Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

UK woman living in France quoted £2,012 shipping fee due to Brexit

Consumers have seen changes to their online shopping post-Brexit including surprise tax additions, customs charges and higher delivery fees.

Bethany Dawson
Friday 22 January 2021 16:07 EST
Comments
(PA)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Brits abroad are struggling to get supplies from the UK, with one firm quoting a woman over £2000 in delivery fees from the UK to her home in France.  

The woman said it would cost her £2,012 to have her food order delivered from to France, compared to the previous £12.  

In a tweet, the woman said she was hoping to have £32.46 worth of food send to her home in France, but was quoted more than 160 times her usual delivery fee. 

The company, Approved Foods, told The Independent that its courier has ceased overseas deliveries and that the high delivery cost is to deter customers from ordering outside of the UK.  

Approved Foods is a wholesale company based in the UK, mainly selling food and drink in addition to toiletries and pet supplies. 

A number of customers have seen changes to their online shopping post-Brexit, with surprise tax additions, customs import charges, and higher delivery fees. One shopper was asked to pay £77 in tax on £245 of clothes bought from a French website, The Times reports.

Additionally, more checks at the border are now slowing deliveries both from and to the UK.  

Blockages at the border, and additional costs to delivery companies, are now causing some companies to consider abandoning or even burning returned goods at the border

Fashion industry boss Adam Mansell said it was “cheaper for retailers to write off the cost of the goods than dealing with it all”, adding the process includes at least four new charges and documents.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in