Item location misrepresented and bio security problem

[jd20005]

I bought a lavender pillow from a seller that had his item location set as Sydney Australia. I specifically went looking for a seller with item location within Australia because I was unsure whether bio security of Australia would let a lavender pillow in through customs (Australian bio security is very picky). The pillow has not arrived yet so I went and tried to track the item which gave a 'Auspost has received shipping info but not the item' which was a bit suspect as the seller said they sent the item. I then checked the sellers feedback and lo and behold on this feedback page it says 'seller located in china'. So I guess the item is coming from China. This has me very worried that the item will not clear customs and I'm angry about this as the item location said Syndey and not China. If it had said China I would not have bought the item. I guess that if it doesn't clear customs that I can claim through Paypal? It's just that when buying items on Ebay I have read a disclaimer in the past that bio security is the buyers problem not the sellers but in this instance I had no idea that the item would be needing to clear customs at all as the item location was set within the country. The item in question is: 

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Comfort-Lavender-Buckwheat-Health-Neck-Care-Pillow-Cervical-Spondylosis-...

[egglesdtp]

Yep.

[brerrabbit585]

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@countessalmirena wrote:

That must have been a looooooooooooooooooooooong coffee break, egglesdtp.

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Either that or it wasn't coffee eggles was drinking.  

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

If the item is stopped at customs, a PayPal claim might not be successful, but I suspect an ebay claim could be.

It's true that there are some obvious warning signs to look out for that can indicate an item might ship from outside AU, and it's true that knowing what they are can mean you'll avoid them, but none of that detracts from the main issue - the seller (if indeed the item does ship from outside AU) blatantly lied.

It's no different from a seller deliberately misdecribing other aspects of an item and causing problems. Besides which, it is eBay policy for a seller to be aware of the import regulations of the countries they ship to, and to not list items for sale to countries where the items are prohibited for import, so if it causes problems at customs, the seller has breached more than one policy and I tend to think eBay may be inclined to look favourably on a buyer in that case, if you contact them directly and explain the situation properly. (eBay do not usually require buyers to return items if the return address is in a different location than stated in the listing, so they already make provisions and exceptions for buyers who get caught out by this practice). 

[jd20005]

I shouldn't have been stressing at all. The pillow arrived but it sure didn't have any lavender in it or about it. Sigh. Ill keep it though as it's the shape I need. Not sure what feedback to give if any. I'll probably just report the seller as being in China.

[lyndal1838]

Had the lavender been removed by Customs?

If it was they would have placed a notice in the parcel.

Many years ago I bought a lovely china pot pourri ball complete with unopened sachet of pot pourri.  I asked the seller to remove the sachet as it would not get through Customs.  It was not removed by the seller and I copped a very narky letter from Customs about how naughty I was to try to bring these items into the country.  They removed the sachet and sent on the china ball.

[brerrabbit585]

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@jd20005 wrote:

I shouldn't have been stressing at all. The pillow arrived but it sure didn't have any lavender in it or about it. Sigh. Ill keep it though as it's the shape I need. Not sure what feedback to give if any. I'll probably just report the seller as being in China.

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I think this line:

Filler: Lavender + Cotton /Buckwheat + Cotton /**bleep** Cassiae + Cotton

is possibly meant to read:

Filler: Lavender + Cotton OR Buckwheat + Cotton OR **bleep** Cassiae + Cotton

That could explain why there's no lavender in it.  They're giving themselves the option to supply whatever they have in stock at the time.  I daresay none of those things would (should) pass customs, though they may allow them if they know they're going to zapped in a microwave.

If it came from China and they misrepresented the location I'd probably be quite factual and leave a neg saying "Item in China, not Australia; and NO lavender".