GSP got item stuck in customs.

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

Hello.

On August 19th I filed an "Item not recieved" claim because the Pitney Bowes (GSP) failed to get my package delivered to me in Mexico. The item was held up in customs (in the Mexico City International Airport). DHL has informed me that I must register as a licensed importer and import it myself or hire a third party agent to import the package for me for well over 1000 USD because I, the recipient, am expected to directly pay the Mexican government all import fees. I have already payed Pitney Bowes 473 USD for import fees that are apparently not being considered, so I consider them and the GSP to be at fault.

After opening the claim, I was told that I could escalate it after three business days (which was yesterday), but the status in the resolution center was always "You contacted customer support. Awaiting response." Today, I checked the status of the claim in "my requests" and eBay has more concretely displayed the message "Pending eBay response" which makes me believe that it went to eBay customer service from the very beginning, in which case I should have heard from them within 48 hours. I have not heard from the seller beacause I told him that the situation was not his fault (he delivered it to the GSP center in Kentucky) and that I was going to escalate the case to get Pitney Bowes to either free my package or get a refund. Am I still waiting for eBay to let me escalate the claim, or am I waiting for a definitive response from eBay customer service?

Please advise me on what to do next, as I am afraid that Mexican customs will confiscate the item if I take too long to respond. Many thanks.

[lacemaker3]

@pacpac-ke7cb0, what kind of item was it? That may have something to do with why you're having this problem.

If the import charges were $473, that must have been a very expensive item. Mexico has 16% VAT, and even if that were the only fee that was charged, the item would have been $2,956.25 for the VAT to be that much.

I see from your feedback left that you have purchased a number of coins, which could be quite expensive. But, coins, as well as jewelry and precious metals, are not eligible for GSP. They won't normally try to ship those internationally, they cancel the transaction instead. 

There are some unusual situations where a country may impose additional customs fees and/or penalties on an import, which cannot be predicted or accounted for by GSP. These may be related to limits on the amount of imports that an individual can make, which GSP would not know about or be able to estimate in advance. If a country imposes additional fees and/or penalties after GSP has collected their estimated import fees, the buyer is responsible to pay the additional fees. You should get credit for the amount you have already paid, which is not clear if you have  gotten credit or not.

I would recommend that you contact DHL and Pitney Bowes to get more information that is specifically related to your transaction and import case. They should be able to explain what the additional fees are for, and if you have gotten credit for the amount you have already paid.

Personally, I would not rely on eBay to straighten this out, because I think you would be considered responsible for the additional fees, which is mentioned in the terms of usage of the GSP.

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@lacemaker3  It is an opened Dell XPS 15 9500 laptop that I got for 2270.00 USD with 473 USD import charges and 65 USD shipping. As far as I know this is a fairly common purchase. Do you happen to know how to contact Pitney Bowes directly?

[lacemaker3]

You can use the PB tracking number (usually starts with UP) on this website to get more information about the package.

https://parceltracking.pb.com/

I would start with that. I looked for contact info on that website, but they don't have any. 

You should be able to get the local tracking number for the local courier (DHL from what you said) from the link above when you enter the tracking number. I would phone DHL and find out why there are extra fees, and make sure you are getting credit for the import fees you already paid. They are in the best position to be able to explain this to you. eBay customer service may not be able to get as much information as DHL would have for you.

[nkmipgolf]

After your INR complaint once the 3 days are up did you do "ask eBay to step in"?   I did on my item  and was refunded a day later.  GSP made the mistake not you.

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@lacemaker3 

The Pitney Bowes tracking number shows that it has been stuck in Mexico City for two and a half weeks. DHL says that it is in a "customs clearance process" in Mexico City. The GSP sent me an email a while ago stating that "action was required" on my part, and I contacted DHL as instructed. They informed me that to import the package I would have to be a registered licensed importer, or I could hire a third party agent to do it for me. The other options that DHL gave me were to return the package to the Kentucky GSP center for no additional cost or abandon it in customs. I contacted a third party customs agent and he informed me that he could not consider any previous import payment, and that I would have to pay him over 1000 USD for import, tax, handling, storage, flight revalidation and personal fees. I asked my DHL agent what was happening and informed her that the GSP under eBay was supposed to take care of import and customs processes and that I had already payed them. Her answer suggested that she had no idea what I was talking about and told me that since I was the recipient of the parcel, that I am expected to cover all import costs. Should I have them send it back?

Either way, I still do not know what is going on with my item not received claim I filed (as stated in the first post). Should I go to Paypal and open a case there? If I have DHL send it back to kentucky, will the buyer get it back? 

By the way, thank you so much for your help.

[pjcdn2005]

I wonder if the seller actually did send this through the gsp. If they sent it through ebay standard international delivery instead, that would be why there are import charges now.  What are the first 3 numbers/letters of the tracking number?

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@nkmipgolf 

After opening the claim, I was told that I could escalate it after three business days (which was yesterday), but the status in the resolution center was always "You contacted customer support. Awaiting response." Today, I checked the status of the claim in "my requests" and eBay has more concretely displayed the message "Pending eBay response" which makes me believe that it went to eBay customer service from the very beginning, in which case I should have heard from them within 48 hours. 

I have not seen nor do I see now any option to escalate. It looks as though eBay is reviewing it now, but that makes no sense and they have not answered me for almost a whole week.

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@pjcdn2005 

They are UPA.

I can confirm that it visited the GSP center in Kentucky and is now in Mexico City

[lacemaker3]

I had told OP that the PB tracking number usually starts with UP, and gave them the tracking PB website. OP said that there is a PB tracking number, which they used to get more info.  So I think it was probably sent through GSP ... I wondered, which is why I asked about that. I found the listing, and it did have GSP shipping to Mexico, and the shipping cost matched.

There is a clause in the GSP Terms that says the buyer (importer) is responsible for any customs fees or duties that are imposed after the fact. Though, in all the years that GSP has been offered, this is the first time I have seen a situation where this may be what has happened.

https://pages.ebay.com/shipping/globalshipping/buyer-tnc.html#:~:text=GSP%20enables%20Buyers%20to%20....

7. Payment and Program Fees.
...

g. Exclusions. You alone are responsible for any customs duties, taxes, surcharges, fines, penalties, or other charges which may be imposed on you by customs or tax officials after a GSP Item has successfully cleared customs and been delivered to (or made available for pickup at) the delivery address specified by you or the collection center near you that is designated by Pitney Bowes.

[pjcdn2005]

You're right that is a gsp tracking number. I have no idea why you are being charged at the border. It seems to me that someone in Canada had that problem but I could be confused...that happens once in a while. 🙂  When I have a chance later, I'll see if I can find that post.

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@lacemaker3 

The thing is that it has not cleared customs yet nor has it been delivered to me, so that clause does not apply, right?

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@pjcdn2005 
Thank you.

[lacemaker3]

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@pacpac-ke7cb0 wrote:

@lacemaker3 

The thing is that is has not cleared customs yet nor has it been delivered to me, so that clause does not apply, right?

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I never got an explanation for when that clause would apply, so I don't know how to interpret it. I would not want to rely on an interpretation, because the official interpretation may not be the same as your interpretation.

If you can't get an explanation from DHL, then I would call eBay customer service and try to get a service rep who can help you with this.

It also seems unusual that you haven't gotten a response in your case. There may be something else going on, but I don't know what else to ask.

[pacpac-ke7cb0]

@lacemaker3 

When I go to customer support I do not get the option to call (maybe because of my location?) I have emailed them, but I do not know what to expect at this point.

It seems as though my case went straight to customer support without me having to elevate it, but in that case an answer is long overdue. If it didn’t, I am still not given an option to elevate it. Should I just tell DHL to send it back to the GSP center and open a claim in PayPal?