eBay purchase held by U.S. customs

[icurnmedic]

Another flag is shipping insurance. I stopped using that once I started using Collect Insure.
I lost a package once shipping to Beckett that was insured for $5k. No doubt the thieves saw that in a small box and thought.......

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by icurnmedic

Another flag is shipping insurance. I stopped using that once I started using Collect Insure.
I lost a package once shipping to Beckett that was insured for $5k. No doubt the thieves saw that in a small box and thought.......

Registered Mail is the only logical option if insuring for high value.

[darwinbulldog]

An update: It has now been held in customs for 52 days with no additional steps in the USPS tracking. Does anyone know if, at some point, eBay would issue a refund to the buyer without taking it from the seller? That is, does eBay have insurance to cover the cost of packages that were properly shipped but not received? And if so, how long they would wait before doing that? Is there essentially no chance they would ever consider a package lost or stolen if it was last shown to be in the possession of U.S. Customs? Or is my refund dependent on the USPS deciding in favor of a Canadian seller who insured a package that was, shall I say, disappeared by the U.S.?

[nwobhm]

I would have filed item not delivered long ago. You did your part as a buyer when you made payment. Let ebay and the seller figure out the rest. In a case such as this I would have used a CC to create an extra layer of protection.

[darwinbulldog]

Originally Posted by nwobhm

I would have filed item not delivered long ago. You did your part as a buyer when you made payment. Let ebay and the seller figure out the rest. In a case such as this I would have used a CC to create an extra layer of protection.

I filed the report with eBay. They determined that it's on its way and, as the USPS tracking indicates, "being processed by United States Customs" [as it has been for the past 65 days now]. I paid by credit card, but unless I'm missing something I don't know what good that does me. I can't very well ask the credit card company to reverse the charges at the expense of the seller who sent me the card.

[nat]

Maybe you can work something out with the seller? I had a similar situation a few years ago (albeit for a less expensive card). After a suitably long wait I told the seller that it still hadn't arrived and seemed to be lost in the mail and they were happy to share the loss with me - they suggested it even.

Whether it works depends on how much the seller cares about keeping customers happy. And if you don't feel comfortable asking for money back you could just message them, tell them it hasn't arrived, and leave the ball in their court.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by nat

Maybe you can work something out with the seller? I had a similar situation a few years ago (albeit for a less expensive card). After a suitably long wait I told the seller that it still hadn't arrived and seemed to be lost in the mail and they were happy to share the loss with me - they suggested it even.

Whether it works depends on how much the seller cares about keeping customers happy. And if you don't feel comfortable asking for money back you could just message them, tell them it hasn't arrived, and leave the ball in their court.

That might could work if nothing else does, but the guarantees are part of why people pay fees and jump through hoops to have the umbrella of eBay and their protection over them. I'd exhaust all avenues trying to put eBay on the hook for it before going back directly to the seller.

[Eric72]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I filed the report with eBay. They determined that it's on its way and, as the USPS tracking indicates, "being processed by United States Customs" [as it has been for the past 65 days now]. I paid by credit card, but unless I'm missing something I don't know what good that does me. I can't very well ask the credit card company to reverse the charges at the expense of the seller who sent me the card.

As a preface, I'll state that this sounds like an unfortunate situation for both parties.

I'm not 100% certain of this; however, you *might* be able to get your credit card company involved. You paid for something. It still hasn't been delivered.

Credit card companies typically have a time limit for those sorts of things. You may want to call them, explain what's happening, and ask what your options are.

[jchcollins]

I don't know if their policies are still the same as they were 5-6 years ago, but I'd certainly continue to be a noisy gong in eBay's ear. They at least used to be quite the champion for their buyers, and in the past have gone to lengths for me in that regard that I found surprising - such as taking the hit for me on a card that was marked delivered by the USPS when it actually wasn't.

As the broker of the deal and especially with the item being under the "eBay Guarantee," then IMO they have an obligation to make it right. 60+ days even if Customs ostensibly still has it is not acceptable.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I can't very well ask the credit card company to reverse the charges at the expense of the seller who sent me the card.

You didn't pay the seller; you paid eBay. All payments go through their managed system. Just because the credit card company decides to ding eBay doesn't mean eBay is going to ding the seller without a review process. I would go ahead and dispute it on the CC, that may be your only option at this point if eBay doesn't want to refund you.

[nwobhm]

Originally Posted by darwinbulldog

I filed the report with eBay. They determined that it's on its way and, as the USPS tracking indicates, "being processed by United States Customs" [as it has been for the past 65 days now]. I paid by credit card, but unless I'm missing something I don't know what good that does me. I can't very well ask the credit card company to reverse the charges at the expense of the seller who sent me the card.

Get your money back while you can. If the package eventually arrives you can pay for it again.

[conor912]

I would definitely pursue a refund. If it shows up, great, but I wouldn’t hold my breath at this point.