Advice Needed

[HA_DA_JA]

We took advantage of a MAC software sale listed through Adobes' Australia's website.
It came to $1099 with $25 shipping charge.
It came in about 3 days from Singapore via FED EX with an invoice made out from Ireland.
A bit weird I though but hey I dont really care how they do their business.
Today I get an invoice form FED EX saying I owe them $50 in duties tax.
Why would this be so when I bought the product in Australia - is this really my problem??

In the words of our first lady of QLD "Please explain?"

[musikwerks]

Totally your problem. Anything over $1000 in value attracts import/customs duty and then GST. Check the fine print on your transaction. Adobe should have said something to that effect.

It's not uncommon for a company to be based in one country and ship their product from another. Ever purchased from Amazon before? They have depots everywhere even though the company is based int he USA.

[TimS]

Yes, Kristian is absolutely correct.
Items valued over $1000 are NOT exempt of GST/duties.
Check this document for more details.
http://www.customs.gov.au/webdata/resou ... cGuide.pdf

From Customs website..
All consignments that are over $1,000 in value must be entered via an "Import Declaration". Import declarations can be communicated electronically, via the Intergrated Cargo System (ICS), or by document on Customs form B650 - Import Declaration (N10). Import declarations are subject to entry processing fees; the cost will depend on whether the declaration is electronic or documentary (manual). Schedule of Recovery Fees.

Where goods are being imported by air or sea and the total value of the consignment is $1,000 or less the goods must be cleared via a Self Assessed Clearance (SAC) declaration. There is no requirement for SAC declarations if the goods are imported by post.

[HA_DA_JA]

But I bought this item in Australia.
The adobe website leads me to the Australian store.
I understand that when I buy from OS I need to pay extra costs but I was buying in Australia.
The website has the au at the end.
I have already received the product through FED EX why would they then want to chase up more payments after giving me the product?

[musikwerks]

Check the receipt. You may have been doing business with Adobe USA, not an Australian company.

[TimS]

Call Adobe AU and see what they say..

[HA_DA_JA]

Rang adobe Australia and you get put through to Singapore

[musikwerks]

There's your answer.... not an Australian company.

[Chinagraf]

I had a problem sort of related with Fedex. I bought something OS and had it delivered to the facility I have my room in. Fedex charged the duties to the company that own's the facility. I don't work for them, I just have a studio in their complex. I rang and told them it was wrongly charged to them instead of my company. The girl on thew phone got sh!tty and told me their system was fine and there was no mistake. She said she rang and asked permission to charge it to them and was told it was ok. I asked for the name of the person she spoke to. She said it was a recpetionist here...who had not worked at the place for 4 years before I ordered the gear.

On another occasion I was overcharged by quite a bit on duties for a Pultec from Vintage King. Mike at VK went into bat for me and he and I argued back and forth with Fedex, sending statements etc, it went on and on. It took nearly a year but I got my money back. No interest unfortunately.
Fedex just seem to charge whatever to whoever they like. In this case it seems to be Adobe's fault though. I'd hit them up.
So much for supporting your local distributor hey..

[musikwerks]

So much for supporting your local distributor hey..

Let's not open that can of worms here.... we all know how that's gonna go down if we do.

[chris p]

15. International Users.
a. This Site can be accessed from countries around the world and may contain references to Services and Materials that are not available in your country. These references do not imply that Adobe intends to announce such Services or Materials in your country.

b. This Site is controlled, operated and administered by Adobe Systems Incorporated from its offices in the United States of America. Adobe makes no representation that the Site, Services or Materials are appropriate or available for use at other locations outside the United States, and access to the Site from jurisdictions where the Site, Services or Materials are illegal is prohibited. Adobe reserves the right to block access to the Site, Services or Materials by certain international users. If you access the Site from a location outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with all local Laws.

Right there is the difference between www.adobe.com/au (a US site localised for Australian viewers) and www.adobe.com.au - which would be (usually) an Australian site. It does pay to watch the headers.

From the end of this month, an amendment to the Trade Practices Act will require the full GST inclusive price of goods and services to be shown. It will be interested to see how the ACCC goes in enforcing this on overseas suppliers. For the rest of us, you should be aware that quoting a price "plus GST" will be illegal even in many business to business transactions - you will need to state the full GST-inc cost as a single price. There hasn't been a lot of publicity on this, so watch out for the Gotcha.

[David W]

I thought it was illegal to advertise price + GST anyway. I know a few companys do it but I remember little Johny said it would be illegal when it was first brought in as this type of practice was a major concern to many at the time.

[HA_DA_JA]

I need to fax adobe the FED EX paperwork to them for them to sort out is what the customer service centre lady said. She did give me a local number for faxing. SO there must be an office located somewhere here in AUstralia.

[Chinagraf]

[quote="musikwerks"][quote="Chinagraf"]
So much for supporting your local distributor hey..[/quote]

Let's not open that can of worms here.... we all know how that's gonna go down if we do.[/quote]

I'm talking about making it appear that you are buying local when in fact you may not be. Nothing to do with the other argument. I'm sure the mods will let me know what I should and shouldn't post thanks Kristian...

[musikwerks]

insert wry smile at the end of my post and you'll have my intent.

[Chinagraf]

I was trying to find the wink smiley..

[Thirteen]

In this case you should not have been charged GST on the sale. You paid that to customs, so if you were charged GST on your receipt, then you have grounds to claim back the customs fee. If there is a GST charge then you were dealing with an Australian company, and you can rightly object to being charged again because of their shipping systems. If you weren't charged GST then you were dealing with a foreign company and you saved money even with the tax charge from FEDEX.

I hope that made sense, I had a really strong coffee a little while ago, and I feel like Renate Blauel on her honeymoon night with Elton John- I don't know which way to turn.

[TimS]

.... and I feel like Renate Blauel on her honeymoon night with Elton John- I don't know which way to turn.

Ewww, that nasty!!!

[lonearranger]

I also placed an Adobe order the other day, but chose the download option as it was cheaper and didn't really need another box of software in the cupboard (and hey, that 5 gig download finished in less than 2 days :-))

I have now checked the invoice and no gst was charged, so effectively it was an offshore transaction in AU dollars.

Had a look at the fine print here

http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/266/2662ffb8.html

There is a section titled "How much do you charge for shipping and handling?" - mentions that residents of some countries will also be charged duties and this is not included in the invoice amount. Australia is not listed here so I think you have a reasonable case to get them to cover it.

Interestingly if I had a US credit card I could have bought from the adobe US store for a whole lot less than the AU cost.

Be interested to hear if you make any progress.

Cheers
Michael

[smash]

What'd you buy?

Generally, the Adobe online store is the least cheapest place to buy Adobe software.

Smash







___________
Simon Ashby
I work with fruit

[lonearranger]

Was the upsell/upgrade from creatve suite 2 -> CS design Premium 4. The price was about to go up on 1st may, no one had any stock, and was worried about ordering from small supplier, and then having the price go up when adobe shipped it to them. Also the download version was about $100 cheaper than the retail of the boxed version - so it was not a huge difference and was able to start using straight away. The price went up about $400 the next day.

Cheers