Exorbitant Fees for a Service not Agreed to

<p>I purchased an item for R1200 from Europe last week. I expressly went for the option I did due to the free Fedex shipping included. </p> <p>I was contacted yesterday by a Fedex representative with a customs invoice, which I had expected, but not for the exorbitant amount of R521.21.</p> <p>The customs duty and VAT were expected, but a Processing Fee of R154 .26 was levied, plus a Disbur*****t fee and verification fee amounting to about R30. </p> <p>These charges for processing, disbur*****t and verification were not asked for, or agreed to by me. I would have been more than happy to process the item through customs myself, but was not given the option.</p> <p>From other items I have seen delivered by Fedex, the same processing fee applies to all items, big or small. This does not seem fair? Why not apply a sliding scale? If I didn't pay, my goods would have been destroyed, or returned to the shipper; in essence, holding me hostage. This is not acceptable.</p> <p>The payment was made to ensure that I don't lose my goods to the system, but I will not be using Fedex again. It is so sad that I can say I prefer the South African Post Office; at least with them, 15% of my purchase price doesn't go to a courier company who has already been paid for the shipping by the shipper. </p> <p>The savings that I had on my product now amount to nothing thanks to you Fedex.</p>