does duty have to be paid?

[informashun]

i ordered some arthritis supplements from the statesand today got a card from royal mail stating unless i paid in this case �9.52 on an original order of �38.64 which stated all duty etc to the uk had been paid, latter cofirmed by the sender as accurate i could not claim my goods.
i have sent an e-mail to hmcae but to date no reply.
to complicate things futher rm state that if payment not made in one week would be returned to sender.
help.

[buildersmate]

I'm afraid you have to send �9.52. There's no escaping either death or taxes.

[dzug]

You'll have to pay the money to get your goods.

You then have two choices:

ask the sender to refund you the duty they said they would pay. If they were lying about this (likely) then you are stuck

If you can produce evidence that the duty was paid (your invoice) the HMCE <should> refund one lot.

I'm not sure that it is actually possible for the sender to pay duty for you like this one is claiming to. Certainly not when posting it directly to you - possibly if he sends it to an agent first.

[kjn2]

Was in a similar position last year bought vitamins from Vitamin World in the States as they were a lot cheaper than the UK also had to pay duty before Royal Mail would allow me the package, no way out unfortunately I put it down to the learning process that good deals are not allways what they seem.