China auto part purchase sent to Canada - never made it.

[daleastern]

A truck grille from China. Tracking it shows that it arrived at Canada Customs and was send directly back to China.  What might this mean?

[momcqueen]

Okay, those don't look like bad dates with which to work. If you go to your Purchase History and start to open an INR, does it caution you to wait to any certain date such as, 'You cannot open a case for non-receipt until such-and-such'? 

You don't have to open that case today, but it might be valuable to learn ahead of time when you are able. 

[momcqueen]

And how does that date on ebay compare with the one given to you by paypal?

[daleastern]

It doesn't say I can't open an INR but it does say:

It looks like your item is on its way and should arrive by Feb 08, 2018. If you don’t receive it by then, please contact the seller or come back to us so we can help you.

[momcqueen]

Okay. Those dates are fine to work with.

[daleastern]

If I looked in the right spot at PPal, it just says to contact the seller and gives me a page to fill out to do so. [which I didn't since I already contacted him.]
Couldn't find anywhere with info on how long I have.

[daleastern]

OK.. I'll mark the calendar. THANKS again for the help.

[daleastern]

The seller kindly returned my money this morning.

All is well.

I am assuming it is the F O R D name that caused the problems at customs.

I am wondering if I should try again with another China seller?  I have asked a couple of them about this.  [China prices are much lower on this item  than buying from a US seller]

[momcqueen]

Given my experiences in comparing products and delivery times on various goods between China goods and continental ones, I'd stick with the North American sellers.

What you might save in cost, you pay for with problem-solving.

People will say, 'It's all made in China anyway!' and while that is true at face value, it's also not.

The cheap stuff is most often unauthorized backdoor merchandise made with sketchy material to sketchy specifications. Otherwise, how can they afford to sell it for that?

Anything you might save upfront, you pay for in the long run. Plus all that time is wasted.

Look at the effort and angst that went into this situation, for example.

Now let's say it had arrived and it was all junk, and then the seller put up a fight, you had to open a case, escalate it and yes, you get your money back, but you've lost weeks and currency conversion fees and your blood pressure is now higher than it was to start. 

I learned the hard way. Sometimes, that is the only way.

[daleastern]

Good info. Usually I buy from US sellers only while I am in the US on my 6 week Florida vacation. I beat the high US to Canada shipping costs.
Thanks for the help --- maybe talk again someday

[momcqueen]

If it's a fairly bulky purchase and you're driving with room to stuff it somewhere in the back, this is definitely the sort of thing I'd do while in the USA and that is to buy it from the USA, instead of ordering it by mail from China. Mind you, I am only one person and others will have had different experiences to share. 

Good luck with it, enjoy your time south.

[femmefan1946]

The minimum wage will soon be 25 cents a minute. So your time, on that basis, is worth more than you think.

Although we tend to think "it's all made in China anyway" , thanks to the AutoPact and NAFTA, that is really not true for most auto parts.

For example the only Honda that is not made entirely in North America is the FIT. And the same is mostly true of the other "Japanese" and "Korean" manufacturers.

Which means, no duty or sales tax when the parts arrive by UPS on your doorstep.

[femmefan1946]

Ooops.
No DUTY. Sales taxes still apply.

[daleastern]

---

wrote:
Ooops.
No DUTY. Sales taxes still apply.

---

Yes, taxes, handling charges and CrAzY high shipping charges.  I've compared.  Buying this particular piece from China is about 1/2 the cost of dealing with a US seller.

With that in mind I messaged a couple other China sellers and asked if they ever had this problem.  Surprisingly they were very nice to communicate with and said they have sent a lot of them to the US and had no problem. Might be a Canadian Customs thing.

I'm thinking of ordering it again from one of these sellers and maybe it will make it through this time?

I have nothing to loose, correct?

[momcqueen]

If you have time with which to play (like the part is not urgently required) then you may certainly experiment with other sellers from outside North America. I think you have a good primer now on what to do and when/how to do it if things go badly with a transaction. Good luck. 

[daleastern]

Mr. Macqueen, thanks for your help !

[tyler@ebay]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began I have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread!