The worst return ever

[rosscd57]

I have a return going right now. I sent it Canada Post and the buyer returned it United Parcel Service and not United States Postal Service, on June 9th. So if it is delivered I figure I will be out $45 in brokerage fees - never mind the cost he paid for the return or possible import fees if he did not mark it a return.

The buyer used: "changed his mind" as a reason for the return so he does not get return postage. He stared the return process but did not enter sent or a tracking number - just emailed the number to me.

Luckily for me - the buyer did not give UPS Power of Attorney which seems to mean he did not give them written permission to clear the package at the border. So the package has been stuck in Winnipeg now for six days. I did not send it so I will not clear it. UPS has informed me that they will be returning it to the buyer.

When the buyer found that out - he tells me that he is going to send it back by USPS. Is he nuts? I told him that he would end up paying UPS and USPS fees that would just about double the cost of the item - never mind the fact that UPS is likely going to go after him for the brokerage fees that they did not get from me. Says he is going to do it anyway.

When I first phoned eBay about this they said wait five days call us back on the sixth day and they would close the return if he had not uploaded a tracking number. When I phoned back after six days (no tracking number) they said they would do nothing and I would have to phone back in ten days. Reason - they read the internal eBay messages and found the tracking number. It seems they could care less if he did not upload it.

What they don't know is that since then the package is being returned to the buyer and he still has not uploaded a tracking number.

Anyone have any thoughts.

[pierrelebel]

"So if it is delivered I figure I will be out $45 in brokerage fees"

Maybe not.

If the buyer returned the item and the Customs Declaration clearly shows "Returned", there should be no tax payable, no fees.

Contact the courier as soon as possible before the item is cleared through Customs to make sure it goes tax free.

[rosscd57]

Pierre - it is not going through customs - it is going back to the buyer. Perhaps you might want to read the whole thing.

[femmefan1946]

I did not send it so I will not clear it. UPS has informed me that they will be returning it to the buyer.

If you contact UPS now, you may be able to get the item back.

When you contact them, explain that it is Returned Merchandise and that you have the original invoice and the emails from the buyer.

Then see where it goes.

It may help to explain that it is a vintage radio. The guys in the UPS office may think that's cool and be more inclined to be helpful.

Or it may have been sent right back.

It never pays to be too hasty. 

Also. EBay now has a record of the tracking number, even if it was not formally uploaded. This does not bode well for you.

[rosscd57]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

I did not send it so I will not clear it. UPS has informed me that they will be returning it to the buyer.

If you contact UPS now, you may be able to get the item back.

When you contact them, explain that it is Returned Merchandise and that you have the original invoice and the emails from the buyer.

Then see where it goes.

It may help to explain that it is a vintage radio. The guys in the UPS office may think that's cool and be more inclined to be helpful.

Or it may have been sent right back.

It never pays to be too hasty. 

Also. EBay now has a record of the tracking number, even if it was not formally uploaded. This does not bode well for you.

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Been there, done that - as I said before:

I  did speak to UPS and as soon  as I mentioned to UPS that it was a return - they said they were going to send it back to the buyer. If I get it back by USPS fine - but t UPS did not seem to know it was a return and I have no intention of paying brokerage fees. If the buyer wants to send it back using USPS that is ok with me.

[maximus7001]

Just clear it yourself. Tell ups you are going to clear it yourself. Go to the route 90 entrance and pick up the clearance forms. Go a couple of blocks away to the customs office with your papertrail and they will fix you up at no charge then go back to ups with your cleared papers and they have to give you your item at no cost. That simple.

[maximus7001]

edit is not working tonight... Before your buyer sent the item did you make absolutely sure he knew it had to be united states postal service and NOT united parcel service and did you inform him what would happen if he sent it ups anyway? Americans are a bit dense with this subject and need to be coddled through the process so they don't do what your buyer did.

[maximus7001]

edit still broken tonight...so is font size and colour now... Just noticed your are not in Winnipeg. Same procedure as in our previous post buy when your item gets to your city instead. Call ups and tell them you will be brokering your own package then when tracking shows it is at the depot in your city then do what we said 2 posts back.

[rosscd57]

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@maximus7001 wrote:

Just clear it yourself. Tell ups you are going to clear it yourself. Go to the route 90 entrance and pick up the clearance forms. Go a couple of blocks away to the customs office with your papertrail and they will fix you up at no charge then go back to ups with your cleared papers and they have to give you your item at no cost. That simple.

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Well I live and hour and a half from Edmonton - so that is not going to happen.

It appears that they are sending it back to the buyer because he did not give them authorization in the form of Power of Attorney. So he can send it back using USPS if he wants to. 

The package is still stuck in Winnipeg as of today.

[rosscd57]

Just an update.

Today UPS declared that I had refused the package. They put a new tracking number on it and are sending it back to the buyer. They did this while the parcel was still sitting in Winnipeg with no Power of Attorney and waiting to be cleared. Winnipeg is 1000 miles away from me. I did not refuse the package and they did not contact me and of course they did not show up at my door with it. They are such slime-balls - I figure they declared that I refused it, so they can charge the buyer the brokerage fees that they are out when they return it to him.

So I phoned eBay for the third time and informed them of what has happened today. They had a record of my other two calls to them.

The case was closed in my favour and I have the full amount they removed from my account - back in my account which also included the purchase price and the shipping.

Hooray for eBay!

.

[mr.elmwood]

Why was the parcel in Winnipeg?

[rosscd57]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

Why was the parcel in Winnipeg?

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The parcel was in Winnipeg because that is where it landed when it came over the boarder. So it sat there waiting to be cleared. As I understand it - it was not cleared because the sender/buyer did not fill out a Power of Attorney giving UPS the authority to clear it. Apparently it was not marked a return so I would have had to pay brokerage and import fees if it had been delivered to me. He was supposed to sent it USPS.

He also failed to upload tracking information. 

So I think I got off very lucky on this one. The buyer I suspect - not so much.

[mr.elmwood]

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@rosscd57 wrote:

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

Why was the parcel in Winnipeg?

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The parcel was in Winnipeg because that is where it landed when it came over the boarder. So it sat there waiting to be cleared. As I understand it - it was not cleared because the sender/buyer did not fill out a Power of Attorney giving UPS the authority to clear it. Apparently it was not marked a return so I would have had to pay brokerage and import fees if it had been delivered to me. He was supposed to sent it USPS.

He also failed to upload tracking information. 

So I think I got off very lucky on this one. The buyer I suspect - not so much.

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That is bizarre. Everything that could be done wrong by others, was done wrong.

Do not discount that he may well yet send it back via USPS. To some people, every part of the transaction is separate. The person is willing to spend, numbers made up, $100 to get the original $50 back. They do not grasp that they are $50 behind as they get to say "I got my $50 back".

I see this all the time in the car world. People spend $2000 to fix a car to sell, and then sell it for $1500. They think they got $1500 for the car and are $1500 ahead.

I sure hope your buyer wakes up and smells the coffee.

[rosscd57]

The worst of it is that the package is still sitting in Winnipeg and they want to send it back to the buyer. The problem is - it can't be sent back over the border because UPS does not have the Power of Attorney to do so 

Catch 22!

They will likely have to the Power of Attorney from the buyer just to sent it back.

It will be interesting to see what he does/

Crazy!

[mr.elmwood]

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@rosscd57 wrote:

The worst of it is that the package is still sitting in Winnipeg and they want to send it back to the buyer. The problem is - it can't be sent back over the border because UPS does not have the Power of Attorney to do so 

Catch 22!

They will likely have to the Power of Attorney from the buyer just to sent it back.

It will be interesting to see what he does/

Crazy!

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Then the buyer says "I don't want it back, mail it on to the seller". They tell him they can't. You do not have it. The buyer does not have it. UPS cannot move it in any direction. eBay does not know where it is. In fact, as far as they know, the buyer still has it.

[rose-dee]

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@mr.elmwood wrote:

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@rosscd57 wrote:

The worst of it is that the package is still sitting in Winnipeg and they want to send it back to the buyer. The problem is - it can't be sent back over the border because UPS does not have the Power of Attorney to do so 

Catch 22!

 They will likely have to the Power of Attorney from the buyer just to sent it back.

It will be interesting to see what he does/

Crazy!

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Then the buyer says "I don't want it back, mail it on to the seller". They tell him they can't. You do not have it. The buyer does not have it. UPS cannot move it in any direction. eBay does not know where it is. In fact, as far as they know, the buyer still has it.

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OMG, this is the stuff of surrealistic movie scripts.  Ludicrous!   That radio will be put in the deepest back corner of some shipping warehouse in Winnipeg as "non-deliverable", and some fortunate person will find it years from now on a "Canadian Pickers" TV show. 

I actually hope for the OP's sake that that's precisely what happens.  Having it re-routed to anywhere now would just cause even more trouble since eBay has closed the case in the OP's favour.  Presumably the buyer is out his original purchase price and all the shipping he paid?  Not so good. 

P.S. I'm hanging around on the boards today goofing off in anticipation of shutting down my store shortly due to the impending CPC strike. 

[pierrelebel]

"anticipation of shutting down my store shortly"

Closed mine yesterday.  I do not want to gamble on having purchases today, mailed next Monday - a four day week with Friday being Canada Day.  Sometimes Canada Post delivers domestically in three days, sometimes they do not.  Why take a chance?