eBay

hideawayaqua · ‎01-05-2018

I'm wondering if anybody had any success with disputing a FedEx overcharge?

I shipped an item to a buyer on Oct 12, using the ebay shipping calculator. It was a light weight women jacket, the package weighted 1.3 lbs, dimension was 12" x 9" x 1". I was quoted for $8.45. Dropped off the package, delivered, done. Then I got a surprised bill - $39.21 charge for FedEx shipping fee. Please note the item was sold for $18, and I offered free shipping to the buyer.

I called eBay cs many times. The filed a dispute request to FedEx and it got denied. They mentioned dimensional weight. But the package was within normal size range and I just couldn't justify myself to this charge. I spoke to a supervisor earlier today and he's going to appeal this dispute request one more time.

Original quote from eBay:

What I got billed for:

I looked up the tracking number on fedex.com, shown the correct weight but incorrect dimensions...

Any suggestions on disputing this charge would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Anonymous · ‎01-31-2018

wrote:

Thanks for your reply @Anonymous. I've read some old threads on this forum, a few sellers had gotten eBay to credit them back overcharges in the past. However things may have changed; the point is why did it happen at the first place? I haven't not yet received an answer.

Why and how does it happen all the time? From all the posts I've read either on this forum or elsewhere online, the FedEx overcharge clearly is an issue that had happened, and is currently happening, most likely it will happen again in the future, if nothing changes.

Thanks for your response @berserkerplanet.

@hideawayaqua, FedEx will charge more in situations where the package type, dimensions or weight that is provided by the seller do not match that which FedEx receives. Typically, this happens when FedEx receives a package that has dimensions larger than what the member stated in the listing, causing the package to have a larger dimensional weight and subsequently a higher price. There are also times when additional surcharges are applied for specific locations, or if the package does not qualify for the shipping service selected.

kh-vince · ‎01-31-2018

Hello everyone,

This thread is getting a bit heated. Please remember that it’s fine to disagree with others, but discussion should always remain courteous and respectful.

Thank you for your cooperation.

flyerfandan999 · ‎01-31-2018

wrote:
Hello everyone,

This thread is getting a bit heated.

That tends to happen when people are gettting RIPPED OFF.

dcintennessee · ‎01-31-2018

@flyerfandan999, don't poke the bear! 😊 I was surprised, though. This thread has been amazingly calm & polite, compared to some others. In a moment of "paranoid much?" I noticed the rebuke came after I suggested folks reach out at the FedEx executive level...

I stand by that suggestion, following several years in corporate management. This is a situation where the bottom-up approach has failed miserably. A POLITE, RESPECTFUL top-down appreal is the only other way to seek restitution & prevention going forward. As a corporate entity, I have great respect for FedEx. I'm just up the road from its birthplace, and this shenanigans by a few rogues is against absolutely everything in that company's culture.

droppoint10 · ‎02-01-2018

@dcintennessee

Thank you for the info on who to contact at FedEx corporate. I have saved the information for possible future use.

mongoose26 · ‎02-02-2018

wrote:
wrote:

@droppoint10 Agreed. If you need any help and support, please don't hesitate to let me know. Whether it's on a social media level or legal level, please count me in. I have hard copies of tracking numbers and all related paperwork printed and stored. They won't get away with it.

@Anonymous With all due respect, I'm very disappointed by how eBay handled my appeal. For 3 months, eBay has been passing the buck around, kept me waiting and waiting. Nothing got resolved and now tracking info is no longer available online. It's unfair to say eBay can't review details due to the timeframe. "There's nothing we can do." "FedEx said it's a valid charge and eBay won't issue a credit." Sellers don't get any protection when it comes to a matter like this, at all. This needs to be addressed and fixed.
Hi @hideawayaqua, I apologize for the confusion - eBay does not issue the credit for a FedEx overcharge, that would be up to FedEx themselves to provide. It would be issued to your invoice, as the charge was paid through your invoice. This is not something we can override for you and if FedEx has made a decision to uphold the charge, then they have determined it is valid. I only mentioned the timeframe that has passed as I was unable to offer you additional clarify since the label is not available any longer. If it were, I may be able to speak to it more specifically but I would not be able to submit for an additional review from FedEx nor would we have alternative options. I completely understand that this is not the answer you were hoping for and why you would be disappointed. eBay is not updated of FedEx's decision, and the only indication we receive would be if you see a credit on your invoice within two billing cycles.

So you are saying that Fedex has direct connection with an ebay seller's billing statement? I have read through ebay's TOS and I cannot find that anywhere. It would seem that Fedex bill ebay directly, not the seller, so its ebay passing that charge onto the seller on his monthly statement, and thus its ebay charging him for that bill. Ebay can just as easily refund him that charge and dispute it with Fedex, just as sellers are required to do for buyers.

Anonymous · ‎02-02-2018

wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

@droppoint10 Agreed. If you need any help and support, please don't hesitate to let me know. Whether it's on a social media level or legal level, please count me in. I have hard copies of tracking numbers and all related paperwork printed and stored. They won't get away with it.

@Anonymous With all due respect, I'm very disappointed by how eBay handled my appeal. For 3 months, eBay has been passing the buck around, kept me waiting and waiting. Nothing got resolved and now tracking info is no longer available online. It's unfair to say eBay can't review details due to the timeframe. "There's nothing we can do." "FedEx said it's a valid charge and eBay won't issue a credit." Sellers don't get any protection when it comes to a matter like this, at all. This needs to be addressed and fixed.

Hi @hideawayaqua, I apologize for the confusion - eBay does not issue the credit for a FedEx overcharge, that would be up to FedEx themselves to provide. It would be issued to your invoice, as the charge was paid through your invoice. This is not something we can override for you and if FedEx has made a decision to uphold the charge, then they have determined it is valid. I only mentioned the timeframe that has passed as I was unable to offer you additional clarify since the label is not available any longer. If it were, I may be able to speak to it more specifically but I would not be able to submit for an additional review from FedEx nor would we have alternative options. I completely understand that this is not the answer you were hoping for and why you would be disappointed. eBay is not updated of FedEx's decision, and the only indication we receive would be if you see a credit on your invoice within two billing cycles.

So you are saying that Fedex has direct connection with an ebay seller's billing statement? I have read through ebay's TOS and I cannot find that anywhere. It would seem that Fedex bill ebay directly, not the seller, so its ebay passing that charge onto the seller on his monthly statement, and thus its ebay charging him for that bill. Ebay can just as easily refund him that charge and dispute it with Fedex, just as sellers are required to do for buyers.

HI @mongoose26, happy to clear up this confusion. When you create a FedEx label, you will be shown an estimated cost. Once the package is processed by FedEx, they will assess the actual cost to be invoiced to you through eBay. eBay pays the cost of these labels for you and invoices that amount to the seller. As discussed previously in this thread, we will not credit any potential discrepancies, as we do not inspect the package you have provided to the courier. FedEx would investigate to review the dimensions of what was received compared to the initial estimate, which is based on what the seller provided when purchasing the label. We are only able to submit a dispute on your behalf. If FedEx approves a credit, it will be applied to your invoice within two billing cycles. We are not updated about the outcome of this dispute and cannot submit for an additional review after the first.

droppoint10 · ‎02-02-2018

The unfortunate part about the process is that FedEx never seems to issue those credits back, therefore, the sellers are scammed out of the money more often than not. This process should really be reviewed and some safeguards put into place for ebay's customers (the sellers).

dcintennessee · ‎02-02-2018

@Anonymous, we all know that some sellers do unscrupulous things to avoid paying appropriate shipping fees, (I won't begin another Media Mail rant here...) so your policy statement reflects a sound business practice.

Even in these instances which clearly are random shenanigans by rogue FedEx employees, I can't argue that eBay should refund what FedEx has denied. But, @Anonymous & griff@ebay.com, I will argue that the ebay executive responsible for rate negotiations with FedEx has a duty to bring these fraudulent charges to the attention of their FedEx counterpart.

The problem is that low-level FedEx employees in the dispute process are upholding fraudulent actions by low-level processing center employees, and people higher up the ladder (who can MAKE IT STOP) are none-the-wiser.

You can soothe lots of ruffled feathers with a commitment to escalate these concerns to the appropriate level at ebay.

flyerfandan999 · ‎02-03-2018

wrote:
HI @mongoose26, happy to clear up this confusion. When you create a FedEx label, you will be shown an estimated cost. Once the package is processed by FedEx, they will assess the actual cost to be invoiced to you through eBay. eBay pays the cost of these labels for you and invoices that amount to the seller. As discussed previously in this thread, we will not credit any potential discrepancies, as we do not inspect the package you have provided to the courier. FedEx would investigate to review the dimensions of what was received compared to the initial estimate, which is based on what the seller provided when purchasing the label. We are only able to submit a dispute on your behalf. If FedEx approves a credit, it will be applied to your invoice within two billing cycles. We are not updated about the outcome of this dispute and cannot submit for an additional review after the first.

eBay has ZERO incentive to have (as Berserkerplanet calls it) "thumb on the scale" overcharges addressed because:

1. eBay gets its cut of the total amount spent on shipping, therefore the more Sellers are cheated, the more money eBay rakes in.

2. Truly disputing these charges on behalf of Sellers would be a cost center, not only for reason #1 above, but the costs of adding extra employees to interface with FedEx's mechanism for entertaining overcharge claims, keeping up with claims status, etc

3. Just passing the buck back and forth is typical of the spineless corportate mindset which values plausible deniability above all else

pamhoff · ‎02-04-2018

I was reading thru these and found that I may have no hope.

I just sold an item using Fedex Smart post and went to print the packing slip.]

I was charged $29+ for shipping and the buyer was charged $15+

I have not shipped it yet, but I do not see why the buyer was not charged whe I paid.

This is NOT after shipping and Fedex has changed it - it is before it has even shipped!!!

berserkerplanet · ‎02-04-2018

There are a bajillion threads about your issue on the boards currently. It is a known problem since 1/21/18.

eBay labels is using dimensional weight to determine Smartpost shipping label costs, but the estimating, search, listing, and buyer checkout calculator is not and is not charging buyers the correct amount.

Only option is to remove it from your listings and NOT use FedEx Smartpost until it gets fixed.

dcintennessee · ‎02-04-2018

@berserkerplanet, early morning I spotted a listing where I failed to remove SP, and it *seems* to be calculating correctly, but who knows how close it is to what the buyer would pay. I'll look at it more carefully later.

@pamhoff, hopefully you can switch to Priority Mail & cut your losses.

What's infuriating to me is that there hasn't been a blanket ebay announcement of the SP rate change, nor the glitch. Sellers like @pamhoff are getting caught by surprise. I had a "free" shipping purchase & noticed the seller specified SP. I immediately messaged the seller, who was unaware of the issues. Package arrived yesterday. Almost a week early for me & half the cost to the seller.

berserkerplanet · ‎02-04-2018

@dcintennessee The amounts in the estimating (http://www.ebay.com/shp/Calculator), search results, listing, and checkout calculator should be the same (big assumption on my part but pretty sure that is the case.So if you are looking at the Smartpost amount in the listing, that SHOULD be the amount the buyer would pay.

Is it the Dickens shop thing? 4lb? $2 handling charge?

Smartpost on that one to me looks way too low in the listing at $12.61. Base rate for Smartpost Zone 7 4lb is $12.34, but for it to ship at actual 4lb weight it would have to be about 10x8x7 if 139 divisor or 10x8x8 if 166 divisor. It looks bigger than that to me.

What are the dimensions of that item shipment?

dcintennessee · ‎02-04-2018

@berserkerplanet Different item - Lenox saucers, for the greys. I think it's at 9x9x9 & 2-3 lbs, which I need to change. Before the dim weight kicker, I listed most small items at 9x9x9 for simplicity in getting it posted, and could use a smaller box with no effect on my cost or the buyer's, since there's no way to get it below 2 pounds. Not any more! Box size matters big-time IF the 139 calc. remains. I stopped looking when I realized ZERO edits would save with my iOS app today. Problem for a different thread...

I'll look at all of it when I'm back at my computer. I don't have a $2 handling charge on anything. It's just annoying to be screwing around with existing listings when I need to get a bunch of new ones up. And we probably should take this to one of the other bajillion threads (🤣🤣) to which it's more closely related.