Seller mistake & I pay customs twice? What is fair here?

Question

I bought a new suit from a seller (700+, 100% feedback) and the item arrived in the wrong size. Seller was very communicative when I messaged her and asked me to return and she would refund the return shipping, fair enough. I had to go out of town on business, and since I had already paid Customs on the wrong package, I asked if she would be patient a couple of days as I had to contact the Post Office to figure out how to fill out the return customs form to reflect that it was a return (and not purchased merchandise), and that I also had to contact Canada Customs to find out how the 2nd package needed to be sent to reflect that it was a replacement so that I wouldn't be charged a 2nd time when the correct package came through. Seller responded by giving me a Cdn address to ship the return to, and I'm fine with that, but I didn't get a chance to return before I left town. I got back Wednesday evening last week, shipped the return to the address provided ($15), received a Parcel pickup notice on Thursday, picked it up on lunch on Friday - and sure enough, it is the replacement/correct suit I should have recieved, but I had to pay ANOTHER $31 for this parcel. When I grumbled to the Postal worker about having to pay for both packages (she remembered me as she helped me ship the return), she said "Oh no, didn't you ship that return within Canada?" And when I confirmed that, she told me that she is pretty sure this voided my reimbursement elibility with CBSA as they require "proof of export". So, I do seller a favor and I get dinged? I've now paid an additional $77 total ($31 + $31 + $15) when it rightly should have only cost an additional $31. Seller previously agreed to refund the $15 (cheaper for her to ship within Canada), but has been radio-silent on my issue that she re-sent the correct parcel but didn't wait for me to contact Customs on how to ship it correctly so that I didn't get dinged again. I don't want to be her first neg, but this just seems really unfair. Especially the fact that she has completely ignored my email (and no, I was not nasty/accusatory/etc - I outlined the situation and asked what she thought was fair.) Does anybody think I have any "wiggle room" with CBSA since I can show receipt/return (although within Canada)/receipt of a 2nd package? Any way you think I can argue my case with them? After jumping through all these hoops, what feedback would you leave if your seller is not being helpful/responsive? Thank you,Lora

Answer 1

I'm assuming here that the seller did not send the size that was advertised in the listing. If that's the case, she should have sent the replacement suit with the customs form saying something like "Return of Adressee's Own Property" to avoid the second customs charge. Since you are significantly out-of-pocket due 100% to the seller's error, I would email them and ask (nicely!) for a refund of $15 (shipping back to her) + $31 (second customs charge). Don't mention negative feedback or dinged stars!  This is very important. If you don't get satisfactory resolution, then I would leave appropriate factual negative or neutral feedback. Do not get emotional! Your feedback left reflects on you just as much as it does on the seller. Something like, "Had to pay 2 customs charges due to seller error; seller uncooperative" would be factual. You can also ding her stars accordingly if you feel it is warranted. But keep in mind that feedback is your very last option, not to be used until all other avenues are exhausted. If the seller does agree to work with you, even if it is only a partial refund, do take it into consideration. In that case I would either leave a soft positive or no feedback at all. Good luck!