Just a note of warning to folks that "feel protected" from any mishaps with delivery in foreign lands when using eBay international shipping program.
I was under the impression that when a case of late or lost delivery should come about after eBay had taken control of the package at their shipping center, that eBay's promise to the seller was that they would decide in favor of the shipper (me) if a customer opened a case for either late, lost or not delivered product.
I was definitely wrong as eBay just charged my account for the cost of the item plus the total cost of shipping for a package that was late and listed as "not able to deliver". The item is currently lost in the system, so not only did I have to pay eBay $108.00 to reimburse the customer, but I also have lost the $89.00 item.
I have gone back and forth with customer service to try to make sense of what happened and have tried to not only explain that I used the ebay program to help gain protection but also I've tried asking whether or not this would happen again if the same situation should occur and to date my questions have not been answered. Not one. If anyone besides myself here has ever tried to get answers for a direct question, they'll know what I mean when I say that it's nothing but frustrating. Not to mention that had I simply used my previous shipping company, the package would have made it to the country that I was shipping to much sooner.
The moral of the story is that it is not worth using the eBay international shipping program for my shipping because it's way more of a headache than shipping direct with the carrier of choice and just dealing with them if they loose the item or can't deliver for some reason. At least you can talk to someone about it then, get direct answers and put the problem to bed.
Warning: read between the lines if you ever read about the benefits of using the program.
Charlie
