LTT Backpack £69 import to UK

[gameofyou]

Hello everyone I just wanted to give an update yesterday (16th of November) that I received a refund of 60 dollars from the LTT store. Which is the correct thing that should have been done to remedy the VAT situation. If you contact support you should include a photograph of both the parcel force letter showing your duty charges and a photo of the customs declaration. (This allows them to verify you have been charged TAX on the import so its possible to refund the store tax).

 

OK so I mailed them November the 4th, so the turn around for me was 12 days for the VAT refund request, so I would recommend anyone who has mailed the ltt store should sit tight for 2 weeks. 

 

Of course I didn't get a refund for the VAT my stickers... but I guess I can live with eating the 20p, after all its nothing compared to the parcel farce fee of 12 pounds! 

[mithusan55743]

On 11/10/2022 at 11:14 AM, msknight said:

Be cautious. Despite paying my charge yesterday and setting my delivery date for today, Parcel Farce has messed things up and I'm waiting for someone to call. Apparently two systems didn't synchronise correctly, or something. So despite having paid, booked and have the receipt, my parcel is still showing awaiting payment of customs fees. If that's the case for you also, then give Parcel Farce customer service a ring and ask them to look into it for you.

Yeah, I was impatient, I didn't even receive my customs letter. The tracking link said custom chargers were due so I went to my local depot which had the backpack there, paid the charges and collected it there and then. A whole week after I collected my backpack my customs charge letter comes through.

 

I have contacted LTTStore support and they gave me $60 refund for the customs which works out as £50.89.

That is less than the taxes I paid on LTTStore on the transaction and less than import VAT on the customs side.

[msknight]

I received a support e-mail about my refund, but they couldn't open the e-mail I'd attached to the response e-mail... so I had to take a screen shot of the receipt and respond to that, so I'm probably at the back of the queue again. However, I did make the point that they're refunding less VAT than they took, and that by declaring $1 value for the free stickers, customers paid a few pence more in customs at the receiving end.

 

Given the craziness that's coming out of this, I feel that Linus is losing more money than us here trying to put this right, but I think this is likely a lesson in not trying to do too much at the same time... but hey ho.

 

In separate news I did receive notification of my two black screwdrivers (and another, "free," sticker pack! LOL!) so with VAT paid at point of sale, we'll see what happens when they arrive. Based on past experience, it'll be about a week between the order being raised for the shipping, to being actually shipped, then a trip down to DHL on the West coast of the US, and then another week to get to the UK and through customs... probably about three weeks before they are in my hands, and I'm following the journey like a hawk.

[msknight]

OK - $60 received. The answer I got regarding only $60 instead of the $61.20 was... "We actually just refund the tax that we collect at checkout, rather then the VAT charged by customs." ...which isn't correct because the VAT paid at checkout was $61.20 ... and that's before getting into the weeds on things...

 

BUT... and here's the important thing for me, there was an earlier refund of $7.19 which I think was because shipping was charged for the stickers as well, or something.

 

SO ... in conclusion, this has got to the point where I can't follow the pennies any more. The bulk of the refund came though and I'm grateful for that... but it has left me with concern about the two screwdrivers incoming and whether I'm going to face a repeat of that. And it's dented my faith in LTTStore... it will be a fair while before I consider ordering from them again... if at all.

 

I will be watching WAN on catch up tomorrow morning, but Linus likely won't be able to say anything about the $50 customs declarations; it would be tantamount to admitting to fraud... if he does it will likely be a general statement along the line of, "Yes, mistakes were made..." ... and it does look like there's been some editing of this thread, some of which wasn't openly noted as having been edited... I know because I had previous tabs open. And some of what was edited was neither "personal" in nature, nor factually incorrect. Someone also decided to tidy up my explanation of IOSS and VAT. I'm not impressed. Not impressed at all. Editing people's words in this manner is not a joke.

[msknight]

OK Linus started talking about the store at about 20 minutes-ish in and didn't mention the VAT issue at all. So that's it. Once the screwdrivers are here... I'm done. Linus' words about doing things right, etc. and what I thought were his ethics, have just slipped a major degree towards being like any other company. The special sauce has passed its shelf life and doesn't smell as fresh any more.

 

EDIT: LTT store confirmed the drop in VAT refund was related to the earlier refund. They did offer to refund the sticker customs charge, but I said that the pennies are neither here or there, but that some VAT declarations being $50 for the backpack was a real issue, not only for legality for customs, but fairness for the customers. It's now just an image thing at this point.

 

So I'll stick around for a few days to see what others have to say about this, (and see if moderators alter my words again) and then I'm gone. Ciao.

 

Edit: Regarding the stickers, they say, "While we don't charge for bonus bin items, customs is required to place a value on items that are imported.  In many places, the value for items without listed cost, is set to a minimum of $1.  Unfortunately, we are unable to avoid this." ... so I've written to the customs office in the UK to ask if this is true. It's beyond the point of the money itself, obviously, it's now a matter of how factual this all is. To a point, even that doesn't matter any more.

[MrAmos123]

I don't think I'll return to the store unless something has been done to prevent problems like this in the future.

However, I'll still watch their videos and interact with the community. 

I can't say I feel like dropping the community/content over this blunder. It was righted in the end. I can't be mad. 

 

Regardless of what customs charged us, I don't think is their fault. Their fault is the VAT/TAX initially taken.

 

The product is great - so far. We'll see over time, and we'll see when/if they send out replacement zippers.

[Middcore]

17 hours ago, msknight said:

(and see if moderators alter my words again)

 

The only time the moderators altered your words was when you and Mario got into a dumb personal back and forth name-calling exchange. Don't act like your criticisms of LTT's business are being censored. 

[msknight]

4 hours ago, Middcore said:

 

The only time the moderators altered your words was when you and Mario got into a dumb personal back and forth name-calling exchange. Don't act like your criticisms of LTT's business are being censored. 

Not true. But I'm not going to get into a slinging match over it... the arguing is not worth it.

[msknight]

6 hours ago, MrAmos123 said:

I don't think I'll return to the store unless something has been done to prevent problems like this in the future.

However, I'll still watch their videos and interact with the community. 

I can't say I feel like dropping the community/content over this blunder. It was righted in the end. I can't be mad. 

 

Regardless of what customs charged us, I don't think is their fault. Their fault is the VAT/TAX initially taken.

 

The product is great - so far. We'll see over time, and we'll see when/if they send out replacement zippers.

What you say regarding the product, the VAT, etc. I agree. For me, Linus has put himself forward on the owning up and doing the right thing ticket, the, "you can trust me," ethics. I don't think that's the case any more and that's what's turned me off. It's a deeper thing, and I went into more detail earlier.

[f222]

I'm with you all, hust received an email from "La Poste" here in France... 

 

The mail said I need to pay 0.0€ but when I clicked on the link to validate the custom fees it finally was 71€

[msknight]

I got a speedy reply from HMRC. They said, "All goods must be valued accurately whether they are a gift or not it doesn't matter they must be valued accurately and cannot be valued as £0 for customs purposes." ... so Creator Warehouse have to put a minimum value even for the free stickers.

[tjb-703]

Im not going to read this entire thread so I will get to the point:)

I'm in Aus and on the final amount rounded to being $850.

When I checked my account I was charged around $1250.

My Stupid elected delegates chose to charge me to imoprt what I want with an unreasonable predudice.

At least thats my guess:(

 

[vladdeSV]

The extra cost was unexpected, made a post about it. +83% to get to Sweden.

 

At the time there was no notice that LTT would be sorting it out, but rather that they wouldn't do anything about it (read it on some page. memory is iffy)

 

Really hopeful now that there seems to be some sort of acknowledgment that they will help out

 

 

 

[msknight]

47 minutes ago, vladdeSV said:

Really hopeful now that there seems to be some sort of acknowledgment that they will help out

 

I wouldn't expect it. Beyond refund of the VAT that we paid wrongly at checkout, customs fees are down to the destination country to set. If LTT helped out, they'd be subsidising the backpack to certain countries and that would mean their profits. But only they can make that call.

 

Likely the best they would do, is put the effort behind an EU warehouse, but as Linus said in one of the WAN shows, it ain't easy and it's expensive. It's a financial decision for them and only LTT know the numbers.

[msknight]

I'm waiting for the WAN show this week, by the way, and then I'll give my final thoughts and I'm gone. My screwdrivers are caught up in the large number of pre-printed shipment labels. Got notification of the label six days ago, but still no receipt by the carrier. Unless they're on their way to the US and enter the carrier network at that point. This is a bit of a pain, but nothing to do but be patient.

[msknight]

OK – well, here we are. WAN show complete and still Linus hasn’t addressed the customs issue, particularly the disparity behind him claiming that LTT does its taxes properly, against people receiving customs declarations misrepresenting the value of the backpacks and the relatively minor thing of not addressing why the “free” stickers will cost you a few pence at customs. (LTTStore and HMRC responses on the stickers are a few posts back)

 

To the wrong customs declarations LTT Store did respond, “We have been informed of this on a couple of occasions and are currently working on how to have this resolved.” … but I can’t see how they’re going to, “resolve,” this. LTT have collected VAT and will have to pass that to the relative countries, but beyond that discussions will have to be had on missing duty charges, etc. I can’t see them coming after the customers for anything. LTT will likely eat whatever this costs them. A good chunk of people who escaped customs duty would likely not inform LTT and I don’t blame them; but LTT should have the precise numbers on this because they have the paperwork; and if Linus doesn’t want this to bite him in five or ten years, as he claimed at the end of the WAN show the previous week, then all that paperwork is going to have to be sorted out… not that we’ll hear anything of it.

 

We’ll see what happens when the screwdrivers arrive but as this is my last post here I won’t trouble updating further unless something drastic happens; it should all be relatively scripted now so I’m not expecting any drama, just a bit of a wait and possibly end up with a repeat of the customs charges issue.

 

So in conclusion…

 

1) Linus’ lack of acknowledgement of the customs issues is the final event that takes him off the pedestal I held him on, as being a champion of the tech/gaming consumer. It was my fault for putting him up there in the first place.

 

2) The videos now being made are of things I’ll never do or afford and the style change isn’t delivering for me. They are extremes. The writing seems to be tuned to the staff’s preferences and not leaving things open for the viewer. There has been a marked shift from technology that can change my life, to outlandish builds, what the staff do in their spare time and their own preferences. I do appreciate a look in to what life is like in Canada, the home space, layouts, etc. (the journey to get the CRT) but I believe the main LTT channel is not the place to give a lesson on coffee brewing; that’s why they created channels like Superfun in the first place.

 

There used to be some great reviews of tech that was useful in my life, at a price I could afford. Now, it’s just leaving me with the impression that they are struggling to find good, relevant content. Maybe the lab will change that… but it is yet to come. Eg. the recent mechanical keyboard review for mac users was mushy in my personal opinion; especially when weighed against earlier videos like Luke’s that sold me on the Hyperion Fury. How do I quantify that? I now have six Hyperion Fury. The Mac keyboard maker they recommended in the end… I can’t even remember the companies name. The Mac mechanical keyboard video failed to make a sale; and I’m someone who has a small collection of mechanical keyboards and used the IBM classic steel-bottomed tanks when they came out first time around in the 80’s. (My specialist IT course back in the day, trained us on touch typing with electric typewriters to the point where we had to pass an exam; so I know what I like in a keyboard… what I’m saying is that if a video on mechanical keyboards fails to make a mark on someone like me who has a long history in the subject... it’s not good.)

 

3) The store is no longer appealing to me. There was a great design feature in the stealth hoodie, namely the mobile phone pocket. Absolutely brilliant piece of work which makes a difference to my life because I know my mobile is safe from “pocket drop,” and I can get at my mobile without having to open the main zip. I’ll even wear the stealth hoodie when I don’t need to, purely so I can use the pocket to carry my mobile, however I don’t see it in the other jackets. I expect the screwdriver to make a difference also. The backpack, less so, but the quality and effort sold me on it.

 

The rest of the offerings in the store… I can get equivalent quality for less money in the UK, and not have to contend with the customs situation. Linus’ standing and ethics was the reason I bought T-shirts, etc. some years ago and put up with getting fleeced at import… but not any more. The current designs just aren’t floating my boat and when it comes down to it, that’s the only differentiator. Linus is now talking about making wallets which puts him at odds with one of his sponsors. Is he moving too fast?

 

4) The delays and the misguided efficiency saving of printing shipment labels ahead of time, I can forgive, but not the management behaviour of piling things high and not resourcing LTT Store to cope. Bringing the screwdrivers and the backpack on-line in addition to the regular orders which also would have ramped up for christmas anyway, which was then compounded by shipment delays from china; and in the midst of all this, a black friday deal that sold out in less than half an hour. They could have missed the black friday boat this year and had a unique LTT sale in January, once things had settled down a bit. LTT Store must be backlogged to all heck.

 

While I’m not the kind of person that demands my new widget on my doorstep next day, I do like to be informed about realistic expectations regarding my order and what’s happening that affects it, without having to hunt for a statement on a web site (like the planning announcement in Hitch Hikers Guide - “It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a sign on the door saying ‘Beware of the Leopard’,” “Yes, but it was on display...”) which I believe is a reasonable position. I only received an e-mail for the china backpack delay; everything else I had to actively watch LTT announcements. It seems that a fair chunk of complaints/talk in the forums have been about the lack of communication.

 

What also isn’t funny is the length of time it took to hire new staff when support responses starting getting to a week long, and the opaque language Linus used when he was hiring, 100% and then 50% more staff. I am very aware when numbers are presented to me, in HOW those numbers are presented to me and whether they are being used to hide something. I get the impression that something is being hidden here… those figures could be one person, who is then doubled to two people and then upped to three people; another thing that is against Linus’, “honesty,” score IMHO. Again, mostly management failings here I believe. I take my hat off to the store crew (however many they are) for handling the situation as well as they have; while coming under flack from justifiably upset customers.

 

For the times I upgrade or buy my computers, I trust a family business in the UK. Things are moving too fast for me to keep track of… so I let them to do that for me. I know I can go to them with something like, “I need good single thread performance and a graphics card with good linux drivers while not sucking down the national grid. Here’s my budget.” … and it will all work out; because prices and models change so fast. LTT is less relevant for me because by the time I’m ready for an upgrade, the equipment LTT has reviewed have come to market and then gone again. However, said family business have started putting out their own videos and I’m tuning in to them instead. Being a hardware company, their sales and black friday deals are of more interest to me to boot. They also inform of offers on games as well; something I haven’t seen LTT do. They haven’t got LTT’s polish, but I can forgive that, they’re telling me the news I want to hear.

 

So that’s why I’m done with LTT. At least until labs get running, then I might take another look; as long as the reviews are clean and more like the Hyperion Fury than the mac keyboard.

 

Ciao for now.

[msknight]

Unfortunately I had to come back to add that in addition to the expected six days between label printing and shipping, they then apparently sat around Vancouver for five days.

This is not looking good for LTT's chosen method of shipping.

.