sold coach dog collar to spain he wont pay customs fee

B

bluemountain

Member
Jun 17, 2008
141
0
#1
So against my better judgement, you know when you have a feeling that maybe you should't sell to someone. I went through with it anyway. I sold a coach dog collar to a man in Spain on Aug 22nd, he emails me Aug 25th asking where it is. first clue that this is not going to be good. I sent him tracking # said it usually takes a week priority mail. Sent in med flat box so I could track it. Anyway he emails me on Aug 28th
here is his email
"Hi,
I've just recieved a letter telling me that the
article is still in Madrid.
They say I have to pay some taxes and I have to
show them some stupid papers .
Of course, I'm not gonna pay this taxes, so I
prefer they send it back to you and you return my
money back.

Thanks.
So I said when I get the item back I will issue him a refund. Well I still have not received it back, still shows its in Madrid. He emails me today asking for a refund. I said I still have not received it back, when I do, I will refund your money.
First question: Since it never shows that he received it will he win a dispute for item not received?
Second question: If I do get it back do I have to refund his shipping he paid $20 but it cost me $26 to ship it?
I usually have good luck with overseas sales but this one gave me a bad feeling from the start
Thanks for any input
 
#2
He will most likely file an INR and win because tracking does not show delivered. Granted, he is refusing to pay so it can't be delivered, but in the weird world of eBay he would still win.
 
#3
It will take awhile for it to come back to you because customs has to hold onto it for a certain length of time. When it does come back to you, I would refund less the shipping cost, as it's coming back to you on his request, not because it's SNAD. Customs/Duties are the responsibility of the buyer and he needs to be aware of his county's policies before purchasing. I would make sure to save the communications from him saying that he's unwilling to pay the duty, just in case.
 
#5
I had a very similar experience where the buyer didn't want to pay. I told him it was the buyers responsibility, he finally agreed, tried to pay and apparently the item was sent back to me. It took like a month to get back to me. To avoid this happening to you in the future, read this link:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-removal.html

and include this at the top of the listing:

International Buyers – Please Note:

Import duties, taxes, and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility.

Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding or buying.


Also you can state that you cannot lower the value of the item on customs forms because it is illegal to do so.

Yes, you will have to refund the buyer the shipping fees, hopefully ebay will not make you refund the money until you have the item back. I didn't have to pay for USPS to return the item to me.
 
#6
I am so sorry to hear that this happened to you. I hope that you get your money/item back. I am sorry that some people are stupid/idiots and don't think that they should have to pay for the things they import. I would also send him a copy of the above link, and make sure that you save all of the email/messages that he send you, just in case he tries to open a claim. ugh... the nerve....
 
#7
eBay live help.

Buyer is messing you around. eBay can send a stern message to your buyer. The buyer bid, bought, paid and should be picking their item up. I've used live help for this sort of situation in the past and eBay have been excellent.

If the buyer buys something from Amazon for example, are they going to email Amazon and say I'm not paying because I don't feel like paying taxes...?

Why is your transaction any different?

Good luck.
 
#9
Thanks everyone for your help and shinymagpie I am going to contact ebay live help right now. The $26 shipping just burns my $%% if I do have to refund him. Plus his attitude when he said "well of course im not going to pay" I do have all his emails and they are through ebay message so I can forward to ebay if needed. I will keep you posted!
 
#10
ok so I contacted ebay via phone. She pretty much said to do what I have all ready done. She said if he files a INR that they wont give him his money back because it shows its in Madrid. But I did ask her if they would contact him and say he is responsible for the import tax and she said they wouldn't do that.
I might just get lucky its been over a month since he bought it (aug 17th) Dont they only have 45days to file a claim?
 
#12
I agree pigalle74. All I got were canned responses from ebay. I called on the phone, I give her a quick accurate detail of whats going on and all she did was tell me to do what I had all ready done, oh and she says block the bidder so he cant buy from you again DUH!!
I didnt have to hold a long time to get someone on the phone and she did thank me for being such a good seller and having 100% positive feedback "for what its worth lol"
 
#13
bluemountain said:
I agree pigalle74. All I got were canned responses from ebay. I called on the phone, I give her a quick accurate detail of whats going on and all she did was tell me to do what I had all ready done, oh and she says block the bidder so he cant buy from you again DUH!!
I didnt have to hold a long time to get someone on the phone and she did thank me for being such a good seller and having 100% positive feedback "for what its worth lol"
Click to expand...

OP Don't give up yet.

After I had whinged to live help, who said thank you for your information and block them, suddenly the items got picked up. They are not allowed to tell you exactly what they will do to the other person in the trading environment.

Pigalle, I don't use the phone because I'm outside the US.

I could, but I found it was better to have an online record of everything. Then if I needed to, I could quote it directly. Sorry you had trouble.
 
#15
You can prove the item was "delivered." The fact that he refuses to pick up does not mean it was not delivered.

What could the "taxes" possibly be on a $20 dog collar? $5? Some people...unbelievable!
 
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