Buyer doesn't want to pay customs charges. Please help!

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#181
kittypurse said:
If you listed in your auction about buyer having to pay custom charge then they should pay but if you didnt then you should pay
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IMO not accurate. Regardless if a seller indicates this or not, as long as her auction states she is in Country A and the buyer wants the item in Country B, the BUYER is responsible for customs charges in their own country. In this case the buyer was obviously not ignornant to what customs charges are, they just wanted the OP to commit mail fraud and declare it at a lowe value than it is worth.

People go back and forth on this all the time in this forum, but the bottom line is if a seller states they will declare the full value and the buyer doesn't arrange before shipment/payment that the seller is willing to underdeclare, the customs are the buyer's responsibility.
 
#182
alfiebach said:
Who pays the return postage??? do you have to pay it???? will you get charged customs when it comes back into the USA???. sorry for the ??? Just interested:p. Oh my life is so drab for fun, i go to the beauty school to be a guinea pig, and have hair pulled out for 1/2 price :nuts:. Then we make cushions he he
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Since the buyer never got the package FedEx SHOULD return it with no customs charged since it originated in the OP's hoome country.

The seller would be charged return postage and she should withhold the shipping both ways from any refund.

However, not sure if the OP can keep the FVF. They may be able to get eBay to give them back to them once they indicate the sale didn't go through and show tracking that the person refused the package.
 
#183
coachfreak said:
Since the buyer never got the package FedEx SHOULD return it with no customs charged since it originated in the OP's hoome country.

The seller would be charged return postage and she should withhold the shipping both ways from any refund.

However, not sure if the OP can keep the FVF. They may be able to get eBay to give them back to them once they indicate the sale didn't go through and show tracking that the person refused the package.
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Thanks for this info. Hmm ... how will USPS get the return shipping from me? (It was Global Priority Mail, not FedEx). Will I need to go to the PO and pick it up and pay? What a hassle. Argh ... my buyer is a total nightmare!!! :cursing:
 
#184
coachfreak said:
People go back and forth on this all the time in this forum, but the bottom line is if a seller states they will declare the full value and the buyer doesn't arrange before shipment/payment that the seller is willing to underdeclare, the customs are the buyer's responsibility.
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This is what I don't understand ... how can sellers NOT declare the full value? Do they just not insure the package? I always declare the full value for the insurance, otherwise, I can't insure the package (can I?) Are some sellers just willing to take the risk? My understanding is that even if the buyer agrees that they are willing to risk it, if something goes wrong, the seller (not the buyer) is on the hook for the full cost of the lost item.
 
#185
Hi all! I received this message from *bay this morning & I thought it would amuse everyone that's been following this thread:

Dear Danielle,

Thank you for writing eBay in regard to your concern about a buyer refusing to complete the sale due to custom tax.

Danielle, I know it's taken us a while to get back to you and I'm sorry about the wait.

To begin with, much as I'd like to help you resolve your issue with this transaction, but I don't see an eBay transaction on file that matches the information you provided. Please reply to this email and provide the item number related to your concern. When we receive this information, we will be able to better answer your question.

If you cannot find the item number for this transaction, please reply and provide the following information:

- User ID of your buyer
- Date the listing ended
- Purchase amount (do not include shipping and handling)
- Name, email address and mailing address of your buyer
- The title of the listing or a brief description of the Item sold

-- Note --
Items sold outside of eBay are not covered, including those sold directly to a buyer, item listings that ended without a high bidder, and item listings that did not meet the Reserve Price on eBay.

eBay prohibits email offers to buy or sell listed items outside of the eBay Web site. For more information on eBay's policy regarding offers to buy or sell outside of eBay, and to find a form where you can report such activity, go to: XXXXX

Thank you for your time, Danielle.

Sincerely,
Marlo

Why thank you Mario! Most illuminating. If only he/she/the computer had actually read my original inquiry (dated 11/17/08) to which I was promised a reply within 24 - 72 hours, and which included the item number, date of sale, buyer's id, and buyer's name/address/email.

I dutifully replied to the email with all the requested information, and no added commentary, although I desperately wanted to tell them what I think about the way they treat their sellers. I also really, really, really wanted to tell them whatever marketing research study told them that using the seller's first name over and over again in the email would created a warm & fuzzy feeling was dead wrong. It made me want to scream! Although, pretty much everything about *bay makes me want to scream these days .... :cursing:
 
#186
No one ever reads the emails--at least, that has been my experience. I've sent detailed emails only to get canned responses that clearly indicate no one reads the emails we send. It's probably a computer program that picks up certain words in the email and generates one of a few canned responses, inserting a fake "I" and a fake first name to make you think someone actually cares. I've replied only to receive yet another automated response. Five times I did this about a month ago, and all five times I got canned replies with the fake first name and the fake "I". Not once was the issue addressed.

The thread is long and I just can't remember all the details. Aren't you dealing with PayFoe? fBay is useless, a total waste of time.
 
#187
Just when I think *bay Customer Support can't be any more useless, they send me this:

Dear Danielle,
Thank you for writing eBay in regard to the item #XXXXXXXXX (XXXXXXXX) that was purchased from seller XXXXXXXX. I gather from your email that the buyer does not
want to pay custom fees and is planning to refuse this package if delivered.

I understand your concern and am sorry for the inconvenience this transaction has caused. I'm sorry to hear that your buyer is refusing to complete the sale. I know how inconvenient that can be.

At this point, I recommend that you first file an Unpaid Item dispute. You can do this up to 45 days after the end of the listing. Once you do this, we'll send a message to the buyer giving him or her seven days to pay. Here's how to get started:

There's more, but it's of absolutely no value, so I'm not going to bother to post. They are ridiculous. First of all, the buyer PAID. I wouldn't have shipped the package if he hadn't, so an UPI dispute is not going to help me. Second, he's already refused the package and allegedly, the item is on it's way back to me. Finally, I didn't ask them what to do about the buyer refusing the package - you guys already told me what to do about that - I was trying to report him for customs fraud through the proper *bay link (yes, there's a link for that) and this is the response I've gotten. Even the computers at *bay are useless. Grrrrrrr!!
 
#188
karmenzsofia said:
The thread is long and I just can't remember all the details. Aren't you dealing with PayFoe? fBay is useless, a total waste of time.
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I'm not technically dealing with either, because I haven't filed any disputes/claims. In fact, I don't really think there's anything I can file because the buyer paid, but he's refusing delivery. I did contact *bay & PayP in the beginning, but just to see what my options were (turns out, I have none). Big surprise, right??
 
#189
Wow they really scrape the bottom of the gene pool when they get people to work at ebay :rolleyes:
I've yet to find anyone who's got a sensible answer out of them!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that your item is on its way back to you and it's in the same condition as when you sent it.
 
#191
Bloody hell - I just read through this whole thread and I have two things to say:

1) That buyer is a F%$#*$; and

2) I love the way you have dealt with this fiasco, Choo_girl. Like everyone else here, I am so impressed with your writing style too LOL... and your infinite patience and ability to stay courteous under fire.

I just cannot understand how eBay can allow this ridiculous attempt to 1) usurp their very own policies; and 2) break the law. Have you tried calling them again and speaking to someone new? What about telling the person you speak to that you have written records of this guy not wanting to go through the transaction because you didn't flout the law for him?!

And their most recent emails (above) have shown me that there is always a new level of stupidity and complete incompetence to sink to. WTF!
 
#193
i_wona said:
Bloody hell - I just read through this whole thread and I have two things to say:

1) That buyer is a F%$#*$; and

2) I love the way you have dealt with this fiasco, Choo_girl. Like everyone else here, I am so impressed with your writing style too LOL... and your infinite patience and ability to stay courteous under fire.

I just cannot understand how eBay can allow this ridiculous attempt to 1) usurp their very own policies; and 2) break the law. Have you tried calling them again and speaking to someone new? What about telling the person you speak to that you have written records of this guy not wanting to go through the transaction because you didn't flout the law for him?!

And their most recent emails (above) have shown me that there is always a new level of stupidity and complete incompetence to sink to. WTF!
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T4P! As KZ has said, *bay generates computer responses to the emails they receive, likely searching emails for specific key words and then generating a reply that seems to fit. In this case, it most certainly doesn't fit & just makes them look ridiculous!

Interestingly, in one of his messages, my buyer states that he's purchased a $3800 trunk from My Poupette thru *bay w/o paying any customs charges, and yet there's no record of the purchase on goofbaby. Mysteries abound ...
 
#194
choo_girl123 said:
That's the part I'm confused by as well. Once I get my package back (assuming I ever get it back) I'll refund purchase price less s&h both ways and *bay FVF. FVF were over $30 (US) and the shipping was $25 (US) one way. I think my buyer was suffering from buyer's remorse and used the customs duty as an excuse. Probably the same story with your buyer, don't you think?
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Oh no, mine wasn't buyer's remorse. It was paranoia :confused1::shrugs: She said that if she provided her social security number and credit card details (to pay duty) to the US customs, someone there will inevitably steal her identity and empty out her coffers. So she'd much rather lose USD 70.
 
#195
birkingal said:
Oh no, mine wasn't buyer's remorse. It was paranoia :confused1::shrugs: She said that if she provided her social security number and credit card details (to pay duty) to the US customs, someone there will inevitably steal her identity and empty out her coffers. So she'd much rather lose USD 70.
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What???? That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard. If you're so worried about identity theft, why the heck are you buying stuff over the Internet??? :confused1:
 
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