Trying to make sense of the terms and conditions of ebay's Global Shipping Programme - In places, somewhat confusing and possibly unfair.
Quote:
Nature of the Programme.
Customs service. Based on information provided by your Seller and obtained during the processing of your order, Pitney Bowes will manage the exportation and, through third party customs brokers, the importation clearance of GSP Items that you have purchased including, as applicable, remitting your payment of import charges to applicable customs and tax authorities, preparing required documentation, making necessary filings, and providing customs authorities with information needed to clear the shipment through customs.
This would seem to indicate that all fees and charges have been paid up front....
Quote:
Payment and Programme Fees.
"Import charges": this Programme Fee consists of charges associated with the customs service described above and is comprised of the following variable amounts: sales, goods and services, and value added taxes, duties, tariffs, excise taxes, and other amounts assessed or levied by any government authority in connection with the importation of goods into the applicable country of importation (but excluding income taxes) ("Commodity taxes"); third party brokerage fees (including advancement and disbursement charges and customs brokers handling and filing fees); penalties (but excluding any customs duties, taxes, surcharges, fines, penalties, or other charges which may be imposed on you by customs or tax officials after a GSP Item has successfully cleared customs and been delivered to, or made available for pickup at, the delivery address that you specify); classification charges associated with the assignment of a Harmonized System ("HS") classification code; charges for export compliance screening and verification and the assignment of an Export Control Classification Number (ECCN); and operational expenses associated with short-term loss recovery and the management of variances between the quoted Import charges and actual costs. Note: at eBay's discretion, applicable classification and export compliance charges, third party brokerage fees, and operational expenses may instead be included within the Shipping amount that is quoted to you.
This clarifies the claim that all fees, including VAT has been included in the price paid for shipping....
Then we get to this section:
Quote:
Payment and Programme Fees.
Exclusions. You alone are responsible for any customs duties, taxes, surcharges, fines, penalties, or other charges which may be imposed on you by customs or tax officials after a GSP Item has successfully cleared customs and been delivered to (or made available for pickup at) the delivery address specified by you.
Err.... Unless I am mistaken, previous clauses would suggest that no further charges will be liable once payment has been made....
Finally, the unfair clause:
Quote:
Programme Updates and Discontinuation. eBay has the right, but not the obligation, to alter, amend, replace, suspend temporarily, and/or discontinue permanently the Programme, the name of the Programme, any of the Services, features, and/or functionality offered to you under the Programme, and/or the service providers used to provide any or all of the Services under the Programme, at any time, in its sole discretion, with or without notice to you.
So eBay can amend the T&C without giving notice - Something is seriously wrong with that !
Having paid for this "service" on the assumption that import duties, VAT, brokerage fees, and shipping costs have all been paid up front, should I incur any additional charges, would I be within my rights to:
a) Lodge a PayPal dispute and/or
b) Do a S77 charge back on my credit card.
c) Demand that eBay refund any additional charges on the grounds of unfair contract or mis-sold "service".