Postage fee is free for most area except remote or offshore area.

[dioau69]

I'm relatively new to Ebay. I purchased an item for $378.90. The seller listed the item as free postage and in their Delivery information tab within item description state 'Postage fee is free for most area except remote or offshore area.' I live in remote NT, so entered my postcode in the 'postage and payment' tab and hit the 'get rates' button. Postage remained as free, so I went ahead with the purchase. Now the seller is telling me that they are very sorry, but they didn't realise the postage to my area is $300. No solution has been offered (refund, part payment of freight etc) they have just said they are sorry. What should and can I do?

[springyzone]

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@dioau69 wrote:

You are right about barge. Everything goes to Dawin and then we receive a barge service each week. Yesterday I asked the seller for suggestions for a resolution but have not received a reply over a day later. 

Today I have asked for the purchase to be sent to an address in Darwin. I don't believe that Darwin could be considered remote. From there I will arange for the freight to here - which I know I will be charged $55 for the barge service. 

Thank you all for your responses. Hopefully I will not have to come back and ask how to take the matter further

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That is certainly a huge saving in postage costs if it can be arranged.

There may be some sellers though who will not be prepared to send it to any address other than your ebay/paypal address as they leave themselves open to claims if they do.

No harm in having asked though, & see what he says.

If you continue to get no reply of any kind though, and no refund, within a reasonable time, you will have the option to open an item not received case & you will be able to get your money back.

[dioau69]

So I have just received a message to say that they will not send to Darwin either. Since when is any capital city in any state considered remote??? 

No suggested resolution either.

[lyndal1838]

I think you will find that the Northern Territory is considered remote no matter what address you use.

It is just the logistics of transport as the population is so scattered.

What surprises me is that you admitted in the OP that you lived in a remote area but did not check with the seller before paying for an item that was not post free to remote areas.  Surely you must have suspected that the postage calculater was inaccurate.

[redders_60 · Accepted solution]

So you are in the Tiwi Islands & they will not send to Darwin if I'm reading all correctly? You need to ask your seller to cancel the purchase & refund your money ASAP as your first option.

It is clear that this transaction would or could be problemmatic should it go ahead any further.

Other than that you can open a dispute for return of your funds. Once a dispute is opened; Please do not close it until you have your money back. I cannot stress this enough; As once a dispute is closed it cannot be reopened & your money may be lost to you.

Please double check my info with regards to disputes, as I'm not sure whetther the ebay or Paypal dispute shows first on your list of dispute options. Perhaps some other kind helper here can assist you further? 

Anyone here to help further please? I still don't know the nature of the purchase; But most probably over the 5kg satchel which doesn't incur boat costs when I send things to my friends.

[lyndal1838]

Redders, the OP states that they live in remote NT.   They went ahead and paid for the item even though the seller stated that postage was not free to remote areas...just because the postage calculator came up with free postage and was obviously wrong.

The item is obviously not suitable to send in a satchel or the postage would not be $300.

[redders_60]

Hi Lyndal; The buyer seems inexperiencd in how ebay works & may well be young or old - So may not have thought anything wrong with their postal quote. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt to the buyer here; Purely because I have experience of posting to friends in the area & know that their internet connections are very unreliable via Aust's major carrier.

The reference to a barge cost suggests they live on Bathurst Island; Which has a weekly barge from the larger Melville Island. Whereas Melville Island is a bit closer to Darwin & large enough for light plane landings. Either way; Both are Aboriginal governance islands; If I understand all correctly. There are things that can't go there. Perfume. Alcohol. Flammables & such

If I can help with their purchase I will gladly do so!

[springyzone]

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@dioau69 wrote:

So I have just received a message to say that they will not send to Darwin either. Since when is any capital city in any state considered remote??? 

No suggested resolution either.

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Now this is the bit that has me puzzled.

The seller has received payment, they have twice stated that they will not send to the addresses provided.

Obviously this whole sale is fraught.

Why on earth has the seller not said-I am sorry, postage to your area is classed as remote and will incur an extra $300 fee.

Do you still wish to go ahead or would you like me to cancel the sale & refund your money?

At no time has the seller offered or given this person a refund, which would be the logical thing to do, you would think.

[*tippy*toes*]

Is the seller an experienced seller? They may not know how to cancel a sale. If the item price is expensive, they might be worried about the fees. As others have said, send another message requesting the seller sends a cancellation. Reassure them that by cancelling, they will get their fees back. It may also be an idea to refer them to this thread in case they need some help sorting it out too.

[dioau69]

Sorry for not replying sooner. After 48 hours of no response from the seller after asking for any suggested resolution, I asked for a refund, and they have given it to me. I did point out that if they will not send to Darwin, they should change their postage information to 'does not send to NT'. 

Unfortunately I did not understand that the ebay postage calculator does not work as it should. As a known error (for want of a better word), I would have thought that sellers would note this. 

If the seller had said to contact them for postage cost, I certainly would have. With over 17K items sold, the seller seems to be experienced and could possibly present their item details better.

At least it's lesson learned for me. Thank you all for your comments.

[redders_60]

Glad your refund request worked out well for you Dio! Hopefully you may yet find the item you wanted from a more amenable seller!

You live in a wonderful but remote part of Australia. I've not been there, but I love the pics my friends send!