Shipping fiasco

Shipping fiasco please can someone give me their opinion. I ordered an item from Great Britain. After I ordered the item and gave my shipping information I received an email from the company that was to receive my package. Apparently, they were going out of business and would only be excepting packages till October 7. I contacted the seller right away and she told me that I would have to contact Ebay. I looked into it and it said that if there was a problem with the shipping address to contact the seller so I felt like I was going around in circles. I then waited a few days and contacted her again explaining that it was not my fault that this had happened and I would really appreciate her help as she was ignoring my messages. She then gave me more of an explanation and provided me with some tracking information. I emailed Ebay and was told But I could not change the shipping address. I was provided with a USPS shipping code. I attempted to call the post office in the area I was picking up from but nobody ever answer the phones. Well, I was also assured but if I did not receive the I would get my money back. Yesterday, I noticed that the tracking said my package has been delivered so I contacted the company. They told me they have not excepted Delivery since October 7. I then called USPS and they told me the package is being shipped back to the seller. The seller tells me they will not ship the package back to Great Britain as it is in the United States. So I opened an eBay claim. It was refused and I had to provide more details which I did and it was pending. In the meantime I decided to open a PayPal claim not aware that this would cancel my eBay claim. So now I have a PayPal claim open but my eBay claim is closed. Is there a way to reopen this? I I know it was not the sellers fault but the address changed but it was not mine Either. The seller has been incredibly unhelpful she just ignores my messages. What should I do please help
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Shipping fiasco

marnotom!
Community Member

If I'm understanding you correctly, you had the package sent to a forwarding or holding service based in the United States, but that service ceased on October 7th, a few days after you committed to purchase an item from the United Kingdom.

Your eBay claim was likely refused because the eBay Money Back Guarantee does not cover items sent to forwarding services or similar.  Your best course of action would have been to request that the seller cancel the transaction and provide eBay with the reason "problem with address" which would have ensured that she would not receive a "ding" to her account for the cancellation.   You could also reassure her that you would repurchase the item with your new address once the item was relisted.  It does sound as though she may not have been all that cooperative had you done that, however.

I think at this point you might as well leave the PayPal claim open and see how it shakes out.  I don't remember if PayPal has a policy associated with redirected/forwarded items the way eBay does, but I don't think that you would have got any further with the eBay claim had the appeal been allowed to continue.  As you may have guessed, I don't think you'll be able to reopen it anyway.

How does the seller know that the package won't be returned to her?  Did she indicate on the customs form/address label that the package be abandoned if it proves to be undeliverable?

Message 2 of 7
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Shipping fiasco

The address you gave your UK seller was Undeliverable.

That you were unaware of this is unfortunate, but there is a grumpy saying about that.

EBay does not require sellers who learn that the address they shipped to is Undeliverable to refund the buyer a single penny.
Having a useable address is the buyer's responsibility.

If your seller is honest, they will refund you. But don't expect them to refund the shipping cost, which they already paid to the Royal Mail, or any return shipping costs they may be charged.

Message 3 of 7
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Shipping fiasco

You are in Canada.

You bought in the UK.

The seller shipped to the USA, where you have a forwarding address.

The forwarder gave you short notice that they were going out of business.

I fail to understand any benefit for using a US forwarding address to begin with.

You still have to declare the purchase and pay duty and sales taxes when you reenter Canada, and the forwarding would slow down delivery.

I'm not asking you to explain. I'm just befuddled.

Message 4 of 7
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Shipping fiasco

The reason is because it was significantly cheaper and I bring stuff across often. I have never been asked to pay additional fees. In hindsight though I should have just shipped it to my home
Message 5 of 7
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Shipping fiasco

I would not expect that. At this point I doubt she will refund me anything
Message 6 of 7
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Shipping fiasco

She will not respond to my message asking what she will do if it is returned to her…. But in previous messages said it will not come back to her
Message 7 of 7
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