Suing Ebay Canada

[jilesian]

Hi Ebay Community, 

Have a question about suing Ebay Canada. Which of their company names would I use: Ebay Canada Ltd based out of New Brunswick?

Sold/sent a comic FF48 to a guy in Italy for just under $2000 with full tracking & on time. After one month, package was still being held up in Italian Customs; customer complained (even though he could see where the book was, just like I and Ebay could). Here's the kicker: after only 4 days, Ebay closed the case and returned all money back to customer; even though we (I, Ebay, & customer) could all see where the book was. Thank goodness I sent through an "approved-carrier": Canada Post. I opened an investigation with Canada Post who then got the book moving again out of Italian Customs. I informed the customer that the books was finally on its way. Customer then replied that he'd return the book due to the high cost of import taxes. Book never came back. Canada Post 6 weeks later came back with their final report stating that he did in fact accept the book. So he got the book for free. I have all documentation indicating this (all emails as well), but Ebay will not return my calls since the case was long ago closed prematurely. Have no choice: have to sue for my family. Any ideas on how to get some results? Thanks. 

[reallynicestamps]

For information about lawsuits, make an appointment with a lawyer. Fees run about $300 an hour.

Small Claims Court also has fees, but does not require a lawyer. Most are virtual these days, but there is a filing fee.

I suspect he will tell you the problem is with the thief customer, not the sales venue or the postal system.

Now your actual problem.

You sent a book.

It got held by Italian Customs

The buyer complained the book was Not Recieved.

You could not prove it was Received.

You had to refund the customer.

The Money Back Guarantee is now at an end and the transaction is over.

The book was later received by the customer.

You asked him to return the refund.

He refused.

EBay is no longer involved.

Did you insure the book through Canada Post?

Do you have a private insurer?

 With the value of the books you currently have listed, could I suggest that you use a third-party insurer in future?

 One off shipments can be insured by shipinsurance. I haven't used them and am not sure of the name, but many sellers here have mentioned them with satisfaction.

We still have our collections and stock (stamps and art) insured by Hugh Wood International, who have offices in Toronto, London (head office), and New York. They are a specialty insurance firm dealing with collections and collectors, as well as dealers. They are insurers to the American Philatelic Society and to give you an idea not only insure the Court of Honor at philatelic exhibitions, where several millions of dollars value may be on public exhibition, but also dealer stocks in shops and in transit, and of course hobbyist collections.

[pjcdn2005]

A loss like that would be awful however it is the buyer who  has both the money and the item so if anyone should be sued, it should be the buyer.   Once a buyer has been refunded, eBay does not have the authority to take the money back from them.  Have you tried contacting the buyer asking how they want to proceed now that they have the item?  You can send them a PP invoice if they will give you their PayPal email address though to be honest, I suspect that you won't hear back from the buyer.

If the online tracking with a signature  shows that the buyer did  receive the package, you could try appealing with customer service at on Facebook to Twitter by srnding them a private message with the details.  Sending an item valued at more than $850C (or it may be $750) has to be sent with signature confirmation in order to be covered by seller protection.

I see that you are still shipping worldwide on some of your listings and as a newer seller I strongly recommend that you ship to Canada and the US only.   I've been selling here a long time and would be really uncomfortable sending an item worth more than a $200 overseas and as a newer seller, you are even more likely to be targeted by dishonest people.  Also, mail service does not seem to be very quick these days so sending internationally can be a bit more risky now.

The eBay money back guarantee requires that an item be delivered to a buyer within the estimated delivery time which is why you lost the case.  Knowing where an item is not the same as a delivered item in eBay's world.  

[deeeight]

Italy is one of the worst countries to ship high value collectibles to with corrupt custom agents who are bribed to delay processing until after the buyer claims a refund for non-receipt of goods. Canada post insurance is worthless unless they actually lose the item.

[pjcdn2005]

The item was delivered so an insurance company would not pay out a claim.

[mrdutch1001]

yes, Italy is one of the worst countries to ship ANY item to no matter the type or value.

From my own experiences, I stopped shipping to Italy many years ago and to this day I refuse to ship anything to that country, no ifs, ands or buts....

[recped]

I get great delivery times to Italy. The problems that plagued Italy back in the 2007 - 2009 period went away a decade ago.

I read some recent news about a new facility in Italy strictly for processing incoming International ecommerce shipments. It's supposed to be one of the largest facilities of it's type in Europe.