Etsy – refund process – seller being disingenuous?

I do not wish to reveal the seller’s identity currently (sells shaving products) but am trying to work out if they were leading me up the garden path regarding getting a refund for what looked like an item probably lost in shipping, so would appreciate constructive reply’s to this point.

I learned Etsy is a very hands off platform when trying to get any information not on site about an item’s status, especially in the case of a refund – all info. has to come from the seller unless you raise a ‘case’, which the platform infers should only be used as a last resort if cannot resolve with seller. I made many incorrect assumptions here (and not all of them clearly indicated by the below msg’s), the primary one thinking that the insurance claim process would have to be completed before I would receive a refund.

At the least, I hope someone will learn from my mistake(s).

Etsy msg related to this -

07.02.2022 - Hi SELLER,
This item according to the tracking info. arrived in Australia on the 15 January 2022. It has now been 3 weeks since then and I am becoming concerned this has been lost in transit. Are you able to confirm where the item is currently & expected delivery date?
Kind Regards,

07.02.2022 - Hello BUYER,

Once these things reach your country, I loose visibility. The last event I can see was" Parcel Received at Delivery Carrier Hub Jan 19, 2022, 8:22pm". This usually indicates it being handed off to the home country post. If I had to guess, its being held because they want something from you, likely some sort of customs duty. I'd recommend contacting your local post or customs office. The below customs ID might help sort it out.

Reference Label ID: #164584102677
Customs ID LO034104092AU

07.02.2022 - SELLER - It occurs to me that there was a note on the box saying "Do not leave at address if not home to collect in person". It very well may be that the post did just that and took it back to the local post office.

07.02.2022 - Hello SELLER,
The item does not attract any other customs duty, GST is only added cost for item.
No attempted delivery card or contact has been made to me regarding attempted delivery.
Have not received any communication from Australian Custom regarding any issue.

1.) Could you please forward the Tracking Number for the item used by USPS
2.) Could you please forward the name of the Australian delivery service company (eg. DHL) USPS will be using in Australia to deliver the item to me
3.) Could you also forward the tracking number the Australian delivery service will be using for delivery to me in Australia.

Regards,

07.02.2022 - SELLER - I want to help, but I don't have any other information I can give you. All of the tracking is "tracked through Etsy", so I don't have any other information to share other than what is shown there. The good news is it is insured, so I'll go ahead and start a claim to get your money back.

08.02.2022 - SELLER sent link to Claim form – “You'll need to complete this online form to verify the claim and this will be used instead of a written affidavit.”

08.02.2022 - BUYER- Thank you for starting the process, as this appears to be a lost item in the shipping.

08.02.2022 - SELLER - The good thing about the insurance process, is they lean on the shipping carriers to find it and 9 in 10 times it works. As you could probably imagine, insurance companies very enthusiastic about avoiding paying claims.

09.02.2022 - BUYER - I hope that will be the situation for me as was very much looking forward to receiving this bowl.
After I had filled out the Insurance form was directed to the following screen (see attachment), which was just confusing regarding whether the claim was verified or not & being processed. Am assuming this is used for when you wish to communicate with the insurance 'claims support' team for additional info or inquiry (it just redirects you to your email account for sending a msg to them). A poorly implemented process after the first form is filled out + there is no information in your Etsy account to indicate that a insurance claim is in process so you are basically left in the dark from this point until someone communicates with you.

09.02.2022 - SELLER - You summed it up pretty well. Not much to do but wait for a bit

12.02.2022 - BUYER- Have just communicated with the 'Email Claims Support' email address to find out status of the claim & they inform me "Please contact the seller in regards to any claims information". So all information regarding tracking (other than what the customer can view) & the insurance claim MUST come from the seller?
I notice that the tracking info. has been updated with x3 new entries (last dated for 20 Dec 2022, so improved by one day) basically indicating in transit. So are we to infer from these two bits of disparate information that the claim is currently in a 'waiting for more info/or outcome' type of status?
I will wait for your response but I think it is time for me to open a case for this.

12.02.2022 – 1 hour later - SELLER - Thanks so much for your patience. I understand it is frustrating that your little treasure got lost in transit.

12.02.2022 – as above - SELLER - Your order has been fully refunded. It happens sometimes, I'm sorry it was you this time.

Etsy system sent out emails at above time to indicate the seller had both cancelled the order & a refund would be due within 2-5 business days

Since etsy switched to their new Global Shipping program, there is no direct tracking number available, you can only track the item through the etsy platform.

The seller prints a label that sends the item to a collection facility that then attaches a new label for overseas shipping (in the United States), so there is sometimes no way for the seller to track your item.

Luckily for you, the item number is an Asendia tracking number which can also be tracked with Australia Post:

https://a1.asendiausa.com/tracking/?trackingnumber=XXX

https://auspost.com.au/mypost/track/#/details/XXX

Edit: removed for privacy reasons.
(There is a button where you can launch an inquiry with Australia Post.)

Out of personal experience of sending multiple items to Australia, Australia Post is extremely extremely slow with international parcels recently.
After they arrive and are processed in Australia, it can take up to four weeks to be delivered in Australia while only taking a week or two to get there.

In this case, the seller did everything he could, he can't just make Australia Post deliver it faster, that's not how it works.
The item might not even be lost, but just heavily delayed and you've received a refund already.

Is it just me, or has not enough time passed yet? Delays in shipping right now are crazy.

Actually the case would be between the buyer and Etsy.
When ebay or etsy seller uses global shipping program, they don't have any responsibility.
I think the seller managed this case pretty well. I can't see any disingenuousness..

The item might not even be lost, but just heavily delayed and you've received a refund already.

This is exactly what my experience has been with Australia. I even had a Priority express take 3 months to be delivered. On average it took 6 weeks for Priority Express. I bet you anything the item will still be delivered at some point.

Unfortunately some buyers get very impatient and I get the frustration.

I now use UPS for Australia and it gets delivered between 4 and 7 business days on average.

Seems your seller did all he could to remedy the situation. I sure can’t see where he did anything less than he should have done. You’ve gotten your money back. The seller seems to me the one that took the hit. Somewhere in Australia his wares are floating around with the money he spent to make it, ship it. Seems like someone I’d want to do business with. (Sorry your bowl hasn’t shown up but when it does I’m sure you’ll pay the artisan then.). Fingers crossed.

Thanks to everyone for your input & to Navitimer & Max Sprecher for your info. & experience regarding shipping to OZ. It looks like the consensus is the seller was on the up and up & simply working within the constraints of the Etsy system, which appears to be a very flawed one for shipping related problems.

I will be reimbursing the seller if the bowl ends up being delivered, have done a similar thing in the past with an amazon item that eventually ended up being delivered well after a delivery date & I had been refunded for a lost item.

Navitimer - thanks very much for the links, I can at least now contact Oz post with a tracking number now (had made phone inquiry earlier but they needed track info. that seller appears not able to access). I tried the online inquiry process but get stuck at what type of service here in oz is being used for delivery (don't know), so will call them on Monday to pursue.

chainsaw  Here's also a good link to keep track of any future disruptions especially with the whole pandemic situation. Australia has had a recent disruption notice.

Max Sprecher - thanks for the link, appreciate that - it is indeed helpful regarding delay issues to take into consideration.