Item Stuck in German Customs (DEFRAA) since June 13

[ddo204]

I shipped an item to a customer in Germany via Canada Post Tracked Packet International on June 8, 2018. Last tracking update from CPC was June 13:

2018/06/13 17:56 DEFRAA, Germany Item has arrived in foreign country

 Buyer opened an INR case on July 17 and I provided a refund of approx. $105. After a bit of additional research I provided the buyer with contact info for German Customs and he was able to ascertain the following:

"Okay - it's not in customs yet, but in a Deutsche Post warehouse somewhere. Processing may take another month or so. If ebay makes any inquiries before then, I'll be sure to let them know we're still waiting. Once it's here I'll reverse the reversal of the payment."

Is there anything else that can be done to expedite this process? It seems very strange that an item would take over 2 months to clear customs. I've shipped similar items to Germany without issue.

[momcqueen]

Er... what was the item in question? I’m somewhat skeptical of your buyer’s motivation and assertions. In my experience, shipping to Germany has been flawless except for the one time there was localized flooding in the area.

[lukey9]

It could also be the VAT Tax that the buyer has to pay and that is why it is still in the warehouse

I buy and sell allot to and from Germany and I have never ever had a problem.

It could be on the Tracked parcel where  it shows what the value is of the parcel and what he has to pay to get it.

[momcqueen]

That was my thought as well. German Customs NEVER forgets to assess their import fees. If the buyer is someone unaccustomed to importing into Germany, this may have caught him unawares. Less-than-ethical types have been known to file INR and use their refund to pay their import fees— and feel justified in doing so because the import fees took them by surprise. A seller is truly hooped when that happens.

[dennibir-0]

mine was sent April.. im on 118 days   plus?     .... and going to have to refund also

[kh-leslie]

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies.  Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!