A courier message asks for a customs fee: what to do

Check it against what you are expecting

Start with your own records before you look closely at the message itself. Ask yourself three questions:

• Are you expecting a parcel from us at all? If you have not approved and paid a quote, or your outfit has not been made yet, the message is not about our order.
• Does your quote include import charges? Every quote of ours does, which is why our delivered duty paid explainer says there should be nothing to pay at the door.
• Are you expecting anything else? A parcel from another online shop may genuinely carry charges, so the message could be real but about someone else’s delivery.

Signs of a fake delivery message

None of these proves a message is fake on its own, and real courier messages can look clumsy too. Several together are a strong warning.

• A link to an unfamiliar address, often a long or misspelt version of a courier’s name.
• Pressure to act now, such as a parcel that will be returned or destroyed today.
• A small, oddly exact amount, chosen so that paying feels easier than checking.
• A request for full card details, a bank login or a one-time code sent to your phone.
• No parcel details that match yours, or a courier you have no reason to expect.
• A personal phone number or free email address as the sender.

How to check safely

Do not tap the link or reply to the message. Open the courier’s official app, or type its web address yourself, and look up the parcel from there. Ask us which courier is carrying your order. Never share a one-time code from your bank with anyone who contacts you.

If you have already paid or typed in card details, contact your bank or card provider straight away, using the number on the back of your card rather than any number in the message, and then tell us. Reporting the message through your phone network or your national fraud reporting service helps others avoid it.

What happens when you tell us

Send us a screenshot of the message and your order details through the contact page. If it relates to our parcel, we sort it out with the courier, because the charges were part of the total you approved. Our page on worldwide delivery explains how finished outfits are shipped.

One exception is worth knowing. On Stitching Only, sending your fabric to us in Pakistan is a shipment you arrange yourself unless your quote says otherwise, so any message about that parcel comes from your own courier and should be checked with them directly. For a new order, every total starts with a written quote.