Help! Ebay buyer failed to pay Fedex customs duties, so went to collections under my name
Rating: -7 Posted By: wixona
Views: 1116 Replies: 16
A few months ago I sold a GPS unit on eBay to a buyer in Canada. I shipped it via Fedex *at his request* (I would have shipped via USPS otherwise, as I’m aware the customs fees when using a private shipper are much much greater). The buyer reported the item received, and I thought everything was good. But then a month later received a letter from Fedex stating that the customs duties of $55 had not been paid by the buyer and so I was now liable for this.
Apparently unlike USPS which requires immediate payment of customs duties upon delivery, Fedex delivers, and then just sends a bill later. And if the buyer doesn’t pay up, they then charge the seller. This seems dumb to me, but it’s stipulated in their T&C, so I don’t really have a case to dispute it or anything I suppose.
So I tried to get the seller to pay up and he said he would, but then kept delaying and saying he would pay shortly, and then eventually just stopped responding.
In the mean-time I got a letter saying the amount would now go to collections. At this point I probably should have just paid it and been done with it, but I didn’t. I think I was frustrated. Then it went to collections, and I know at that point I should’ve sent the letter by registered mail disputing it within the first month. But I failed to do this. Major mistake, I know. I’m not proud of it.
Now it’s been about 2 months, so it’s too late to send that letter right? I still haven’t noticed it on my credit report yet though–is there still a way to keep it from showing up? I remember one Fwer making the recommendation in a similar case to mail the collection agency a cease & desist letter, and then tell the company (in this case Fedex) that they’ll receive payment in full only if they call off the collectors. Would that work?
Separately, is there anything I can do to retrieve this debt from the eBay buyer, besides just pestering him via email? Can I sick a collections agency on him myself?
Thanks for any help.
Your story sounds awful!! I am not sure if eBay can do anything, but would be worth writing a brief email to help to see if they have any suggestions.
At this point, I would pay the collection’s agency as soon as possible and then deal with it from there. I used to work in cell phone network call centre and many times people would call us because their phone bill had gone to collections.. The best advice was always to pay it off… without you paying it, it will stay there.
But what a jerk that ebay buyer was. Sounds like he definitely worked the system. Hope you get some recourse.