Part of the problem is that Canada is (badly) served by the US customer service clerks.
I swear most of them are unaware that;
- Canada has a different postal system
- Canada has a different banking system.
- Canada has a different currency.
- Canada exists.
It might help if there were some Canada specialists available on demand like the GSP specialists.
The Philippina clerks are better, since they are open to the idea that there are other countries on the planet than the USA, and probably have a cousin here working in your grandma's assisted living facility. But there are some language difficulties and they are given less training (!) and much less authority than the clerks in Utah.
but when the seller refused to pay they would not intervene.
At that point you should have been told to escalate to a Claim.
If the seller doesn't provide return shipping, he loses the Claim and you are refunded, by eBay which then goes after him for their money.
If you still have an open Claim, escalate.
If you don't you can go to Paypal and open a Dispute there (under Tools).
One problem is that PP requires the Buyer to return the unwanted item with tracking. This can be expensive as you know.
You can get a tiny discount by signing up for a Small Business Solutions card with Canada Post and using Expedited USA instead of Tracked Packet USA.
The Expedited rate is a "business" rate and doesn't show on the Canada Post website, but Canada Post is easy about who signs up for it.
https://sso.epost.ca/sso/lfe/ui/login?templateId=cpcapps&manifestId=cpgSecurity&sourceUrl=https%3A//...
This is the SnapShip you will see referenced from time to time on the Seller Board.
