One of which included a soccer/football jersey:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0890427211
This is a long story, but the moral is stop shipping to Russia. And eBay's protection policy/dispute process is a complete crock of shi*t. (Although we all knew that.)
The buyer took quite a while to pay. About a week and a bit later she did and seemed very stressed about the shipping of the item. She asked me to print out a Russian version of the address. I immediately told her I was uncomfortable with this given she sounded worried about the package arriving and tracking wasn't available. I told her I couldn't afford to lose this money - and only wanted to proceed if she was absolutely certain there would not be any issue. She said yes, as long as you print a second address label.
Done.
Low and behold the item never arrives. After a few emails she starts up the dispute process - all the while I'm trying to hint to her that she has to accept responsibility for this - quoting my original email and discomfort with the process.
Finally I asked her, "Do you really think it's fair that I lose this money after the initial conversations we had?"
"DO YOU THINK ITS FAIR I DO?!" She responds.
"YES, I do - I told you going in I was hesitant and only wanted to proceed if you were certain."
"Well, I thought it would be ok."
Classic example of an eBayer who knows the system and is comfortable taking a risk with someone else's money.
Immediately after her first inquiry as to where the package was I Googled shipping to Russia.
Currently Russian customs authorities have a restriction on dutiable shipments sent to private individuals. What does this mean? Almost any product subject to tax and duties being sent to a private individual in Russia will be held and inspected by customs. This can take days and even weeks, where they are being looked at with extraordinary scrutiny in an effort to improve the accuracy of accompanying shipping documentation. Why? Foreign country, different laws. Even after this process has taken place, there is still no guarantee that the package is going to be shipped out.
Their PO is another vortex for packages. They go there and vanish into thin air. The above snippet makes it sound complicated - it's mostly just corruption and theft. You can find lots of anti-Russian shipping results if you search.
If my package is return, I'll gladly update this post and apologize - but for now, the cold war between Defunkd and Russia's PO is on.
I have tons of email documentation warning the buyer there's no tracking - and explaining to her I wasn't confortable proceeding unless she was certain it was ok to do so.
All of that is meaningless to eBay's process - tracking, yes or no? no. But with full explanation and request they review our communication.
Doesn't matter - there's likely no one who even reviews it if you mark "no tracking." Not sure why they even pretend, if it isn't automated, might as well be.
Time to inflate your Russian shipping rates on Defunkd. If I actually get an order, I'll likely just refund.
Thanks for welcoming me back eBay.
