Seller protection a waste of time if customer refuses to pay import duty

[Coingallery]

I recently sent a parcel to Egypt with FedEx.  Customer refuses to pay the import duty and then opens a claim saying the item hasn't arrived.  PayPal of course agree with him and refund his money.

There is absolutely no seller protection available.  Tracking still shows as "in transit".  Fed Ex will return it to me at a cost of £388 (more than the value of the goods).  Despite the buyer having a full refund, thanks to the generosity of PayPal, he can at any time pay his duty and have the parcel delivered.

Until this case arose I was under the impression that by using reputable tracked couriers I would be covered by seller protection.  BUT when you read the small print seller protection only applies if the parcel was actually delivered to the customer.

[PayPal_paula]

Hi Coingallery, 

I am sorry to hear what has happened. If the tracking is showing as in transit then there is not much we can do other than find the case in your buyer's favour as technically they have paid for an item that they have not received. If the tracking information was updated showing that the parcel is in their country waiting for them to pay the customs fees then the case would go in your favour as we would be able to confirm why it has not been delivered to your buyer. If the tracking updates, you can appeal the case up to 10 days after it has closed. 

I hope this information helps, 

Paula 

[Coingallery]

That's not the case Paula - PayPal are aware that the customer has been contacted by customs and that he is refusing to pay his custom charges.  They are also aware that the item is still in Egypt.  But the PayPal stance is quite stubborn in that their only concern is proof of delivery.

There is no leeway from PayPal.  Items are either delivered or not delivered. No grey areas exist in the wonderful PayPal world.  

So I'm pretty much over a barrel with my choices.  The only reasonable solution would be for me to pay my customers Customs charges.  But even that could be too late now - because I can't trust the customer to repay the refund PayPal have given him.

All in all it looks like this customer knows exactly what he's doing.  He's playing the game that PayPal have created.

[PayPal_paula]

Hi Coingallery, 

Thank you for your response. I would keep an eye on the tracking and if it updates I would recommend to contact us straight away so we can have the case appealed for you. 

Thanks

Paula 

[Yingfu]

Hi,

Hi,

I'm a new member here and recently had a bad experience that seems to fit into the same situation that a buyer is using PayPal's buyer protection to take advantage of the seller.

In my case, I've sold on Chrono24 and the buyer has paid me through PayPal and I’ve shipped the item by DHL. The buyer was not willing to receive the delivery of the shipment claiming the import duty was too much. He then asked me to make a partial refund to cover the import duty, if I should refuse, he would not take the delivery. To facilitate the transaction, I agreed to refund him  to cover part of the duty to resolve the issue on the condition that he showed me the details of the import duty. He claimed that he had lost the details of the payable import duty. I raised this issue to Chrono24 which then issued a letter to the buyer reminding him that it was his responsibility to pay the import duty and take the delivery. If he refuses resulting in the package being shipped back to the seller, the seller should refund him his payment less the seller's incurred expenses. The buyer ignored Chrono24's letter.

At the end, according to DHL's own rules, the package was sent back to me and I ended up having to pay the import duty of my country when the package reentered the country. I then refunded the buyer with his payment less the shipping cost and the import duty I paid. The buyer claimed that since he didn't receive the package, I should make a full refund to him or he would raise this issue to PayPal's resolution center and have my money tied up for weeks.

I checked with PayPal's customer service and according to the lady, in my case, since the buyer did not receive the package, PayPal would support a full refund to the buyer.

So a buyer can always negotiate/pressure the seller to make a refund (effectively a discount of the previously agreed price) using import duty as an excuse even after he/she has paid the full price. If the buyer doesn't get what he/she wants, the buyer can just let the package be shipped back to the seller and gets a full refund since the PayPal buyer protection says so. Not only the sales doesn't go through, the seller will end up taking up all the costs that should have been the buyer's responsibility to pay.

HOW ABOUT LOOKING OUT FOR THE SELLERS, PAYPAL?