Ebay Sales and UPS via Paclink

[paulears]

On my sales made via Ebay, I use their paclink service to access UPS delivery (the drop off is next door to the office - all the others require a drive.

Price wise, for my parcels up to 2Kg in the main, ebay UPS is £4.99 (but no VAT invoices as the VAT is shown as £0 - with £4.99 the price I pay. If I use UPStoday - then the same package is £6.00 plus VAT, and as I am registered - it's just £6 - so £1.01 more expensive.

I've been doing the majority of sales made via ebay on their version, and direct sales on YPStoday. The £1 extra isn't really a problem - but - I had something strange happen.

A customer ordered perfectly normally via Ebay and I did the paclink UPS label and forgot about it, until he contacted me Saturday to say he'd had a delivered message, but he didn't have it, and had been in - could I investigate. I did and UPS confirmed it had been delivered to a different postcode and signed for by 'stamped'. Google earth showed me the delivery address the parcel had been delivered to. The delivery address was the Amazon Wembley Stadium size warehouse near Doncaster. I phoned UPS at 9am Monday morning - they'd phone back as it was obviously a mistake in the address as they too had the real one. No call. I phoned again and was promised a return call. Again, nothing. Via text chat I am informed that yes, it was the wrong address but as I am a third party, I cannot instigate action, ebay must do this.

The trouble was, I had refunded the customer - not his fault, after all - so I'd cancelled it. Ebay no longer have a way to intervene, and I can't. Ebay suggested a claim page on the UPS site, but one question is about 3rd party transactions and the claim rejects telling me to get the initiator to sort it with them. I tried again and didn't tick 3rd party and a claim was started, but isn't progressing.

Has anyone had the same issue and has a solution? It make me worry that as a 3rd party, in any query I'd be just as stuck - like getting a parcel returned, or delivered elsewhere or an address mistake rectified? For £1, I'm thinking I need to cut ebay out of this - my drop off location, a computer shop told me they no longer use ebay's UPS system for exactly the same reason. Is this common, but not spoken about.

I presume because clearly Ebay have a very good deal with UPS, UPS don't wan't to be involved with fiddly little things like mistakes, but is this just occasional bad luck, or something well known. I'm very happy with their success rate - this is the first issue in over 6 months, so I'll stick with UPS, but it's just a little worrying to know the sender is quite powerless to intervene?

 

[Mister B]

We have had a similar encounter whereby an international parcel was lost by DPD, and as it was sent using the global shipping programme, (paid for via ebay,) they took total control of the issue and dealt with all aspects of customer service. As the contract you have is with ebay, and ebay has the contract with UPS, strictly speaking, it's their issue.

However, many people have the same issue over on Amazon. Whereby FBM returns are automatically processed by Amazon and ordinarily, (for us anyway,) returned to us by Everi. Everi consistently fail to deliver to us in a timely manner which gives the customer the right royal hump. Like you, in the interests of customer service we refund the customer, raise a case with Amazon who tell us to take it up with Everi. In turn, Everi tell us that their contract is with Amazon and there is nothing we can do. We've wasted so much time going round in circles, that we've actually given up trying to pursue the claims.

So, dependent on the order value, if I were you I would suck it up and go direct with UPS in the future.

 

[paulears]

Hmm pretty much what the computer shop said - I think the extra £1 is workable. The interesting thing was the VAT - UPS would charge ebay VAT, yet Ebay don't account for VAT when they charge you postage? I wonder how that works? Unless they are keeping the VAT content of the transaction too?

 

[Mister B]

Hmm pretty much what the computer shop said - I think the extra £1 is workable. The interesting thing was the VAT - UPS would charge ebay VAT, yet Ebay don't account for VAT when they charge you postage? I wonder how that works? Unless they are keeping the VAT content of the transaction too?

When we receive the return shipping invoices, from both ebay and Amazon, they are both inclusive of VAT, which we reclaim.

For your UPS example, I can only assume that the contract ebay have with UPS is in the eurozone, and that it's subject to some kind of reverse VAT mechanism. (Like the Amazon fee system whereby they issue the invoices from Luxembourg.)

Probably worth your while asking them the question.

 

[Mr D]

Packlink? Your problem is the Spanish company. They have the contract with UPS.

 

[paulears]

Spanish? That explains the VAT though!

 

[paulears]

Result! I put in a claim - and today the tracking got updated to say out for delivery. The customer just emailed to say it's arrived - it's been opened and re-sealed and the cardboard is a bit damp, but the insides were still sealed in the plastic bags so result!!