HELP!!!! US Customs Seizure

#46
missucc said:
so buyer escalates dispute to a claim....

7/28/2010 17:47 GMT-04:00 - Buyer: Seller sent items that were stopped by US Customs Border and Patrol for being counterfeit. Seller refuses to refund the money ($2800). Seller sent items to me that were deemed counterfeit by US Customs and Border Patrol, which is not the fault of the buyer (me). I should not be penalized (by losing $2800), because the seller sent items that were confiscated by US Customs. This is the responsibility of the seller. Not of the buyer. The seller sold the items as authentic and they were found to be fakes by a third party. The seller should take the matter up with that third party and refund the total amount to me. Please refund the $2800 to my PayPal account. Thank you.

So I guess I should be penalized for having the pleasure to deal with a non-responsive and non-responsible buyer who ought to have known the bags are 100% authentic. This was not an eBay transaction so if there were ANY doubts wrt authenticity buyer would not have bought because there is no SNAD claims for off-eBay purchases.
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With all due respect, the buyer is not at fault here. She is not 'ought to know' anything whatsoever since she has never seen the bags in person. She has been told the bags are fake by the US customs, and she is freaked out. I think if you were in her shoes, you'd be just as upset.

As far as the Paypal claim, did she file an INR or a SNAD? It must be an INR because a SNAD would have been automatically closed by Paypal for an off-eBay transaction. If it is an INR then she has a case. Try to stall her as long as you can. If the customs release the bags you don't want them forward them to her if you would have refunded her already.

p-WA
 
#47
missucc said:
Not that I have to proof anything to anyone. But I really appreciate the support from all you lovely ladies so I don't mind sharing the additional details.

The invoiced amount was $2800 including shipping. Shipping alone costed close to $100 via UPS w/ insurance and signature confirmation. I declared $2250 out of my own decision. Because the transaction was negotiated as a lump sum amount, when I was asked to itemize each bag's value on the declaration form, I just roughly guess-timated their individual worth. This was at the UPS counter 5 minutes before their closing time so I was a little rushed. Then I added up the total at the bottom I realized it didn't sum to the invoice amount. But I figured whatever, I didn't feel like filling out another form from scratch again so maybe just let the buyer get a lil' break with duties. So I just went ahead paid for the shipment and insured to the declared amount.

In hind sight I should've taken the customs form more seriously - lesson learned I guess.

Anyways, I finally heard from Carol. She said she was stuck with no power for 2 days due to storm in her area. In the mean time PP decided to limit my account access, so no buying or selling for now - not necessarily a bad thing, I swear I am so frustrated and need retail therapy so bad I could literally drain my bank account with eBay being just a click away.:sos:
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I am so sorry to hear you are going through this! I see another tPFer has already linked my aussie thread.... ohh what I nightmare that was. Here are my only words of advice which may or may not be helpful since mine was aussie customs and yours is us.

1. In my experience it was a big waste of time trying to contact anyone at customs. They all pretty much ignored me and only would speak with the buyer. (Luckily though, my buyer was helpful for the most part.)
2. Carol Divas letter will (most likely) not do you any good. I know what its like to want to "prove" that your items are authentic, but most likely customs will not care about her letter. (love her though!)
In my case, they sent the bag out to their "authenticator" and it was finally deemed authentic.

Of course the whole situation was very stressfull (mine was only for about 900 I believe) but if I had just sat back and done nothing, things would have been resolved on their own. Again, not saying you shouldnt do anything, but I am not sure anything I did, or tried to do, really helped anything. :P
I wish you lots of luck and hope your situation turns out well.
 
#48
I just got off the phone with PP. They said they can only put a 10 day hold on the case for now. Like I said I am not saying the buyer is at fault. I have already taken on full responsibility for filing the necessary documents to get the bags back - all that I am freakin asking for is time. She only filed the dispute 2 days ago, to escalate it to a claim today is very inconsiderate because PP allows at least another 2 1/2 weeks for communication between the parties unless the buyer chooses to escalate it. I can understand the need to open a dispute because it must be done within 45 days of purchase, but heck, given the fact that I am in Canada and I don't know what I need to do until I get docs from customs through snail mail, could she not have waited another few days?

I am like on the verge of a mental breakdown. But even if I was to jump from a bridge one day I am going to make sure I spend every penny in my bank account before I jump so PP can keep that -$2800 on their books.:pout:
 
#49
I can understand how isolated and helpless you must feel. You did nothing wrong. I am quite sure the inadvertent 20% reduction in the declared value for used bags is not a big deal. For all that UPS charges for shipping and brokerage, you would think they could have been more helpful. You might want to go after them again.

The only other advice I can give is to stay calm and professional in your dealings with Paypal, customs, UPS and the buyer. I don't know how long this is going to take to play out but I am guessing it will take more than 10 days. I would focus my attention on making sure the bags get released back to you. Good luck and stay away from bridges :hugs:
 
#52
Ah yes!!! I finally got the forms from CBP in the mail. They snail mailed it the EXTREME snail way - $0.75 postage to Canada. Letter dated July 22nd and it arrived yesterday! I am greatful I don't live in a village in China, otherwise I'd probably get it after their 30-day response period is up.

Anyways, so it does say in the docs that I can file a petition, doesn't have to be in a particular format but must provide justification to support my request. Also there's a waiver that I need to sign and get notarized (a mere $50 fee for 1 signature!).

The officer I corresponded was nice enough to agree to start the paper work once I can email her back the proper docs. Hard copies are still needed but at least while they are in transit my case can be looked at. So hopefully this will meet PP's timeline. (Question for PP experts: Say if they refunded my money before the case with CBP is resolved and my bags get released and sent to the buyer, can I hold PP accountable w/ seller protection? I've purchased signature and all, plus I've clearly stated my concern to PP both in writing and over the phone)

Sign of relief for me for now, but I still need to gather the info to send in. I don't think I can get help from Carol, I only have 8 days left with PP so I don't want to chance it with the turn around time plus time to mail stuff back and forth. I am certain of the bags authenticity so as long as someone with Bal knowledge looks at it they should know they are not fakes - not like they are super rare limited ed bags or anything.

:hugs::ty: ladies. I'll update once I hear back from customs. I should block PP - they keep sending me daily messages telling me they've limited my account access until negative balance is resolved. :rant:
 
#54
missucc said:
(Question for PP experts: Say if they refunded my money before the case with CBP is resolved and my bags get released and sent to the buyer, can I hold PP accountable w/ seller protection? I've purchased signature and all, plus I've clearly stated my concern to PP both in writing and over the phone)
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I don't know but you raise a good point. You have done everything according to Paypal's rules. Because things are moving and because you are dealing with a unique situation, I would contact Paypal, ask to speak to a supervisor, and ask them not to automatically close the case in the buyer's favour after 10 days.
 
#55
missucc said:
Question for PP experts: Say if they refunded my money before the case with CBP is resolved and my bags get released and sent to the buyer, can I hold PP accountable w/ seller protection? I've purchased signature and all, plus I've clearly stated my concern to PP both in writing and over the phone
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I think your best bet is to call UPS and ask them to stop the package.

p-WA
 
#57
pippaWA said:
I think your best bet is to call UPS and ask them to stop the package.

p-WA
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I'd rather not get them returned to me (if released by CBP) as long as PP hasn't granted a refund. By the time the shipment is moving again, I'd already be out $200+ from shipping, PP fees, other fees I am currently incurring just to get the darn package out. Then if she still wants them I'd have to pay shipping all over again. Plus it would be a nightmare if the same thing repeats itself again at the border crossing :shucks:(well it shouldn't, but you'll never know.....)

But you raised a good point, I should talk to UPS and give them a heads up that I might want the package back depending on the outcome with PP. Maybe they can hold it until I give them further instructions.
 
#58
missucc said:
I'd rather not get them returned to me (if released by CBP) as long as PP hasn't granted a refund. By the time the shipment is moving again, I'd already be out $200+ from shipping, PP fees, other fees I am currently incurring just to get the darn package out. Then if she still wants them I'd have to pay shipping all over again.
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Paypal will refund your fees if the buyer is granted a refund. As far as this particular buyer, I don't think you want to deal with her anymore. Who knows what else she may freak out about? If you do decide to resend them to her, I'd make her pay the current shipping and the new shipping charges.

p-WA
 
#59
missucc said:
But you raised a good point, I should talk to UPS and give them a heads up that I might want the package back depending on the outcome with PP. Maybe they can hold it until I give them further instructions.
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Good idea. In that they charge a lot for "brokerage" they should be able to handle this request. For whatever reason, international shipping often does not seem to go smoothly with UPS. I always use Canada Post/USPS with tracking and insurance. The don't offer signature per se on international but they always do get a signature (maybe because of the insurance). I have also never shipped anything much over $1000. It has always worked out fine. In your case, breaking it down into two separate shipments and using Canada Post might have worked better - but that is 20-20 hindsight.
 
#60
northerndancer said:
Good idea. In that they charge a lot for "brokerage" they should be able to handle this request. For whatever reason, international shipping often does not seem to go smoothly with UPS. I always use Canada Post/USPS with tracking and insurance. The don't offer signature per se on international but they always do get a signature (maybe because of the insurance). I have also never shipped anything much over $1000. It has always worked out fine. In your case, breaking it down into two separate shipments and using Canada Post might have worked better - but that is 20-20 hindsight.
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ITA. Lesson learned I guess. This is my 2nd time shipping through UPS. The first time was also a nightmare (overcharged by the UPS Store, CS just stalled and stalled so finally I gave up trying to get my money back). But now that you mentioned glitches with UPS international shipping, I vaguely remembered when I called UPS last time around to track my shipment, the girl was very chatty and she told me that they actually had an internal memo stating that they don't ship handbags. I asked her why she said memo just referenced some code or act. I'd completely forgotten about that. So I don't know, perhaps they've gotten caught too many times with counterfeits so CBP checks their parcels more frequently???

Canada Post is such a PITA. Can't buy signature confirmation unless you go Priority which costs 5X more. I know what you mean, they still get signature anyways even for Xpress or Expedited, but do they also provide signature online for viewing? The the fact that you can't add ANYTHING, not even insurance to Small Parcel just baffles me. Wished the courier industry here was more competitive like it is in China. I was told for same day delivery of documents within a city, it costs something like 1 RMB, equivalent of $0.15 USD. I had about 30 kg of stuff sent EMS from China to Canada, it took 4 days, door-to-door drop off by DHL, it costed < $100 USD, brokerage included.
 
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