eBay

officinato · ‎08-20-2013

It is great to establish new Policies but what good are they if they are not being acted upon or enforced by Ebay? I have tried unsuccessfuly for over six months to remove a negative rating that I received from a buyer that was unwarranted and communicated this to Ebay without response.

I sold and received payment for an item that was shipped from Canada to Belgium. The Buyer refused delivery because he did not want to pay the added local Custom's Duties until enforced by Government. The item (ID #121075740498) is being held by UPS in Germany until acknowledgement of Customs Payment. The Buyer wanted me to pay the Customs Duties and I offerred to pay 50% and he gave me a "Negative" rating, the first ever since joining Ebay in 2004. All correspondence with the Buyer is on file through Ebay.

i greatly would appreciate it if someone from Ebay would help me; acknowledge receipt of my communication, review my correspondence with the Buyer and remove the "Unjustified" and "Unwarranted" Negative Rating under your NEW Expanded Feedback Policy.

Thank you!

mmgassan · ‎08-25-2013

Same thing happened to me the other day. I'm prepared to let eBay know I will not be using their services anymore until that negative feedback is removed.

007steveb16 · ‎08-26-2013

I'm sorry but you really need to change your mindframe on how you "think" your situation exists.

You need to take ownership of your mistake and realize you are the one who messed up.

Your buyer had every right to be upset.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎08-26-2013

Not sure what mistake the seller made.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-26-2013

@bb_cool_stuff wrote:
Not sure what mistake the seller made.

I think that steve is referring to the seller in post 2. Looking at their feedback, the U.S. buyer complained that the seller wanted to charge $60 shipping after the sale. The listing stated free shipping in the U.S. Shipping is $60 in Canada (which seems super high) but free anywhere else in the world so obviously the seller goofed when setting up shipping.

bb_cool_stuff · ‎08-27-2013

Gotcha, I was looking at post #1.

Sixty dollars seems a litle high for shipping.

....the seller goofed when setting up shipping.

I remember a couple of years back when you pointed out i had made many mistakes in regards to international shipping rates so i hear where you are coming from.

officinato · ‎08-28-2013

Thank you for taking the time to comment. The following are the facts:

The Seller (me) is not resposnible for paying the Buyer's local Government Customs Excise Taxes. This is also Ebay's Policy.

The item in question was made availble to qualified Buyers but limited to residents of Canada, USA, UK and Germany. The Buyer resided in Brussels, Belgium and somehow eBay expanded the transaction to include Belgium. I had estimated the shipping charges to be $60, simply being if I shipped from canada to residents of Canada and the USA I could use ground transportation and the costs would be much less than stated. In addition I stated that if the shipping charges were less than I would rebate the Buyer the difference. The cost to courier the item using UPS (Montblanc Cufflinks sold at $188) amounted to $120 (this included insurance) and I provided the Buyer with the UPS Invoice and did not request an additional $60 to cover my cost. What was posted on eBay was what I honoured.

When the item arrived in Brussels, Belgium the Government imposed local Customs Excise Taxes amounting to $120 and the onus was placed on UPS to collect prior to delivery. The Buyer did not want to pay this amount until enforced by the Goverment. Had the Buyer not paid and I wanted the item returned to me then I would have had to pay the Belgium Customs Duties $120 first and then have UPS courier back to Canada another $120. In summary, sold item for $188 and paid $60 out of my own pocket to pay for Shipping - Net $128 and now if I wanted the item returned based on the foregoing transctions it would have been for a net loss of $112. I believe that the Seller (me) has "every right to be upset".

The point in question is not the transaction but rather eBay's Policy of protectiong a Seller from Negative Feedback that has "no teeth" . To-date, I've not heard back from eBy and probably never will.

inuk_the_polar_bear · ‎08-28-2013

I get it.

Never, ever, use a courier for international delivery. They charge fees above and beyond simple duties or taxes. They WILL collect everything even when the local gov't chooses not to.

Was the buyer in full agreement that you would use a courier?

I had a similar situation a couple years ago. A set of widgets from the USA priced at $28. I asked for shipping to Canada and they quaoted $28. When the courier arrived, they wanted another $28 for their fees. Forget it. I did not know the seller was going to use a service that required additional fees the post office and Canada Customs would not collect.

I refused delivery.

officinato · ‎08-28-2013

Thank you for your comment. I informed the Buyer that I would use UPS and asked if he preferred FedEx instead? It is my opinion that what you experienced may have been as a result of additional Brockerage Fees being applied.

In Canada, we are very limited as to the choices we have to ship internationally e.g major Couriers and Canada Post. If we use the latter then tracking becomes a problem and as does speed of delivery or delivery per se when the item is being delivered through the country's local postal service. Hence the use of Courier Services. As best as I can determine the Buyer's dissatisfaction stems from the added Customs Duties he was required to pay, which came as a surorise. I conferred with UPS Canada and UPS Belgium about the charges and was informed that they were strictly due to local Custom's duties being applied. Hence, my offer to pay $60 to defer the Buyer's cost. This is beyond what I already invested in getting the item to the Buyer.

pjcdn2005 · ‎08-28-2013

I'm surprised that ebay wouldn't remove the negative as it has been quite a while that they've said they would remove negative feedback that referred to having to pay custom fees.

mr.elmwood · ‎08-28-2013

Thank you for the lecture. I have been doing this for eleven years, 8000+ parcels, approximately 55 countries. I know how postal systems work. I have an idea of how couriers work.

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rose-dee · ‎08-28-2013

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
I'm surprised that ebay wouldn't remove the negative as it has been quite a while that they've said they would remove negative feedback that referred to having to pay custom fees.

'pj' - This is correct but eBay has included a clever little corollary to that policy which stipulates that the negative FB will be removed as long as it pertains only to customs issues and nothing else. So if the buyer makes other general complaints, it's in a gray area.

I took a look at the buyer's negative FB, and it might be difficult to present the case to eBay that his remarks have only to do with customs complaints and nothing else. In fact, it's pretty difficult to understand exactly what he's complaining about, as it looks like his comment got cut off, and the English is garbled.

I really feel for the OP on this one. It could happen with any expensive item to Europe. Whether you ship by courier or postal system, European customs are far more diligent than we're used to in Canada. A ca. $100 item will not get past them, and let's face it - many European countries are desperately looking for revenue wherever they can find it, and personal imports are an easy source.

However, none of this in any way excuses the buyer in this case. Sadly, it looks as if this person is not ever going to remove his FB through negotiating, etc., as the OP already tried. The only suggestion I can make to the OP is to try again with eBay, but persist until he gets to speak to someone higher up the ladder (try asking for an account manager and see if you can get any further). Or try contacting one of the eBay.ca staffers directly -- check the Weekly Discussion boards for the emails.

I would think that these cases of "buyer remorse" associated with customs charges are getting more and more frequent (including buyers who "cherry-pick" which items to actually pay the duties/taxes on), and eBay should not be saddling its sellers with the responsibility or the consequences of this kind of egregious buyer behaviour.

officinato · ‎08-28-2013

Thank you all for your responses. This transaction has been a challenge and I might add a souce of frustration. I will try to contact the eBay staffers directly. This has been very helpful and inciteful. Thank you.