Abandoned Goods - the big Ebay con

[dawnie669]

A buyer in Finland bought one of our exclusive posters

We packed and wrapped in a standard cardsboard tube

Cost of Poster £25 Cost of postage £30 

Buyer paid.

We sent the poster, it arrived at the address

Ebay send a "complete' transaction notice to us

Four days later

'Paklink (ebay)'

Ask us idf we have any contact details for the buyer as they havent picked it up.

I remind them its marked as delivered and complete

No they say, it went to a pick up depot.

I remind them that THEY gave me the buyers details, we arent allowed to corrspond with personal addresses etc.

they say if they dont pick up in two days then we have to pay for a return

I say if they dont pick up then throw it away. The buyer needs to respond to the details they gave you.

Today they tell me i can pay £21.00 to have it returned ot 53 euros for them to throw it away

is this not just theft and fraud?

our return policy was NO returns 

so why arent they billing the buyer? we fulfilled all our obligations.

prioir to this we have had a 100% record for around 20 years

[*vyolla*]

I've never known Packlink to contact a seller like this.

Are you sure this is really them?

If the tracking is showing as delivered then I wouldn't worry.

[dawnie669]

 apparently it's in the "terms an conditions " of course it is . 

[4_bathrooms]

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@dawnie669 wrote:

Four days later

'Paklink (ebay)'

Ask us idf we have any contact details for the buyer as they havent picked it up.

I remind them its marked as delivered and complete

No they say, it went to a pick up depot.

I remind them that THEY gave me the buyers details, we arent allowed to corrspond with personal addresses etc.

they say if they dont pick up in two days then we have to pay for a return

I say if they dont pick up then throw it away. The buyer needs to respond to the details they gave you.

Today they tell me i can pay £21.00 to have it returned ot 53 euros for them to throw it away

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Are you sure the email is really from Packlink? Note it should be spelt "Packlink" - if it is spelt "Paklink" it is definitely a phishing email.

[papso22]

Have you checked the T&Cs?

How will they force you to pay?

[dawnie669]

I’m sure it will be added to my normal bill
My point is
They provide the customer and the customer details. We fulfilled all obligations and were told it was complete .
At that point surely all responsibility and ownership lies with the buyer.
Not in eBay world
Penalise the seller

Sent from Outlook for iOS<>

[arkwebus]

The document says "both has different charges"  whereas our grammar would use "have".

Can you not message the buyer?  You are allowed to do that after payment.

You do not "have" to pay anything.  It used to be the case that if you sent by post [as opposed to courier] any return costs were covered.

  @dawnie669 

[4_bathrooms]

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@papso22 wrote:

Have you checked the T&Cs?

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I just did but the pertinent section relates to unpaid customs charges:

"(c) The User or the Recipient must take responsibility for all Customs Charges. If either party fails to do so, Packlink will charge the User for all Customs Charges. Some countries apply a surcharge for the destruction/abandonment of the Goods, and the User will also be responsible for this surcharge."

Finland is in the EU and the item value was £25.00 so there should have been no customs charges for the buyer to pay as eBay would have charged the relevant VAT during purchase.

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@papso22 wrote:

How will they force you to pay?

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Packlink is linked to eBay so the payment will most likely be deducted from the eBay pending funds.

[lucy_farmer]

Dawnie,  I think you've been 'phished'.

Try 'hovering' over the address the email came from and see what actually pops up?

[4_bathrooms]

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@dawnie669 wrote:

 apparently it's in the "terms an conditions " of course it is . 

---

Where did you post that screenshot from? Is it from an email you received, from within eBay or whilst logged into Packlink?

[dawnie669]

Support@ebay-packlink.zendesk.com


Sent from Outlook for iOS<>

[dawnie669]

an email we recieved direct

[4_bathrooms]

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@dawnie669 wrote:
Support@ebay-packlink.zendesk.com

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Email addresses can be spoofed but Packlink do use Zendesk for their customer support; I'm inclined to believe this is genuine.

Ask the Packlink CS rep to point you to where this is stated in their terms.

[dawnie669]

Me too and unfortunately this policy states that sellers agree to indemnify packlink (ebay) for any return or abandonment costs that any courier places on them. so for example , if they say it will cost a £1000 to return a £20 item or £2000 to throw it away, you have agreed that you will indemnify them against that cost.

i was about to close down an almost 20 yr relationship with ebay today but have decided to NEVER use their postal service again instead.

all i hear from ebay lately is bad news for their faithful customers

[dawnie669]

It is stated (apparently) in UPS (the chosen courier's ) 

[4_bathrooms]

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@dawnie669 wrote:

It is stated (apparently) in UPS (the chosen courier's ) 

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OK, this is what Packlink state in their terms:

"(c) Save as set out in Section 4 (d) below, in the event of a discrepancy between the information on the Website and on the webpages of the Transport Agency with respect to delivery and collection, the terms and conditions of the Transport Agency shall always prevail.

(d) In the event of a discrepancy between the compensation information on the Website, and on the webpages of the Transport Agency, the information on the Website shall prevail in relation to the Service."

So, I headed to UPS's terms as linked from Packlink (PDF file):

"(ii)UPS may also suspend carriage if it cannot effect delivery, if the receiver refuses to accept delivery, if
it is unable to effect delivery because of an incorrect address (having used all reasonable means to find the
correct address) or because the correct address is found to be in another country from that set out on the
shipment or on the Waybill or if it cannot collect amounts due from the receiver on delivery.

(iii)Where UPS is entitled to suspend carriage of a shipment (or any relevant part thereof), it is also
entitled to return it to the shipper at its own discretion.

3.4 The shipper must pay and indemnify UPS for any reasonable costs and expenses (including storage),
incurred by UPS, any losses, taxes and customs duties UPS may incur and all claims made against UPS
because (i) a shipment does not meet any of the restrictions, conditions or representations in paragraph 3.1
above, (ii) of any refusal or suspension of carriage or return of a shipment (or part thereof) by UPS which is allowed by this paragraph 3, or (iii) of a failure by the shipper to comply with these terms. In the case of the return of a shipment (or part thereof), the shipper will also be responsible for paying all applicable charges calculated in accordance with the prevailing commercial rates of UPS."

I'd hardly call charging £44 (€53) to dispose of a poster worth £25 "reasonable". I'd ask Packlink to return the item and ask them for a copy of UPS's invoice for doing so.

For what it's worth I never use Packlink. There are plenty of other (UK established) parcel brokers such as Interparcel, PercelHero, Parcel Monkey, ParcelBroker, Parcel2Go, Transglobal etc. 

[dawnie669]

Thank you for your help it’s much appreciated I have an account with interparcel and used eBay shipping for convenience . Never again !!!

Sent from Outlook for iOS<>

[johnwash1]

A user unhappy with Packlink?  I'm shocked.  Shocked I tell ye.

[cobwebcottage]

If it helps in any way, I have had communication before from a person from Packlink with this name and avatar. 

Not for the same issue though.

The e mails are sent from support@ebay-packlink.zendesk.com.