Seller Refusing to Take Physical Delivery of Approved Return

[cadnams05]

Hi,

I had to return an item because it was not in line with the e-bay listing, The seller has accepted this and has approved my formal request for a return through e-bay.

I have posted the item back to the seller (I am in Australia, and the seller is in the UK). However, when delivery was attempted by the courier company the seller refused to take delivery of the item. He refused because UK customs duties were payable before the item can be released.

The buyer is claiming that all costs of returning the item are my costs, because his listing says that buyers are to pay for return postage.

Given I am returning the item because it was immaculately described in the listing I understood that e/bay rules state the seller had to cover return shipping costs.

I have tried to compromise with the seller and split the customs costs evenly, but he is still flatly refusing.

Given the seller has not taken delivery of the returned item it appears the automated e-bay processes for seeking a resolution are not accessible.

How can I proceed with this? I would like e-bay to decide how this should be settled, I am happy to accept what ever they decide. I just don't know what to do now?

Thanks for your help.

Regards

[digital*ghost]

When returning items to an international destination, customs and duties should not be payable if it is maked as 'returned goods'. 

If it is incorrectly marked, eg as 'merchandise', or even 'gift', UK customs will charge the recipient as if they were the importer of the goods.

If the customs forms were incorrectly marked, I suggest getting in touch with Aus Post's international department and explaining the situation, and checking to see if they can adjust the info. 

[cadnams05]

Thanks for the response.

I did in fact mark the goods as a "Return" on the relevant postage document, so I was surprised when additional charges were attracted.

I will investigate...

[digital*ghost]

I thought I better double-check my info, just to make sure I was advising correctly. Most info seems to suggest that if VAT etc is incorrectly applied, the recipient needs to pay and then dispute it to get a refund. I'd still open an inquiry with Aus Post, as if the package was marked correctly as a return, as far as I know this shouldn't be happening.

I only took a quick scan through this, so I can't say for sure if it will apply in your seller's case, but it might help them:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/notice-236-returned-goods-relief

(it links to a UK Gov page that goes through how to claim relief - full or partial - on returned goods)

[digital*ghost]

Just with regards to the eBay dispute, it might pay to just contact them as well, or update the dispute, with what's currently going on - you can request a call-back via the help & contact page (I prefer to use this option, they call back straight away, but you can still be on hold for a little while). That way they can provide the best advice on what (if any) steps to take from here.