27 replies to this topic

[Scuba_SI]

Hi All,

Please add me to the idiot of the month list, here's why:

Selling a pair of Sea and Sea YS120's on eBay. They sell to a gentleman in Poland, which is cool i send my stuff all over the world without worrying about it.

Shipping was expensive, as they weight nearly 2.5kg, and the buyer wasnt happy about this, so he asked for the cheapest option, which did not include insurance, and i told him that the item would be shipped at his own risk if he decided to do that as it was only saving him £10 or so. He said that was how he wanted to proceed. This is about 7 day postage.

So i sent the item on 1 march, and to be honest, i'd kinda forgotten about it, hadn't received feedback, but it often takes a while for people to do that so i wasnt worried.

I got an email yesterday saying he'd never received them and isnt happy. Now, i said to him that choosing that method of postage was at his own risk, but can he still pull the paypal out from under my feet? Has anyone had stuff sent to Poland before? Does it take an extra long time to get through customs?

I'm not panicking yet, but im almost there!

Basically i think because it was a diver i was a little more trusting than i should have been, i should have insisted on the more expensive option. And im not saying he's a thief, more that i'm a muppet.

Simon

[aczyzyk]

I'm sorry to hear about your problem.

Unfortunately Polish post office does not have good reputation here. They are known for losing shipments. It happend to me 3 times last year. Your customer sholud have known better...

Still I'd say not all hope is gone. It could be stuck at post office or customs. They are slow, and they may still send a request to your customer to pay duties before they release the shipment.

Is he able to cancel the payment? That wouldn't be fair.

[Scuba_SI]

Hi Andrzej,

I don't think he can, i'm going to check with the post office here this afternoon to see what they say, i have proof of postage. I asked him to check with his customs yesterday, i'll see what he comes back with. What i'm angry about is that i let him persuade me to use the cheaper option and i didnt think to add the extra myself.

My last 3 internet transactions have not been smooth, maybe it's time to give up!

[wagsy]

Simon, is there a way of tracking it? It's always good to pay the bit more.

We sent a min DV tape to the UK once and it cost us $50 AUD but it had to get there quickly. Anyhow one month later it got there We managed to track it and it turned out it was stiting in some UK couriers warehouse.

The guy could be also saying that it did not turn up but it did?
Give it abit more time and try to track it if you can.

I have had other things get caught up by customs, then been sent a request from customs to pay duties before they release the shipment.

Fingers crossed for you....
Good Luck

[Scuba_SI]

Simon, is there a way of tracking it? It's always good to pay the bit more.

We sent a min DV tape to the UK once and it cost us $50 AUD but it had to get there quickly. Anyhow one month later it got there We managed to track it and it turned out it was stiting in some UK couriers warehouse.

The guy could be also saying that it did not turn up but it did?
Give it abit more time and try to track it if you can.

I have had other things get caught up by customs, then been sent a request from customs to pay duties before they release the shipment.

Fingers crossed for you....
Good Luck

Yeah, i'm pretty sure it's tracked, i'll find out in 20 minutes!

When i read his email yesterday i had an 'epiphany' that it may well have been a plan to get me to ship cheaply then say it didnt turn up when it actually did, but i think we have to trust that human nature is good until proven bad.

I'm not sure who has more sway on Paypal, when im buying i always feel as though the seller holds all the power, but now im not so sure.

[LChan]

i sold a housing to Australia last year, it was in customs for 2 months.

there was no way of tracking the package via US postal.
that's why I like UPS, but it just costs a lot more.

[Scuba_SI]

I hate Parcelforce in the UK, they are so rude and totally useless!

My local post office were great, helped me out loads. I took it to them on the 1 - mar. It left the country on the 12th..... That is ridiculous! So it's still in transit. phew.

What amuses me is that the parcelforce website say 5-7 days to Poland, but the ignorant cow with half a GCSE on the phone says 5-30. Even my post office agree i have paid for 5-7 days. Another reason why i LOVE England Not....



Filming Whalesharks in March/April??? Now that sounds like fun!

[wagsy]

Good to hear it's still out there...hope it all works out well for you Simon.

Hey it took a month for my DV tape to get over there..ha ha...$50 overnght air express frieght

Well you can cover for Kelly while we are on Rotto in May if you like.

[smash]

And im not saying he's a thief, more that i'm a muppet.

Simon

Ah yes, but which Muppet?

Glad to hear that it's probably the post office's doing and not necessarily a transaction gone bad. I've become wary of e-Bay these days. But then again, I did once have to threaten a fraudulent seller with the Basel Convention and assorted other international treaties to get him to refund my money when he sent me pirated materials. Luckily, it's my job to word things so it sounds like I know what I'm talking about.

Cheers.

[Drew]

But then again, I did once have to threaten a fraudulent seller with the Basel Convention and assorted other international treaties to get him to refund my money when he sent me pirated materials.

Smash
Only a lawyer would talk like that.

[Scuba_SI]

Good to hear it's still out there...hope it all works out well for you Simon.

Hey it took a month for my DV tape to get over there..ha ha...$50 overnght air express frieght

Well you can cover for Kelly while we are on Rotto in May if you like.

Erm... I hope you mean for filming. I'm not coming over to cover any other area of her job detail.....

Ah yes, but which Muppet?

Glad to hear that it's probably the post office's doing and not necessarily a transaction gone bad. I've become wary of e-Bay these days. But then again, I did once have to threaten a fraudulent seller with the Basel Convention and assorted other international treaties to get him to refund my money when he sent me pirated materials. Luckily, it's my job to word things so it sounds like I know what I'm talking about.

Cheers.

You were actually going to first on my list for helping me with a strongly worded email!


I didnt think they sold blue movies on eBay.......

[JackConnick]

I had a bad experience selling a scanner on EBay and shipping without insurance.

Buyer didn't check optional insurance, package arrived damaged and he blamed me, put Paypal dispute that I had knowingly sold a damaged item. Even though I had pictures of it, PayPal took his word after he got a "repair" center to back his claim that it didn't work. Item was also sold as is, with big block letters 2x in ad!

So now I'm out a scanner, plus mailing costs, plus P.P. fee!!!

I will not send used items overseas, I will not ship without insurance. Customs does impound things and slow up deliveries.

Global mail is worse as they limit the insurance to $500 no matter what method.

Jack

[Scuba_SI]

Another thing i noticed was that on insurance offered by parcelforce, it is only covered within the UK, once it leaves the UK they are no longer liable. It's all a big scam. I'm sticking with UPS in future.

[smash]

I didnt think they sold blue movies on eBay.......

Dear boy, those were the days before I had the pleasure of viewing any of your productions, and I had to settle for importing entertainment of much lesser quality!

[Drew]

Simon does porn? Now why am I not surprised?

[AndyBarker]

HI ALL,
Sorry to here of your problem scuba-si, but just to add abit about Parcel force
I have just purchased an INON strobe from Japan. Which was posted with Parcel
Force World Wide & I was given a tracking number. I tracked my parcel & it was
with me in three days. Which I find is EXELLENT service. But because your buyer
did not want to pay for a better postal service YOU are now feeling the pain.
Hopefully the parcel is still in a sorting office someware & it will turn up soon
Andy

[Scuba_SI]

Hi Andy,

My issue with ParcelForce here is as an exporter, they clearly state 5-7 days postage time to Poland on their website and on the horizon system the post office use. 12 days after posting the parcel it is just leaving the UK, i ring up to complain and they say, oh, no it'll be there within a month.....


For your Parcel, Parcel Force will have picked it up once it arrived in the UK, and billed you your customs charges, VAT and i think £13.50 as a clearance fee. This clearance fee was recently introduced, and in my opinion is not on, as it it customs and excise who open the parcel to check it not teh courier. They may have to pick it up from a different counter at the airport, but that's all

In Japan i would think it was mailed by their local version of Parcelforce.

My Issues with ParcelForce are long-standing! On both the import and export side!

I don't think anyone ever reads the small print on their shipping receipts and websites, for example, they offer standard insurance on packages, but it doesn't apply unless the destination is in the UK.

So from what i've read, even if i have insurance, and the parcel had goes missing after being tracked leaving the UK it isn't their problem. And you have to be able to prove that any damage occurred in the UK (how?). However, they don't mind charging you for insurance on international deliveries!!

Same applies with their guaranteed delivery times, there's so many hoops to jump through in order to gain compensation that it's not worth the bother.

For me, from now on, i will use royal mail for anything under 2kg's and UPS etc if its over that amount.

Simon

[smash]

Simon does porn? Now why am I not surprised?

Who said anything about porn?

Simon said blue movies....like the video you capture in blue water...

[MikeVeitch]

knowing simon, porn not so far fetched...

[ce4jesus]

You can always close your paypal account. They can't return funds that they don't have access too. I thought only the paypal credit card allowed you to cancel a payment. I know closing the account is kind of drastic but it would be better than losing the YS-120s. I've had mostly great fortune with Ebay and have only been ripped off once on a low dollar item.