Brexit cancels the purchase of the fast “click” with extra consumer spending

London, Jan 24 – What used to be a quick and efficient “click” to buy a product online from a community firm now carries costly surprises. Delays due to bureaucratic chaos in shipments and unexpected import charges are some of the direct effects of Brexit that make consumers bitter.

Since last January 1, countless citizens of the United Kingdom air their indignation on the networks. Most are dispatched against the agreement negotiated by the Government of Boris Johnson with the European bloc as its impact in real life begins to be noticed.

They are buyers who face, in the present scenario, detached from community protection, customs invoices when they sign the acknowledgment of receipt of items that they had acquired in shops that operate from the EU. Extra charges that have crept in “inexplicably” to many on this commercial game board.

Ed Casso, from UK Customs – the British Government’s customs agency – clarifies to Efe that “the changes and new charges with taxes are a consequence of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union (EU)”.
“The rules when buying goods online from market places based in the EU are in line with what would happen when purchases are made from the rest of the world (rules that, of course, existed before Brexit)”, this qualifies official spokesperson.

Casso also points out that “there have been no variations with respect to the value added tax (VAT)”.
But judging by the reproaches and the bile gushing out on portals like Twitter, the ordinary consumer does not seem to have gotten the message. Regrets that there has been no notice. You feel aggrieved. And, of course, most want their money back in this great scam that they say is Brexit.

PACKAGES ARRIVE LATE, AND WITH SURPRISE

Alicia is from Córdoba and works in London as an “au-pair”. His family in Spain used to send him monthly packages with personal items. The accumulation of questions that seems to have arisen out of nowhere has meant that, for now, he does not even consider re-processing new orders from his country.
The last one that came to him contained a drawing that he commissioned from his sister -artist- to give to his partner for Christmas. It should have reached him on December 24th.

“(My sister) went to the Post Office and had to pay 17 euros, because she had to pay more for (the package) to arrive before the 24th or the same 24th and she stayed in Madrid; they said that the borders had been closed and I It arrived on January 15, “says the Andalusian in an interview with Efe, where she states that she has not obtained any response to her claim.

NEW RULES, NEW LOCKS

Isabel resides in North London. As a freelance designer, she is familiar with placing frequent orders from community businesses. Now it recognizes that in the face of the new bureaucratic mess, it is trying, for the moment, not to carry out transactions with companies located in the EU.

“I am avoiding buying some fabrics in Italy precisely because of this and because shipping is a complication,” admits this British in statements to Efe.

From the new post-Brexit era, he remembers that he recently sent a package to Portugal containing synthetic fabric – previously imported from Mexico. With the regulation change, she was forced to fill out one of the new and tedious requirements: the exhaustive forms that practically dissect the article.

“I had to do all the paperwork as if it were an international shipment to South America or the USA, with the customs invoice,” says Isabel after having had to specify precisely the value of the object sent, its dimensions, the origin, what would it be used for …

THE BREXIT THYMUS

Situations of this type generate discomfort, especially because the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, had ensured that trade between both parties would flow free of tariffs after the end of the transition period -on December 31-.

Consumers feel scammed, harassed to deal with new import customs receipts, VAT payments, and administrative fees that ultimately make buying from these companies unprofitable.

There is a great opacity and a lot of confusion. With the death of free movement of goods, in turn community retailers sending parcels to the UK also have to fill out cumbersome forms and traders are often unaware of the additional surcharges to be borne by the consumer.

The regulations require that VAT on purchases made by British to European firms be added at the point of delivery if the value of the product exceeds 135 pounds, in addition to possible customs taxes.

In some cases, the lack of clarity causes the buyer to end up paying the VAT in duplicate – according to its rate at the point of sale and the UK rate at the point of delivery.

Not to mention the discretionary charges that international parcel shipping companies and post offices assign to the margin.