Multiplication of customs fees by 4 following an order of a single product in 4 separate shipments | Community Mentor Help

denicrapo-0 · 2024-11-13T22:13:52.845000Z

I bought a disc brake kit for my American vehicle from 1959 in the US through eBay. A DHL email asked me to pay €193 in fees in order to be able to get the package out of customs (VAT + customs fees + €30 DHL handling fee to take possession of the package at customs. The day after payment, I went to pick up the package; curiously, there was only one modest-sized box, just one brake disc. The DHL package handler told me that sometimes orders are delivered in several shipments. The next day, I received 2 new DHL emails asking me twice to pay €191. I called them, and they replied that I had no choice, even though I explained that I had noticed that the total value of the kit was listed on the first package. I contacted the seller, who replied that it was not his fault and that he could do nothing, that he had clearly specified to eBay when he handed over the material for shipping that there were 4 separate packages. I told them I refused to pay 4 times the fees because of a paperwork error when eBay shipped it. I reported my complaint several times to eBay in writing, which states on its site that it is not possible to call them unless you are a professional seller, and for more than a week I have NEVER been contacted again. The seller, to whom I explained everything, told me he could do nothing because the error came from eBay; the DHL customs service, which besides its emails also called me twice and clearly understood my problem, told me that since the error was not their responsibility they could absolutely do nothing and that given my refusal to pay for the last 3 packages still awaiting customs clearance, they would leave them on hold. 2 out of 3 of my contacts were very understanding; the last one told me that I could reach out to them again whenever I wanted as soon as I had news from eBay. So, what now??? I paid for my order, the customs fees, and I end up with a brake disc that has already cost me around €900, not to mention that eBay also took over €160 from me along the way as an estimated deposit to cover customs fees. By the way, how can I also claim from eBay that they reimburse me for these €160 they pocketed when DHL charged me €193 for that purpose. If someone could explain to me how to get out of this dead end? Thanks in advance Denis

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Multiplication of customs fees by 4 following an order of a single product in 4 separate shipments | Community Mentor Help | eBay France