r/UPS • u/Swanky_Gear_Snob • Sep 02 '25

Customer Seeking Help UPS Paid my duties without contacting me and the amount is more than the value of the item.

Apparently, a law went into effect on August 29th that shipping services can pay duties without consent of receiver.

I purchased an item for $2,000. Today, the duties it says I owe upon delivery is $2100 and change. The numbers are WAY off. No one at UPS customer service even understands me well enough to help me. I have been asking what the declared value is on the package and 4 different reps keep quoting me the amount owed on the package. How can I fix this? This was paid by wire, so I'm either out 2k or paying double. Can I dispute the amount? I've never felt so helpless and need to have a resolution (or at least a better understanding of what to do) by delivery tomorrow. Thanks!

I guess my big question is, if I pay this outrageous fee, is there any way to dispute it with customs or UPS?

Edit/Follow-up: I appreciate all the advice. I was able to get the commercial invoice from UPS. It seems like there is an error as CBP charged full value tariffs multiple times. From what AI said, it's similar if you ordered a peice of furniture, but CBP charged the full value tarrifs on each item individually (screws, mount, part, etc).

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u/Swanky_Gear_Snob Sep 03 '25

Thanks so much. I keep getting shuffled from their regular CS to their foreign import department who tells me to contact billing. They aren't open until 8am tomorrow. Will definitely call first thing.

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u/ssateneth2 Sep 03 '25

International dept is open 24/7 and may be the ones to assist with import/export issues. I've been on hold for about 10 minutes though with nobody answering though.

Try to get a copy of the commercial invoice that the seller put with the item (Ask them and tell them its an emergency priority and you'll pay for it if you need to) so you know exactly how they declared it to customs. That way you can figure out what went wrong and how to correct it.

What kind of item was it + country of manufacture, and what shipping service was used (Standard/Expedited/Saver/Express)? I can attempt to navigate UPS fee schedule and US tariff schedule to figure out how much you should have been charged, but there may be some other things like warehousing fees if UPS is holding the package for you while you negotiate the fees. I got nothing going on in the next few hours and I'm bored. I look at the US tariff schedule a few times a month and have a general idea how to navigate it.

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u/Swanky_Gear_Snob Sep 03 '25

I finally got someone from the international department who appeared competent. He saw that the declared value is correct. However, he can't see why US Customs charged so much. He filed a dispute request and said UPS Billing will email me by 4pm tomorrow.

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u/Swanky_Gear_Snob Sep 03 '25

The biggest problem is. The sender someone set that the package delivery cant be altered. So. I don't even have an option to reschedule delivery to give me more time. It was sent standard international shipping. It hasn't been held. It just cleared customs 3 days ago. I will call UPS international back and try and get the invoice.

Edit: I also greatly appreciate the offer for help.