resolved. "item not as described" international return in customs.

[banditpony]

update: resolved. I was told that international returned goods with tracking are considered "delivered" when the item arrives in customs of the seller's country.



couldn't get an answer why something marked "returned goods" was held up in customs.


original post:

So, I ended up having to return an item, due to a not as described case. It was a pretty yucky looking Argie pony. It's going back to Argentina. I marked the item "returned goods".


I also had to pay out of pocket for priority mail. u__u; So I have to lose $30 for this stupid purchase. Ebay gave me a $10 gift certificate toward any purchase on ebay. I'm sorry, I'd rather have ANY amount of money go toward shipping. :/ I don't want to buy anything right now.


So anyway, this is the point, it says "Payment of charges - Item being held, addressee being notified". What does that mean? Is he being charged custom fees? Even tho it's returned goods? ...

I really hate waiting for international mail to arrive. All I keep thinking is, what if he refuses the item, will ebay not refund me?

[ponylady]

It sounds to me that he is going to be charged customs fees.
 
 *edit* I did a little bit of digging on ebay.  I think you are safe as long as you have proof the item was indeed sent back.  I see you said it went back Priority.  I would wait a couple days and see if it gets picked up.  If not I would message the seller to give them a head's up that the package is being held in customs.  And if all else fails I would contact ebay and ask them what exactly happens in this event?

[banditpony]

Well I definitely checked return to sender if in case it got sent back. I feel a bit guilty I accidentally marked it $25 more than what I purchased it, and I hope that won't cause issues. u__u;

It's so strange someone would get hit with custom fees, when it was marked returned goods. oh well, I guess he'll have to lose money too. just gotta be patient like always.


i'll just edit in this question:
How does the custom fee notification work. I read another country they send a post card? I am just wondering how long this could take... Do they send reminder posts? Is there a time period that they take before they consider the item abandoned?

[ponylady]

Hang in there!  I am sure it will turn out ok 

[Ringlets]

  How does the custom fee notification work. I read another country they send a post card? I am just wondering how long this could take... Do they send reminder posts? Is there a time period that they take before they consider the item abandoned?

I'm not sure about the time for returned goods, or how they do things in Argentina as regards customs fee letters, but here in the UK they will normally notify you by pushing a card through your door (occasionally and if the fee is relatively low), or (more often , especially when the fee is quite high) they will send you a letter from customs/the PO saying that they are holding the item until a certain amount of fees is paid . The letter can take a week to get to the person. Then the item is held for 1 week before being returned if its sent recorded, or 3 weeks if not. it might be different in Argentina though. I would take ponylady's advice and let him know the situation  v
 

I would wait a couple days and see if it gets picked up.  If not I would message the seller to give them a head's up that the package is being held in customs.  And if all else fails I would contact ebay and ask them what exactly happens in this event

[banditpony]

I have contacted him to make him aware of the package waiting for him (no communication, just like before).

It still hasn't been picked up , and it's been going on a week now that's it has been waiting for him to pick it up.

What's my next step. Contact ebay? Well, I need to be pointed onto the page that has ebays contact. NOT phone. I don't do well on phones. Just an email/pm directing that there needs to be more attention put onto this case, and that THEY should notify him to pick it up or else.

It's not fair that I do everything correct, and it's waiting on him ... because I don't get my refund until it's "delivered" and it's all depending on him.

[ClosetAvalanche]

For future use, Per Ebay's policy, if the package is returned, you're only required to refund the purchase price, since refusing a package because of customs is against ebay tos.

[kittybethy]

Yikes!! I hope it works out!

[ponylady]

  That stinks.  I am wondering why they are not picking it up?
 I believe if you opened a case they have 10 days to respond.  And if you have proof of shipping and it is showing that it is sitting in customs, ebay will reimburse you and then recover the amount of the reimbursement from the seller's PayPal account.  I could be wrong but I am pretty sure.
 
I would still contact ebay and see what exactly you should do.  Here is the link:
http://ocs.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ContactCS
I think you can do a live chat with someone there and not have to call.
 
Good Luck!

[banditpony]

Is there anything better than that link? Because that link just goes around in circles, and does not provide me a way to contact ebay other than phone. And I do not want to use a phone, because I cannot talk well on phones, and I don't want to have a panic attack. :/ surely there is a chat thing, or email...

[ponylady]

Oops I gave you the wrong one.
http://pages.ebay.com/help/account/contact-customer-support.html
*edit* There is no other way than what is posted on that link to contact them.  I doubled checked.  They have made it harder and harder over the years to try and get an answer from them. Sorry 

[banditpony]

They have, haven't they?


The other day, I wanted to report a buyer who asked me to take my item off ebay, and make a private trade with her (international , mind you, when I am not selling this particular item international). There is a giant warning "beware of anyone who asks you to do an offsite deal"... etc etc etc. So I kept clicking things, to get to a page that would let me report it. And ... it went to that evil customer service page... and then it would only allow me to report a listing. :/ I spent hours of going in circles, and it kept giving me the wrong page. So I gave up and didn't report her. Lucky her.




I decided to email a response to the message they gave me that I had won the case. So. It says it'll take 72 hours for them to respond. I'm ok with that. I just wanted to get the ball rolling of, what's going to happen next -- and how long he has to get it. And I might be grumpy about my money, just a little bit.




I'll edit this reply in here, because I didn't see it earlier.

For future use, Per Ebay's policy, if the package is returned, you're only required to refund the purchase price, since refusing a package because of customs is against ebay tos.

This is a not as described case, being returned to the seller-- it is not something I refused. It seems like you are talking about if the buyer refuses to pay customs.

[ponylady]

Who isn't grumpy about their money?   

Well itleast you got the ball rolling  and hopefully get it resolved soon!

*crosses fingers again*

[ClosetAvalanche]

Ops, I completely misread your post .

But, if the item is returned to you because they refused to pick it up, I think you're still entitled to a refund. A seller cannot just ignore your package then say he didn't receive it when it's returned to you. I think. LOL, it's somewhere in the Ebay Tos.

Anyway, getting in contact with Ebay is your best bet.

[Gaspode]

Several years ago I bought a playstation memory card on ebay and when it came, it was a fake! We contacted ebay and they told us we had to return it to the seller for a refund.  I returned it via recorded (signed for) post and they never collected it.  They just stopped contacting me and ebay said I had to wait for it to come back via post office and then claim the money from the post office (?!).  Well it never came back to me either so I don't now what happened but I think the seller just refused to collect it and post office destroyed it. I never got my money and ebay were no help.

I really hope none of this happens to you. Keep close hold of all your receipts, maybe take screen shots of the messages on thep ostal website so if need be you can prove you sent it but they didn't collect.

I hope the seller/ebay comes through for you.

- Gaspode