Trust me, I feel your pain. First Class International is the worst shipping service ever created and I don't know why they even offer it. I ship probably 50 packages a month via First Class International and about 10 of those will end up with the buyer claiming non-delivery. There's really no alternative for shipping light weight, low value items internationally without cutting off that market completely. Most buyers (as in 95%) won't upgrade to a "track-able" service such as Priority or Express since it's expensive, and I can't say that I blame them. However, they also simply don't bother to read about how unreliable, risky and slow the service is, even though it's described in all my listings. It's simply a mysterious service. I've asked tons of postal workers about different aspects of first class international and all of them had different answers. Most simply didn't know. And that reminds me, I say the same thing in my listings as well, about not being responsible for a lost package, etc. Unfortunately that kind of disclaimer means absolutely nothing when it comes to resolving a dispute. So you and I are guaranteed to lose any type of claim from a first class international transaction. If we were to go as far as having the buyer sign some type of physical legal agreement that waives us of responsibility, then perhaps we might get some type of consideration during a dispute. Guessing useless as well though. Many ebayers will simply tell us to stop crying and to not offer first class international. True, but I was still making a profit vs refunded transactions, so decided not to cut off that market. HOWEVER, I am sick of dealing with it as of now and will be removing it from my listings. Not having to worry about refunds, upset customers, bad feedback, etc will be totally worth it after 2 years of using that service. Fact is, you will have to bite the bullet and get ready to issues refunds if you want to offer first class international. My advice is to decide if it is worth the hassle + money earned (which may or may not be significant after refunds are taken into account) to warrant using it.
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