Return to Sender - from Russia

[Ehryn]

I was hoping someone might be able to help me. I sent a doll to Russia in a sale, but the recipient refused the customs fees (and hadn't asked me to mark the package down and I never do this as standard) so said it would be returning to me.

But looking at the tracking, it looks like it's still stuck in Russian customs, and this was a couple of weeks ago now

How long does it take to come back to me? Is there anything I need to do from this end? She mentioned something about a $30 fee I have to pay but I don't know if that is in order to get it sent back or if it's payable on arrival... I haven't had a letter or a call from them or anything, I don't know how I could possibly arrange to pay something from here without any notification

Can anyone help/advise? This was a LE doll, and quite expensive, so I don't really want her to get lost in the postal void...

[Rikka_Mika]

You can't trust them to call you, how can they? They don't have your number and they very rarely check addresses to phone numbers. 97% of the time you need to contact them. And it really depends, sometimes you have to pay the money before they send it back to you, sometimes after. Normally before, though, or at least it has been for me most of the time.

You need to call them up and they will most likely ask for a credit/debit card number and bill you for the money, which will be on hold/pending at first and it shouldn't clear until the package arrives to you, but again, sometimes I've had it clear instantly and sometimes they don't charge me until it arrives, it really differs from country to country on how their customs work, and I've only shipped to Russia once - I've never needed to have a package returned to me from there before.

But regardless, you need to call them and have it sorted, they would probably never call you. I wish you the best of luck!

[Ehryn]

How on earth am I supposed to call them? I'm a zillion miles away from Russia, don't know Russian and wouldn't even know how to begin looking for their number

[majikatt]

Try emailling them hun? I have a friend who is russian if you desperately need a translator?

[Lulu]

If your buyer refused to pay the fees, then surely the issue is theirs and not yours? I would contact them and tell them to deal with it since they never asked you to mark the parcel down, your end of the deal was upheld!

[Ehryn]

majikatt - I would, but I don't know how to find their e-mail address Haa~ It really sucks, I'm so clueless

Lulu - I honestly was tempted to do that, but I've sold to this person before with no troubles, and since she told me it would just come back to me and I'd have to pay when it was returned and she said she'd pay the extra plus extra shipping to get me to send it back again marked down (though how she can afford this but not customs fees I'm not sure...) I figured it would be ok... I honestly don't know what to do, I can't refund her the money if I don't have the doll, but similarly I'll feel bad if the doll never arrives to her

Does anyone know what happens with customs stuff over here? I know that when I get a letter detailing the charges it says they'll hold the parcel for 2 weeks before returning to sender, but nothing about a charge... Perhaps I should be a little more patient and maybe it'll just show up?

[Lulu]

I think at the very least you should ask the buyer to get in touch with the postal service there and deal with this for you! Not only does it makes far more sense for them to do so since they speak the language and are actually IN the country in question after all, but also because the issue was caused by them, so it seems to me that they should be helping you out here to be honest!

[Doria]

I guess I might be able to help.
To pay the Customs duty or to refuse in Russia it is necessary within 60 days from the moment of parcel has arrived on customs.
If your buyer has written a declaration of abandonment of payment of the duty, the parcel comes back to you immediately.
If the written order about refusal is not present, the parcel waiting at customs up to 60 days and then comes back to you.

You should not pay ANYTHING AT ALL in any case.

If you will PM me with tracking number and destination of parcel, I can contact with local customs and find it all out for you

[Ehryn]

Wow, thanks Doria that's awesome! I'll PM you now, thanks so much for the help! ^_____^

Lulu - I don't think they really understand the system either, or at least that's what it seems like Customs are so confusing, seems to be the same in any country

[Ehryn]

Just wanted to let you all know the doll arrived back with me today, so crisis has been averted I'm so relieved

[Bell]

WOW that was fast...I had a doll head returned to me from UK customs and it took three months.