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Can eBay help when a seller makes a false claim in his item description?
Summary: atouk! is seeking advice after receiving a bill from FedEx for tariffs and distribution fees despite a seller's claim that all costs were covered. The seller initially advised to ignore the bill, but has since become unresponsive. disneyshopper suggests it might be a brokerage fee charged by the carrier. albertabrightalberta recommends filing a claim with the payment provider, including evidence that the seller claimed all costs were included. They explain the difference between customs fees and brokerage fees, suggesting the latter might not have been covered by the seller.
Hello. I purchased an item a couple of months ago from a seller in Canada. Seller specifically said in his item description that there would be “no additional costs or fees”, “tariffs would be paid by the seller”, and “everything was included in the purchase price”. I paid in full, received the item, then a month later I received a bill in the mail from FedEx for “tariffs and distribution fees” in the amount of $24.50. I contacted the seller and asked what he could do about it. He told me to ignore the bill, that the amount had likely been charged to his account, and “they wouldn’t have delivered the item if these fees had not been paid”. I did what he told me to do and ignored the bill. I received a second “past due” notice from FedEX last week. I contacted the seller, provided photos of the paperwork FedEx sent me (clearly showing his name and address as the item seller) and told them this bill was not going away. Seller owns ignoring me and will not respond over several attempts in the past 6 days.
Is there anything eBay can/will do to make this seller do the right thing? Or am I just stuck paying this bill? PLEASE HELP!!!!
Butch
atouk!
OP3 weeks agoItemized from the original FedEx bill, the charges are described as $7 for “Customs Duty” and $17.50 as a “Disbursement fee”, for a total of $24.50. Doesn’t sound like brokerage fees. Sounds like I’m stuck paying the $24.50 anyway. This experience COMPLETELY shatters my faith in the eBay “just ask and we’ll step in and help” or “shop with confidence, this purchase is covered by our Money Back Guarantee” claims. There’s always some kind of fine print that excludes THIS situation.
AND I spent more than an hour going around and round with the annoying AI-help-bot that offered me multiple choice after multiple choice - without EVER giving me an option that fit my situation (or an “other” choice so I could explain my issue). Complete waste of time. Sounds so easy in all of the verbiage on eBay to “Contact an agent”, until you try to do just that. Frustrating experience, start to finish. A disconcerting and eye-opening realization I’ve come to here. Absolutely no more purchases from Canada for me.
My only recourse, since I can’t change the sparkling 5-star feedback I already gave this seller, is to add a comment to my feedback trying to warn others about this deceptive practice. Chalk it all up to experience, I guess. Thank you for the replies.
Butch
albertabrightalberta
Mentor3 weeks agoNormally you have 30 days from the date of delivery to file a NAD (not as described) claim through ebay. But since you didn't even get the notice from Fedex until after 30 days had passed, you're only recourse would be through your payment provider.
When you file your claim, include a screenshot of the description in which it states "“everything was included in the purchase price.”
In this case, it does sound like a brokerage fee charged by Fedex and not a customs charge or tariff but since the seller stated that "everything" was included in the price, you should be able to win a claim.
You need to understand that customs fees are separate and distinct from brokerage fees charged by the carrier and even if customs/tariffs are included, brokerage fees are not.
disneyshopper
Mentor3 weeks agoI suspect the charge is a brokerage fee that Fed Ex and UPS charges the buyer when they have to process the package through customs.