ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello all,
I'm new to this forum, so if this is not the right place for this inquiry, I apologize and please point me to the right direction.
I'm from Toronto, Canada. A couple weeks ago, my husband bought two H8 headphones through beoplay.com. It's supposed to be free shipping and returns for purchases made through their website; however, when the package arrived, there was a Charge on Delivery of about $250. We didn't pay and we emailed B&O to inquire about it. However, it's been two weeks, and we've sent out a few emails to ecom-support-US@beoplay.com but have yet to receive any response. We check both the email Inbox or Junk folder. I've also been messaging back and forth with a customer service rep on instagram as well as emailing their support in Denmark, but it's basically been going in circles of them forwarding my email to ecom, and us emailing ecom again, and going back on Instagram to let them know that nobody from ecom has gotten back to us, and then them telling us to email again...
UPS told us that there could be an error in how the sender declare the tax when shipping out the order (we had already paid for the tax when making the purchase online), and they told us to contact the sender to get this corrected. But it seems like we've come to a dead end because B&O (ecom) is not replying to our emails. At this point, UPS still has our package, and the charge on the purchase has already gone through on our credit card, and also, we might even have passed the deadline to return the headphones when we do get them and if we're not happy with them (honestly, at this point, I'm so disappointed that I don't want any of their products anymore).
Would anyone know who I can contact at this point besides ecom and customer service in Denmark? I've asked for a contact of a manager who looks after online sales, but they simply told me to email the complain to customer service and they'll forward it on.
Has anyone had a similar experience and could advise me what to do? I understand they just started shipping to Canada in September; thus, they sent out a 10% off voucher code to promote it (and I took the bait). Any advise would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Kim
At this point I'd get with your charge card company and contest the charge. Tell them you never received the items and explain the issue. Once B&O has no money and no product back I think they might pay more attention, but maybe not. I don't think the company's customer service is what it used to be sadly.
Jeff
I'm afraid I'm recovering from the BeoVirus.
Beosound Stage, Beovision 8-40, Beolit 20, Beosound Explore.
What a thoroughly despicable way for a company to treat a paying customer. A true disgrace. Certainly demand your money back. I also hope that the new CEO of Bang & Olufsen hand writes an apology to you and gives you the two items as a gesture of good will.
If that fails, take a photo of the H8 and write what has happened, post it on Instagram/Facebook/YouTube and tag Beoplay, BANG&OLUFSEN and hashtag H8 in it. A company that treats its customers with zero respect does not deserve to flourish.
Kim_berly:It's supposed to be free shipping and returns for purchases made through their website; however, when the package arrived, there was a Charge on Delivery of about $250.
Having a look at the Beo Play website there is indeed a chapter where they stated:
Order today – have your products within 1-2 working days – and it is free of charge. The price you see, is the price you pay. No hidden delivery costs, fees or extra charges. Your product is delivered directly from the Bang & Olufsen warehouse in Denmark. The transportation is handled by UPS – and we use their second day delivery.
Nothing is stated about custom duties.
Remember, when you buy an item on the internet from a country other than where you live, the item must be "imported" to you from that country. When a seller tells you that your items price includes shipping and handling, remember that they are paying to package and send you the item from their country to your address. But when the item arrives in your country the customs service, a government agency of your country, may charge you a customs fee on the item. The seller has no control over this and is very difficult to anticipate.
Having a look at this website, it seems duty rates for Canada can varies between 0% and 35%.
"Believe nothing you read and only half of what you see, let your ears tell you the truth."
Before you launch the PaulW cyber attack on Beoplay I suggest you read the terms and conditions on their website; The state "We only ship to the following countries" and Canada is not on the list. Perhaps you can find a different Beoplay website? If not ,there must be a reason they do not list your country. The will not have a process but they should have a process to remedy your situation. I hope they do this and soon.
Beo Century ,Beoplay V1, Beocenter 6, Ex-Beolit 12, Beotime , A8. Beolit 15 , Form 2i , Beolab 2000, Beoplay A3.Beosound 1
Kim,
I've just done a faux purchase on Beoplay, requesting shipping to Canada. Price indicated are in CAD. There are terms and conditions which I guess you are forced to accept before the contract is deemed in force.
B&O PLAY TERMS & CONDITIONS
Prices
All prices are stated inclusive of all applicable taxes. B&O PLAY does not offer VAT refunds for orders placed online at beoplay.com. The price applicable is the price set out next to the product in question on the website on the date of ordering. While we try to ensure that all prices on our website are accurate, errors may occur. If we discover an error in the price of goods you have ordered, we will inform you as soon as possible and give you the option of reconfirming your order at the correct price or cancelling it. If we are unable to contact you, we will treat the order as cancelled. If you cancel and you have already paid for the goods, you will receive a full refund.
Delivery charges are set out in the section Shipping and Handling.
Payment - Credit/debit cards
We accept payment by MasterCard and Visa. Your credit/debit card will be pre-authorised for payment at the time of ordering. As part of this authorization process, your bank will place a hold on your account for the purchase amount of the order. The hold will be removed after a number of days determined by your banking institution. You will not be charged for the goods until they have been shipped.
The B&O PLAY payment solution is based on the SSL standard, which means that your information submitted in connection with the payment transaction is protected by encryption.
Delivery - Destinations
Delivery is only made to addresses in:
• Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom
- Times of delivery
The usual time of delivery depends on the address of delivery and is estimated in the Shipping and Handling section.
- Liability for late delivery
B&O PLAY makes every effort to deliver goods within the estimated timescales; however delays are occasionally inevitable due to unforeseen factors. If B&O PLAY does not deliver the goods within the estimated timescales, you should request B&O PLAY to make the delivery within an additional period of time which in the circumstances is appropriate. If B&O PLAY fails to deliver the goods within that additional period of time, you are entitled to terminate the contract.
Cooling-off right
You have the right to withdraw from your purchase within fourteen (14) days after receipt of the goods without giving any reason.
The cooling-off period will expire after fourteen (14) days from the date on which you acquire, or a third party other than the carrier and indicated by you acquires physical possession of the goods. In the event of different goods ordered in one order, but delivered separately, the period is calculated from the date when the last goods are in your possession.
To exercise the cooling-off right you must inform B&O PLAY of your decision to cancel this contract by an explicit statement. You can do this by filling in this form.
To observe the cooling-off period, it is sufficient for you to send your communication concerning your cooling-off right before the cooling-off period has expired. Returning of the goods must be made no later than fourteen (14) days from the date on which you notified us that you decided to exercise the cooling-off right.
- Cooling-off effects
If you regret your purchase, we will reimburse you for all payments received from you, including the costs of delivery (with the exception of the supplementary costs resulting from your choice of a type of delivery other than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by us), without undue delay and in any event no later than fourteen (14) days from the date on which we were informed about your decision to cancel this contract. We will make the reimbursement by the same payment method used in the initial transaction unless otherwise expressly agreed. In no event will you be requested to pay any fees in connection with the reimbursement. We may withhold reimbursement until we have received the goods back or you have supplied evidence of having sent back the goods, whichever is the earliest.
If you would like to discuss your cooling-off right and return of products, please contact us.
Complaints
Any complaints will be handled by our customer service in accordance with the relevant national legislation.
You can complain to B&O PLAY by the means mentioned in the section “How to contact B&O PLAY”.
Governing law and jurisdiction
These Terms and Conditions are governed and construed in accordance with applicable law. Any disputes will thus be settled by ordinary courts of law.
Continue shopping
Free and fast delivery
Free return
It's easy
1. By agreeing to the T&C’s, Beoplay as a European company accepted the Contract.
2. You paid by credit card – so it is likely that Visa Canada and Beoplay (Euro legislation) are jointly liable. i.e. you can sue Visa/Mastercard for non-performance.
3. Although the Beoplay T&C’s omitted Canada as a delivery destination, by agreeing to the T&C’s, both parties agreed on the sale.
4. T&C’s indicate that free delivery and taxes are paid at the point of sale.
5. The T&Cs also have provision for a cooling-off period of 14 days once you or your 3rd party receive the goods. This means you can reject them and return them for free at any point up to that 14 days and for any reason (no reason).
I would imagine it is a problem both with the Beoplay email address you used and with UPS. I would tell UPS you refuse to accept the goods with any cost additions and tell them to return Sender period! I would contact Beoplay and tell them this is your intention and request a refund. If they fail to do so, sue the Credit Card Company.
If you still want you Beoplay goods, (I think UPS is wholly at fault here - with their usual megacorp arrogance), buy from the Toronto B&O Dealer direct.
Yes, that's the thing I noticed. It's just unfortunate there's no specific response to an order attempt from a country that's not on the list. This needs to be in the form of an "are you sure?" type warning to avoid bad experiences. From what the OP said however they were sent a voucher to buy from a country not on the list because it was now added to the list of countries.....
Mr 10Percent: I would tell UPS you refuse to accept the goods with any cost additions
Mr 10Percent:If you still want you Beoplay goods, (I think UPS is wholly at fault here - with their usual megacorp arrogance)
If the extra $250 are indeed part of Custom duty taxes, what I think.
Don't forget UPS has also all rights to charge extra also for:
The shipping provider or broker handling the import may charge handling fees to clear an import from customs. Examples:
I personally NEVER buy something from outside the European community, import taxes , fees, etc... are sometimes almost doubling the price.
Called Visa, and they said we have to get the package first and then try to return them. If there's any issue with the return, then we can dispute it (on the B&O site, there's different info on how the 14-day return is counted, one say start from the day of purchase, the other says start from the day of possession). But in order to get the package, we'd have to pay the $250, which is the local tax plus brokerage fee - but we've already paid for the same amount of tax online with B&O.
@Chris Thanks for your reply. UPS said the fee is not custom fee but it's the local tax plus their brokerage fee. But we've already paid for the tax online on the B&O site.
@Simonbeo I did see Canada is not listed there. But I received B&Os newsletter last month saying they're shipping to Canada now and offered a 10% discount. The email was titled: A Warm Welcome to our Canadian Friends. Sigh.
@Mr 10Percent. Thank you for going through that exercise and summarizing the points. There's different saying about the return policy on the B&O website - 14-days from purchase and from receipt of the order, don't know which one it is, and it's impossible to reach anybody thereto verify. The email we used is the only support email found on their site, and B&O Denmark told us they can't help is and that we have to reach someone their to sort it out!?
@Chris Townsend. I've not been to Parry Sound yet, but sounds like it's worth to pay a visit :)
@ Paul W. Thank you for your empathy.
Hi,
the terms and conditions on the website are not consistent, in the terms itself they do not list the United States either but obviously they have a warehouse there and sell and ship. If you check the FAQ, there they have USA listed so .... its just sloppy on the website.
The do sell to canada, have canadian prices & tax on the website if you change the shipping country they have everything for canada set up. You have to set up tax calculation for canada, they wouldnt have done that if they wouldnt ship.
I think they just messed up and giving how large the Canadian market is its probably a one time incident.
I don't think you have to worry about this. You could try replying to your order confirmation otherwise contact UPS to return to sender. They probably refund automatically when the product gets back to the wartehouse but otherwiuse contact cred card company.
That said, shame on B&O Denmark for not helping here. Obviously if there is no response from that email that grans a follow up from their site. Bad service.
That said, I had good experience from Abt.com as well. I got the H5, they had a first time order coupon taking 25$ off plus no tax, so I saved 50$ overall compared to Beoplay. That said, B&O kept delaying the fulfillment of the ABT wholesale order since the H5 was selling like hotcakes initially but Abt.com kept me up to date multiple times so no complains here.
Sorry for the bad experience you got ... Again shame on B&O Denmark for not helping
@jk1002. I did notice the inconsistent information on their website. For such a big company, you think they would update it regularly... The confirmation email is a non-reply email. And after talking to Visa today, they told us not to just refuse the package because it could go back blind without tracking, and we would have no way to dispute it if the sender claims they didn't receive it.
I'm glad it worked out on your purchase with the local dealer!
B&O or the courier company screwed up.
I'm in Switzerland, from an import perspective it's the same as Canada (i.e. outside of the EU). Prices in CHF on the Beoplay store are final, including taxes, they are the same as if I went to a local B&O dealer.
What happened to you is that your goods were not sent DDP (Delivery Duty Paid). This happened to me a couple of years back. I got a Kindle from Amazon Germany, paid the Swiss VAT (Import Fees deposit) on Amazon during the order, and I still got a bill from DHL for VAT import, custom duties and handling.
I objected to DHL and they referred me to Amazon. Amazon said that DHL should have not charged me but being Amazon they refunded the whole amount that DHL charged me without blinking.
And this is what B&O should do... it's incredible they have not answered yet and that they do not provide phone support.
They may not refund complete if there are bogus UPs charges ... that could be very tricky.
if you refuse to sign for it, UPs would not have evidence to document delivery so not much risk for you.... I think that may be safer route
I would hit them again about the no response thing on twitter or instagram and ask the social team to have someone get in touch with you rather then sending another email ....
@Marcello. I'm quite sure it's the same situation here, except you were dealing with a much responsible seller.
@jk1002 We will continue to email to the support in Denmark as well as posting on Instagram.
Marcello:What happened to you is that your goods were not sent DDP (Delivery Duty Paid).
The good answer!
Marcello:And this is what B&O should do... it's incredible they have not answered yet and that they do not provide phone support.
This tells you a lot on how B&O treat their online customers. Truly not professional.
If you are planning to set up an online selling business, you have to make good agreements with UPS, DHL or any.
I ordered years ago a product from Argentina transported with DHL all included, Belgian customs wanted me to pay almost double on import taxes and handling. Luckily my wife is a private Customs agent and she has the capabilities to negotiate with all those agencies.
At the end it was DHL's fault not to provide the correct papers, so Belgian customs had to charge. You never get a refund from customs and DHL payed me back with their tail between the legs. But I can asure you, it did take some professional effort to get the money back.
Hi All,
Just an update. After almost 3 weeks, we finally got a response from the ecom department about they order. They said they'll contact UPS to get it sorted - hopefully everything will go well from here. We're very disappointed with this company and will not be keeping the headphones.
Thank you to all those who took the time to read this thread and also those who offered advice!
Fyi: Abt.com no longer sells B&O.
Hello Kim,
While I can't help with the issue I wanted to add an experience I also had very recently.
I too am in Canada, GTA area. I just received a new Beoplay Portal I also ordered online. It was also delivered by UPS.
They dropped it off and left without saying anything, but shortly thereafter I received an automated phonecall regarding brokerage fees on the package. I have thus far completely ignored it as there shouldn't be any charges and if there were they should not have delivered the package.
The whole experience was very strange, I see now it is not an isolated incident.
I'm sorry to hear this has really soured your experience.
- Hyponx
Update: B&O sent a customer experience survey on my purchase, I mentioned my issues and also yours as well in the feedback sections.