You're outside the UK and had to pay VAT? Contact the company and tell them you're not in the UK and they SHOULD take it off. If they tell you that you'll get reimbursed by the Govt later, DON'T bellieve them. I'm still waiting on reimbursement from a trip in January.

If they didn't send as commercial invoice, call the comapny and ask THEM to fax a copy of the invoice to the customs agent you're dealing with.

You can call your credit card company and ask them to print out a list of transactions that have recently occured (in particular the one the this company) and fax it to you. Alternatively, you can ask the company you bought the product from for the credit card receipt to be faxed to the customs agent as well.

I have to deal with these situations EVERY WEEK. Fun, isn't it?