Seller sent item with FedEx which stuck me with extra fees, they claim it's customs fees, it's not.

[shinigamikiba]

 This happened to me three times this summer. 
I spoke to eBay Chat support and the agents claimed that since the sellers had "Free Standard International Shipping" listed  yet shipped by FedEx which in my country is a luxury service that charges 34 euros for merely using their services on top of the usual customs fees you may or may not pay, I'm eligible to get a partial refund.

 The first two times I decided to "forgive" the sellers and didn't make a fuss, since the items were bigger so it was fine, I paid 34 euros more, sure it's a lot of money for us but whatever they were both very important items to me.

 First off let me explain that I've bought many many games and even gaming systems form Japan and usually Standard International Shipping form there means just that, standard shipping, registered airmail either free or for a very low shipping fee, either one is fine. They usually send by Japan Post through registered airmail, packages take 3-6 weeks to arrive to my country, there are ZERO EXTRA COSTS, no additional fees, no nothing, sometimes we pay customs most of the time we do not and all is well. I ordered so many packages from Japan like that this year, no problems at all, big and small and even paying the occasional customs fee wasn't an issue, it's normal. I'd never ask a seller to refund customs and import fees for me.

Fast forward to my latest package, since I already had experiences where two sellers mistakenly used FedEx to ship to my country, as soon as I bought my game from the seller, even though they had Standard International Shipping as their listing I sent them a message asking them NOT to use FedEx and explained that in my country FedEx charges an extra 34 JUST for using their services.

This isn't customs fees

This isn't import fees

These are fees specific to FedEx and their services alone, so if the seller didn't use FedEx(or DHL Express) I would have gotten my game just fine without paying those extra 34 euros.

Well they never responded and sent the game using FedEx as if out of spite, I know that's not the case and it wasn't out of spite, but it was very stressful seeing that FedEx tracking knowing I'd throw away another 34-35 euros for no good reason.

I immediately contacted eBay Chat support, they reassured me I'd be able to get a partial refund given the situation.

I contacted chat support two more times, they instructed me to open a return case and ask for a partial refund, then wait for them to step in and all will be well given the situation, they complimented me on how professional and how polite I was given the situation.

I opened the case, submitting my FedEx receipt and marking the extra non customs fees, contacted chat support, they complimented me said to wait for the time period when the eBay step in option shows up.

In the meantime the seller keeps accusing me of trying to get them to pay me back customs and import fees, how that is against eBay rules and all that. I kept explaining to them the money I'm asking to be refunded is neither customs nor import fees and I politely asked to just wait and see what ebay decide for us and we'll accept that outcome. I even apologized up front if I'm in the wrong.

A few days later, right before the option for Ebay to step in shows up, the seller without a word sends me a "return shipping label" I explain the situation again, contact eBay chat but as luck would have it ALL AGENTS on eBay chat ended up being "foreign" to put it politely and could not comprehend what I was asking, saying or what the problem was, claiming that the seller sent me a shipping label, it was a decision they made and I should return the item for a full refund. EVERYTHING the previous agents told me, encouraged me to do was forgotten, as if it never happened.
I was so disappointed, I just cancelled the return case, ate up the 34 euro cost and was just DONE 😞 I gave the seller a polite, well put together NEUTRAL feedback and they managed to even get that removed.

Ebay Chat helped me a great deal once, but that was just a stroke of good luck, this was a disaster. The agents I talked to at first fully understood my case and told me what steps to take just for everything to turn around simply because I couldn't luck out to get agents who actually undersood my problem. What's worse, one of the supportive chat logs I never got in my messages or mail, the one from the 26th which re-confirmed that  I should get a partial refund and what steps to take.

I just wanted to share this

not asking for help

it's done

I'm just so bloody sad that it played out this way and even my neutral feedback where I compliment the condition of the item and packing but warn against shipping with FedEx POLITELY and explain why got removed.

[pjcdn2005]

When a listing uses a generic term such as standard or economy internationally shipping it is not a specific carrier, it could be any carrier.  If you do not want items shipped via courier then you should check with the seller and ask what service they will be using before you make the purchase.   The seller in your case may not have seen the message before they shipped or may have planned to use Fedex because it was less expensive.  If they did see it before shipping, they could have asked if you wanted a cancellation which is what I would have done but ultimately, the onus is on you to ask before you make a purchase. 

I'm in Canada and I know that when a courier from another country is used, it generally costs me more money than if they had shipped the postal system.  That's why I would never assume that the seller is shipping via the postal system, I would always ask first.

[wastingtime101]

Adding to PJ's great advice, eBay CS may have agreed with your opinion that a partial refund is deserved, but nothing in eBay policy backs that up. CS cannot force a partial refund from the seller's account. Could have been CS placating you to move the chat along.

Some couriers charge broker fees and you need to find out before making a purchase when the shipping service isn't specified on the listing.

Requesting a seller to not use a specific carrier after the purchase, when you already agreed to any service that qualifies as "standard", is the same as making a demand not included in the listing. The seller is under no obligation to comply with your request post-payment.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I'm in Canada and I know that when a courier from another country is used, it generally costs me more money than if they had shipped the postal system. 

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Most notorious from the US to Canada is the customs clearance fee from UPS.

When we shipped directly to Canada we learned to only UPS when we were shipping to large companies or institutions.

Given the unreliability of Canada Post delivery times this is a burden on sellers, and UPS is competitive on rates. Sellers have to love their Canadian buyers or use EIS to ship to Canada.

[fab_finds4u]

In addition to applicable customs fees, UPS, FedEx and DHL charge a broker fee to clear customs for cross borders delivery  that's in addition to the shipping you already paid.  The seller doesn't  know what they charge before you can retrieve your package. They may not even know there's a broker fee the buyer has to pay.