Parcelforce Worldwide admits to clerical error
Parcelforce Worldwide today said that because it had made a clerical error, charities would get £75,000 as a good will gesture. Five charities will each get £15,000 because Parcelforce Worldwide didn””””t make sure that the increase in the price of clearing VAT-able parcels through UK customs was updated correctly in all the official publications.
Parcelforce Worldwide increased its customs clearance fee to £7.75 on 2 April 2002, from £6.25. This fee is charged by Parcelforce Worldwide to cover the handling costs of paying the VAT on all parcels that have tax levied on them by HM Customs when they come into the UK, and then collecting the VAT back from customers when they receive their parcels.
All customer information was updated with the new price, but the price in the London, Belfast and Edinburgh Gazettes – the official newspapers which legally have to be told of any postal price changes – was not updated correctly and read £7.25, a discrepancy of 50p.
When Postwatch – the consumer watchdog – noticed the mistake in the Gazettes in March 2003 and told Parcelforce Worldwide, it immediately amended the price in the Gazettes.
As a result of this error Parcelforce Worldwide will be paying £75,000 to charity since it is not possible to track down the customers who may have been affected. While Parcelforce Worldwide did not overcharge its customers, it has agreed that technically it should have charged the lower price because the Gazettes did not show the correct price.
A Parcelforce Worldwide spokesperson said: “We apologise to our customers for not ensuring that the official journals showed the correct price. Because it isn””””t possible to track down the customers who might have been affected, Parcelforce Worldwide is giving the money to charity, so it won””””t benefit from the price increase itself. “
Ends
Issued by Parcelforce Worldwide:
148 Old Street
LONDON
EC1V 9HQ
www.parcelforce.com
Notes to editors
The five charities which will benefit are: Sense, Age Concern, The Prince””””s Trust, The Countryside Foundation, and UNICEF””””s Vitamin A appeal.
Parcelforce Worldwide has estimated that 150,000 customers were charged £7.75 before the price was updated in the Gazettes, so this works out at £75,000 on the basis of 150,000 times 50p – the difference in the price printed in the Gazettes (£7.25) and the price customers were charged.
The fee for customs clearance for standard parcels handled by Parcelforce Worldwide is now £8 (increased on 27 March 2003), and the fee for clearing express parcels is £13.50
www.parcelforce.co.uk
