eBay

funfunlego1 · ‎06-30-2016

Hi hoping to get some advice, thanks in advance

I sold an item last month to a buyer in Hong Kong, shipping was thru DHL with tracking. The buyer contacted me 2 week from when I shipped the item and asked where the package was. I gave him the tracking # and explained that it could be stuck in customs and should be arriving soon. He again contacted me a week after that asking where his package was. So at this point I checked the tracking and it indicated that it had arrived in Hong Kong.

3 or 4 days later I checked the tracking again and the package scan said it was in Germany ( DHL's sorting center). Concerned I contacted DHL directly and they said that there could have been a mistake and the package should be going back to HK. DHL also indicated that it's the national postal carrier doing the delivery, DHL just gets the package through customs. A couple days later the scan did show it going back to HK, only to flop back to Germany with the scan " undeliverable-return to sender".

I have contacted the buyer explain all the above to him and he is very understanding and willing to wait. He has also indicated that he would still like to receive the item.

This buyer is not new, has left positive feedback from items he has received. I copied and pasted his exact address from Paypal when I created the shipping label and manifest.

I have not received the package back yet, but when I do I'm going to assume there will be some costs

Who is at fault here?

What can I do in my situation?

reallynicestamps · ‎06-30-2016

Contact the buyer again and get his exact address.

Then contact DHL and give them the correct address as the buyer gave it to you.

The responsibility for having the correct usable address in Paypal is on the buyer, but errors do creep in -- including human ones, the buyer's. yours, DHL's.

funfunlego1 · ‎06-30-2016

I did get the buyer to reconfirm the address, got his phone # and email address. I had this all prepared to give to DHL, however they said there is nothing to be done as items being sent back to senders don't get the same treatment as packages being sent to the recipient. HK post was no help either, processed the package twice and then nothing. Last scan was June 17th, from HK. Because it's the postal system handling the delivery and sequential return, DHL only has what scans the postal carrier gives. At this point it could be still be in HK, until the next scan says so.

I've pretty much at this point accepted that there is very little I can do to intercept the package and get them to try to deliver to the buyer. DHL also confirmed that when it does come back into Canada it will be delivered to me by Canada Post, so that should be fun.

I guess I just want to know what I should or can do as a next step after I get the returned package back...

femmefan1946 · ‎07-03-2016

With the looming labour disruption, it will be very important to keep the buyer in the loop.

Without being overly-communicative.

Sigh.

It's true that undeliverable parcels are returned by the cheapest (which is usually also slowest) service available.

You have to be prepared to refund the buyer if he demands it, because the returned parcel could take months to get back to you.

pjcdn2005 · ‎07-03-2016

You might try checking the tracking number on the Hong Kong postal site to see if there is a more detailed explanation of the problem. If the address was correct and the buyer did not refuse the package they. Reall should be refunded once the package germs returned. I'd Dhl wants to charge you return delivery fees you might have to fight them about it. Even if the package was only with them to HK customs I would think that they should still be responsible for refunding you because you paid them and the package wasn't delivered. Did you receive sny paperwork from them that might say what terms you agreed to when you sent the package?.

funfunlego1 · ‎07-04-2016

DHL customer service said return standard is 10-20 business days... however this was only confirmed by one representative

I'm not too worried about refunding the customer, because it only cost $13 to ship. I'm more worried about what Canada post/ DHL will bill me for return postage.

funfunlego1 · ‎07-04-2016

I tried the HK postal site. It has even less info then DHL, as the tracking only begins in Germany. There are only about 3 scans...

I shipped this package with Chit Chat using their international trackedplus service. I contact Chit chat almost every 3rd day for the past 2 weeks, but they have not been very helpful. Currently they are very busy with the huge influx of new customers.