I received an item from a seller that was "Not As Described". They did not respond to my attempts to resolve the issue other than stalling so I opened a PayPal dispute.
The seller did not respond to the PayPal dispute so I escalated it to a claim. PayPal contacted me and said the seller agreed to a full refund if I shipped the item back to them. They forwarded me the sellers address and instructed me to mark the package as "Returned Cargo" so the seller would not incur duty/tax charges.
I was very anxious about this whole process as it was an international return from myself in Canada to the seller in India so I decided it would be best to ship it tracked with signature required so there was a paper trail should any problems arise. I filled out all the proper customs information. Quantity, description, HS code, Country of Origin, Value, etc. I included this information on an invoice in the clear pouch. My contact info and sellers was also included. (Addresses, phone numbers, email addresses) UPS said all the information was complete to their knowledge and didn't inform me of any special process.
I declared the true value and true item description knowing it would attract more attention from customs because I am not a dishonest person. It was a silver ring plated in "14k rose gold" (debatable because it rubbed off in 4 hours and discoloured my finger green) valued at 108.50 USD / ~$160 CAD at the time of purchase. When the seller sent it to me they declared it as "craft strings" with a value of $25 so it would get through customs quickly. I paid around $15 in fees/duty/tax as a result when I received it.
Anyway, once it landed in India there was an exception on the UPS tracking stating "Additional documentation is required on the merchandise description." which was a bit confusing as it was complete as far as I knew. I called UPS and talked to several people. They confirmed the information was correct and that was that. They didn't see any notice of anything being missing or required.
Every day after that it continued to update once per day "Additional documentation is required on the merchandise description." and then after a few days it changed to "We are working to obtain information or documentation required for clearance by Customs."
I had provided all my contact information as well as the sellers (addresses, phone numbers, emails) and yet no one had contacted us about any issue. I contacted UPS several more times through various means (phone, email, Twitter) and they confirmed the information and once again didn't inform me of any problem.
1 week after the package landed in India someone from UPS India emailed to confirm the item description once again. It was correct. He said they needed to confirm it (I already had several times since the beginning) because jewellery needs to be transferred from courier to cargo mode to proceed. I have no idea what that means exactly but that's what he said. I reiterated the situation so they knew it was a return, that I wasn't a business, etc. I wasn't sure if this had something to do with PayPal advising me to write "Returned Cargo" on the package.
He asked for me to reply with a declaration letter addressed to customs to authorise them to do this transfer from courier to cargo mode. I did immediately and he was supposed to take care of it. He didn't advise me that anything was wrong. He was CCing another UPS employee in the emails asking him to assess disbursement and demurrage charges for the shipment so it could be processed. The last I heard from him was 6 days ago when he emailed that employee for followup that said "Please advise" and I was CCd.
Fast forward 6 days later without hearing anything and I receive a notification of the following exception "Package Abandoned. The package was abandoned by both the receiver and sender. It will be disposed of or sent to UPS lost and found." How is this possible when I've contacted them several times via phone, email, Twitter, etc all throughout the process? I've spent hours upon hours trying to resolve this over the past week and a half.
So now I'm wondering how to proceed. I've already lost a considerable amount of time and money on this transaction and I want to be prepared for the next steps in resolving the case with PayPal.
-$20 CAD loss on exchange rate (if I ever actually do get a refund for $108.50 USD)
-$15 CAD loss on duty/tax/fee
-$38 CAD loss on return shipping (I filed a return shipping claim and it said it was approved to a max of $30 and that I should receive the refund in my PayPal account within 5 business days. It has been 11 business days and I have not received a refund.
If UPS does not dispose of the package and returns it to me I assume that will involve a further cost. I am wondering if I I accept the package and pay whatever costs or refuse it? I don't know if I could be reimbursed for any further costs sorting this out. This transaction dates all the way back to April (It was supposed to be a Mother's Day gift but I didn't receive until the end of July) and I am now unemployed so I don't have a lot of money to work with to resolve this.
The status in the Resolution Centre says PayPal is reviewing information from the seller. They have been waiting for the seller to receive the shipment but it doesn't seem like that will happen now. I provided the tracking number when I shipped it. I don't have any ability to update the case with information right now and I'm unsure how I should proceed
If you read through all this thanks for hanging in there and sparing some time. Any information or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!
