CanadaPost Damaged Shipment Claims not being paid to Seller only to eBaY Pitney Bowes

[futuretech_liquidations]

We recently been informed by CanadaPOST that as an eabay seller when you file an insurance claim for a damaged item that they will now only be compensating eBay/Pitney Bowes. Their system no longer enables them to issue a check to the seller.

They told us to contact eBay / Pitney Bowes to get our refund for the insurance claim.

As you can imagine, eBay has no clue about this new procedure from CanadaPOST and neither does Paypal both of whom I have spoken to for hours on end informing them of what CanadaPOST is saying to us.

So it looks like if you use the eBay integrated CanadaPOST Shipping module to buy the shipping label and your parcel is damaged /  lost and you file a claim with CanadaPOST they will only credit back eBay / Pitney Bowes and not you the actual shipper.

We currently have twp (2) claims amounting to just under $300 that we have refunded back to eBay buyers for lost shipments to the USA and as of today it does not look good that we will ever get a refund back from CanadaPOST. I have spoken to multiple customer/claims agents and they are all telling me the samething - CALL EBAY.

If anyone has any suggestions as to whom at eBay can help work this out it would be appreciated.

[rose-dee]

This makes no sense to me.  If you're a Canadian seller (are you?) whether you buy your shipping through Paypal labels or at the Post Office should make no difference -- Canada Post is still your insurer (if you paid for an insured service).  Why would Canada Post refund eBay/Pitney-Bowes?  The payment for shipping would have come directly from you for the shipping.  Did you actually use Canada Post insurance, or a 3rd party insurer?

There are a few details that may be missing from your post.  Did you initiate a claim through a Canada Post online submission, or by phone?  

What I would do is print out my Paypal transaction record/receipt showing I had paid for the shipping (and insurance) in question, as well as your tracking number for the parcel, then call Canada Post and explain the problem.  Find out specifically what the procedure is to make an insurance claim, then provide the payment receipt if necessary.   

It seems as if something is awry -- either you were given erroneous information or someone at Canada Post is confused about what you're asking.  It really shouldn't be this complicated.  

[futuretech_liquidations]

We bought and paid for the shipping label through the eBay system (ie Paypal shipiping). The claim itself we filed directly with CanadaPOST through online Ticketing system.

I am told that 6-7months ago CanadaPOST has changed this process for all online retailers like ebay, Shopify, Etsy and Paypal.

I am told that since the Shipping label was generated off of either one of the above mentioned sites that CanadaPOST will be issue a refund for the insuranced amount only to that site. 

I have just got off the phone with CanadaPOST commercial dept. and they have confirmed this is the new process when it comes to all insurance claims being paid for shipments originating from the above mentioned sites (eBay, Paypal, Etsy, Shopify and Paypal.)

Please call them yourself and you will see that I am not confused or saying anything untrue.

Despite being frustrated, I wanted to inform every Canadian Seller on here as this is an important matter to be aware of.

Please call CanadaPOST and check for yourself 

In our case one of our claims has aleady been paid out back to eBay / Pitney Bowes today as per Joanne in CanadaPOST Claims department so my next step is to contact eBay and Paypal to try and get my money back.

Cheers

TIM @ FTL

[ricarmic]

Please keep us updated as to what happens!

Personally I'm with Rose this makes no sense given the value of the item is something unrelated to the shipping cost but anyway CP is very confusing sometimes (I have had to keep the spot in the CP manual identified to help the claims folks understand that yes they do provide coverage for postage stamps (only up to $500 max which I never hit anyway) and even then, they've only "as a favour" decided to pay.....

It will also be interesting to see what happens with folks like me. I pay with stamps on the box, it is an eBay item, but there is no ebay related paperwork to do with the shipping. Hopefully it will be some time before I have to use the process but it will probably be the usual pain in the bum when it does happen....

Make sure to let us know how you manage to get the $$$ out of ebay.....I'll be interested to see how that goes....

[rose-dee]

If this is true (and I have no reason to doubt what you're saying), it seems ridiculous that you should have to chase after your own money from Paypal/eBay. 

Or did Canada Post mean that they will refund your Paypal seller account directly?  That would seem logical, and a way for Canada Post to avoid all the trouble and expense of sending out cheques.  

If what they meant was that they are actually paying your insurance money to someone else (i.e. eBay or Paypal), I'm just flabbergasted.  That goes against everything one would expect from an insurance contract.  

It might be a good idea for all of us sellers to review Canada Post's current terms and conditions of insurance.  The mode and procedure for payout of coverage would have to be included in that document.  I think I'll take a look. 

Thanks for bringing this matter up! 

[rose-dee]

I'm sorry, I meant to ask what particular Canada Post service you used and where (which country) the parcel was going.  I'd like to check to see if this would apply to all insured services offered by CP, or just certain ones.  

[sylviebee]

I wonder if USPS has adopted the same procedure?  If not, then the folks at paypal will be really confused as well as miffed over this new system.

Also, doesn't it then also make sense then that buyers would be reimbursed by paypal and not the seller?

At the very least they owe it to us to send the details of this new procedure and an explanation for the change.

Does our PO see this as a way to "encourage" sellers to use the CPO web sight in place of paypal without offering comparable discounts?  

[i.am.vivian]

Excellent questions!  The only reason I can possibly imagine for this the way it is described is that Canada Post has had to make what they believe are too many false ins claim payouts, so by refunding the source and forcing the claimant to go to there, eBay/PP will reimburse a seller on a genuine claim made by the buyer on the site but on a false claim done on the sly there will be nothing to refund.    (?)

Now if only eBay/PP will read up on this so that they, too, know how it goes . . .

Either that or I've got the wrong end of the stick again.   🙂  

[momcqueen]

When ebay sellers buy postage through paypal shipping, we are doing it as a sub-contract partner of ebay and paypal and whatever agreement has been worked out between the two. I am only slightly surprised to hear of this potential development. There have ben rumours about this problem with ebay sellers using FedEx down south.

Once it has been demonstrated absolutely as being the new, go-forward policy, I will certainly cease to utilize paypal for shipping and buy all my Canada Post postage from CPC directly. Or FedEx directly.

I don't need this sort of additional red-tape aggravation in my life, and I pay enough for postal services each year that I'd be getting the same level discount without using paypal shipping as I do with it. The only problem is that you have to work toward that discount level per quarter so, in the first couple of quarters, I'd probably be paying higher postage until I met that peak level where I'd already be if I never used papyal shipping at all.

We have to adapt. 

This would be the point where I would expect ebay to be issuing a statement so as to assist its sellers. 

I have to call CPC later this week to follow-up on some troubles I had with internationally tracked packages that fell off the radar, so I'll ask about this issue and get back to the thread when I do. 

[ricarmic]

As a note if one is using legitimate (ie full gum never used before) stamps, one should easily be able to save 20 to 25% by buying postage lots, there are always lots of postage lots up for sale here and if one watches philatelic (stamp collector) auctions, one can get stuff as low as 50-60% of face. Remember to be sure they have their gum/adhesive and have not been used. Reusing stamps is illegal.

Using older postage requires more adding of course as older stamps aren't the value of modern ones, but my point is that one can save more than at least the lower SSB credit levels anyway.... and depending how this new insurance twist works, sticking stamps on may avoid that problem too...

My own sadness comes from the fact that my stamp collector buyers tend to want the newest stuff out on their packages, which of course one can't get below face.....so I can only put a wee bit on my packages....

[futuretech_liquidations]

We only use EXPEDITED PARCEL service for all our shipments and the parcel in question was shipped from Ontario to Quebec.

[momcqueen]

Ricarmic, can you please explain with stamps: are they good only for lettermail or can you pay for expedited parcel or Xpresspost with them but get the post office to add a bar code?

[futuretech_liquidations]

!! UPDATE !!

PayPal has confirmed that they are blaffled as to what/Why CanadaPOST is doing this now as they have no knowledge nor any mechanism/process in place to recoup those funds back to the seller from the EBAY/PITNEY Bowes account. They suggested that we seek legal advise...and also to take up the matter with eBay as they would own that account.

So I called eBay again and guess what they told me to call Pitney Bowes and gave me a Customer Service Number to call. eBay said that any refunds would have to come from Pitney Bowes since the label was generated through their system and they manage the CanadaPOST shipping label module on behalf of eBay and that any refunds from CanadaPOST would go to them and only Pitney Bowes can issue the refund for our insurance claim.

I am now on-hold with Pitney Bowes for over 20 minutes and will once again update when I have more information (if any).

I have wasted another day on phone calls but I want to get to the bottom of this crazy situation - meantime I am also reading the CanadaPOST Insurance policy to see if there is any wording on this new policy --- no found yet.

Regards.

Tim

[ricarmic]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
Ricarmic, can you please explain with stamps: are they good only for lettermail or can you pay for expedited parcel or Xpresspost with them but get the post office to add a bar code?

---

Valid postage stamps can be used on anything. (the "P" stamps count as 85c as of today).

Yes one sticks the right amount of stamps* on the box, the postmaster follows their normal process, but they have to remember to click a button that says something like "stamps already affixed" so that it doesn't create and bill for a postage label there. Otherwise they have to cancel the transaction and redo it which causes a lot of extra paperwork for them which can make them grumpy. For a Canadian expedited box, they end up sticking only 2 labels on the box instead of the normal 3 (? I'm assuming if one pays them at the counter the 3rd label shows the amount of postage paid but I could be wrong because I've never done that - my boxes all have 2 labels affixed that I know)

*The right amount of stamps includes the fuel surcharge, signature amount if one picked that etc, and incorporates the lowest level business discount (I think it is 10%), the rate that is in the documents here: https://www.canadapost.ca/tools/pg/prices/default-e.asp?ecid=murl07001139  

[sylviebee]

I'm very confused about the process:

The way we are familiar with:  When there's an insurance claim, the seller reimburses the buyer and then files a claim with CPO.  CPO then refunds the seller.  That's the process regardless of where the shipping label was purchased.

Are you saying that now, when a seller buys the label via paypal and there's an insurance claim, that the seller refunds the buyer and then files a claim with the CPO but the PO reimburses paypal instead of the seller?

If so, how does PP make the connection between the refund and the shipper?

or........

Does the buyer file the claim with paypal and get the refund via pp instead of the seller?

or...........

Something else????????

[recped]

I just got a cheque in the mail from CP for a damaged shipment, Xpresspost printed through PayPal, cheque made out to me.

It was the first ever damaged claim I'd done with Canada Post, it all went well except the buyer screwed up and told CP that they wanted to keep the item (which I was going to replace or refund) so CP only paid me the shipping costs.

[futuretech_liquidations]

Ok so just spoke with Pitney Bowes Ebay Global Shipping Customer Support center and was promptly advised that they only deal with US sellers and have nothing to do with Canadian Sellers so they could not help me. Even after explaining to the rep as to why I was calling them she told me does not make any sense what CanadaPOST is doing.

So yet another roadblock but I will now call back ebay and push on further. Will update accordingly once I have new info.

Anyone else have any new news on this ?

[futuretech_liquidations]

recped -- good for you but as I have stated our insurance claim refund was processed back to ebay/Pitney Bowes account and not to use - I am more than happy to give you all the names of the people at CanadaPOST that I have spoken with better yet I can do a conference call so you can hear it for yourself.

I have spent 3-days now trying to resolve this matter

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@recped wrote:

I just got a cheque in the mail from CP for a damaged shipment, Xpresspost printed through PayPal, cheque made out to me.

It was the first ever damaged claim I'd done with Canada Post, it all went well except the buyer screwed up and told CP that they wanted to keep the item (which I was going to replace or refund) so CP only paid me the shipping costs.

---

[reallynicestamps]

I am told that 6-7months ago CanadaPOST has changed this process for all online retailers like ebay, Shopify, Etsy and Paypal.

Paypal is not a retailer. And Shopify seems to be a platform, not a venue.

And Pitney Bowes and the GSP are not used by Canadian sellers only UK and US sellers.

More to the point.

Insurance is paid to the buyer of the postal service and not to the recipient.

So I'm not following the arguement.

If I as a seller ship to my customer and the package is damaged, I refund my customer.

Then I, the seller,  go to the shipper (Canada Post, UPS, whatever) and make an insurance claim  as their customer.

Is the problem that you were the recipient and are trying to get the shipper (Canada Post) to reimburse you for the damage?

If so, you are approaching the wrong people.

[dinomitesales]

I also find this new policy (if true) to be very strange. Unfortunately, even if it is true, it will probably be next to impossible to get any relevant information out of eBay/PayPal/Pitney Bowes as I'm sure anyone you talk to has no idea what 'Canada' is anyway.

As a Canada Post retail clerk I can tell you that nothing has come down the line to us via Canada Post's "InfoMessages" regarding any change in insurance claim payouts, but then again, they don't keep us abreast of many things.

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With regard to the comments about affixing stamps to your parcel, I can comment on that. Ricarmic was mostly right with what he said. Basically when we get to the step right before the labels get printed out it asks us if there is any "pre-affixed" postage, and then we just enter the value of the stamps. So even if you don't have enough stamps on there, the computer will just deduct the amount you do have and you can just pay the remainder. There's only ever two labels that get affixed to applicable parcels with tracking - (1) the label with the tracking number, and (2) the label with the postal code on it in big letters (this is also the label that indicates how much postage was paid, if any).