and eventually getting through to the correct department (ask the agent to be put through to Post Clearance Department) they asked me to email the corrected invoice to ukpostclear@ups.com with the tracking number in the subject field and will recalculate the duty for the preorder price.
it is such a relief to see that i’m not the only one with a wrong invoice value ;o). I have one question though: Did you already payed the duty and will get a refund? Or did you manage to clear al this before the GF went through customs and therefore only had to pay the right amount?
Mine is still with UPS here in Germany and I’m waiting desperatly for a response from the GF team because I’m not sure how long UPS will hold on to the GF before sending it back (or delivering it to me but then with a wrong invoice value)
So you had to pay it once, reclaim it and then pay it again. I think if GF had correctly marked it as a warranty replacement FOC, the second one would have no duty and you wouldn’t need to reclaim the first one.
Also when you reclaim from HMRC I assume you don’t get the brokerage back, so do you end up paying that twice? Again if the second was marked warranty I don’t think there would be any brokerage.
GF have had more than two years to learn how to do customs invoices properly. They really haven’t a clue.
GF did send a “corrected” invoice, but it was still incorrect.
I’m going to pay the full £920 (!!) duty today so I can get the GF delivered and then work with GF and HMRC to get the correct paperwork.
I think the issue I’m going to have with HMRC is that duty paid on the broken GF is half the duty paid on the replacement and somehow I’m going to have to convince HMRC it is the replacement value that I need refunding.
I’m pretty sure I will be out brokerage fees too.
I have to say GF are trying hard - but I don’t think have quite understood the issue.
You are right - shipping the unit with zero rated replacement invoice should be what is required.
It went through customs first (hence post clearance department rather than brokerage department which I was initially sent to a couple of times) I am waiting to pay until it is corrected by UPS, GF is arriving today but they said thats fine.
GF customer service are sporadically quick… it tends to be lots quickly then a few days of silence followed by a lot quickly. Understandable with the apparent volume of support requests.
UK HMRC is a bit hinky, and because of the huge amount of “warranty replacement” items that are in fact not, so they make you pay it a second time and reclaim, proving with paperwork that it is.
…Me to as it turns out… it just arrived and since the post clearance department only opened at 9 they hadn’t corrected it yet, but the driver gave me the number to claim back the difference when it has…
on the plus side, this one does appear in one piece, even if the box is in a worse state than the broken GF!
When I rang them they said my email chain with a real GF support email address and the proper invoice should be sufficient (the invoice is just a piece of paper and could easily be faked I guess)
@alexiancooper are you saying with a corrected invoice you can claim the extra amount back from UPS and then you are claiming the original amount back from HMRC. Do I have that right?
How will UPS pay you? By cheque, BACS or some other means. I’m just wondering when it come to get nearly £1000 back whether UPS or HMRC would be quicker?
yes UPS said they will pay back the difference for the second unit, and HMRC will return the duty from the first after I submit the 1179 form, minus UPS brokerage fee
I’m sorry for the frustration. I’m glad to hear you were able to work with UPS and that it’s worked out and appreciate you shared what you learned to help others here.