Issue with buying parts from Europe | GTAMotorcycle.com

Issue with buying parts from Europe

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EX500R2001

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Here's the story:
I wanted to buy a motorcycle part manufactured in Germany. The company has just one North America distributor located in California, but after doing a simple math it turned out that buying the part directly from Germany and got it shipped to Canada would be 54% cheaper than buying the same part from NA distributor.
So, I went to the manufacture's website and placed an order. Paid by credit card through PayPal. No problems here. In a few hours I got a refund along with an email saying that they can't sell me the part (even though I could place an order on their website!) because they have an exclusive North America distributor and I have to order the part from them. Everything seems good, right? WRONG!
My credit card was charged by PayPal in Euro using the credit card's exchange rate (selling Euro). When the manufacture refunded my payment, they did so in Euro. PayPal refunded my credit card in Euro as well, but credit card converted Euro to $$$ using their BUYING exchange rate! So, I lost $50 (paid $550, refunded $500)!!!
Has anyone had a similar experience? Who's responsible for this kind of situation? My guess is that if the manufacture allowed me to place an order, they must honor it no matter what! Is there any legal way to force the manufacture to sell the part and reimburse me for the lost? If not, is it possible to recover that money ($50)? Or (which seems to be the most probable case) I'm screwed?
 
First, I'd try contacting your credit card company and ask them if they would refund the difference. They are under no obligation to do so, but might as a goodwill gesture especially if this is the first time it's happened to you and the credit difference is small enough.

Is there anything on the manufacturer's website that states they do not ship to Canada? If there is, then you're out of luck at this point, since it's your fault for not reading the terms and conditions thoroughly.

If not, contact the company and ask them to refund you an additional $50 CDN (€35 or whatever the rate the credit card company uses). If there's no warning to international customers then it's their fault and they should make you whole.

Take screen shots of the web site and order page and take it to social media if there's any resistance.

Social media being *not* GTAM. A German company that doesn't ship to Canada is probably not going to care if you badmouth them on a Canadian motorcycle forum.
 
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Every money institution makes money off exchange rates fluctuations. Since the oil prices tanked, CAD is facing daily fluctuations of .5 a 1% not being rare towards EUR based currencies. I am going to say that you are out of luck .... Rates are what they are.
 
I'd take my chances and contact the seller, walk them through the loss of $50, and if they feel merciful, I'd bet that they'll discount an order that you make for delivery within their home country. Then get it redirected to Canada via a third-party courier.
 
Thanks all for the suggestions. I'm trying to contact the seller, hope they'll reply to my emails.

Lightcycle said:
Is there anything on the manufacturer's website that states they do not ship to Canada? If there is, then you're out of luck at this point, since it's your fault for not reading the terms and conditions thoroughly.
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No, there is nothing on their website. Actually, I did enter my full shipping address before proceeding to a payment. There is a countries selection box and Canada is in the list.

MSRP said:
I'd take my chances and contact the seller, walk them through the loss of $50, and if they feel merciful, I'd bet that they'll discount an order that you make for delivery within their home country. Then get it redirected to Canada via a third-party courier.
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Could you explain "get it redirected to Canada via a third-party courier" in more details? How does it work? Never heard of such thing. Should I have a shipping address in Germany?
 
Any family or friends in Europe? Get them to buy it and ship it to you. The savings alone may be worth that route.
 
Just bear in mind how this transaction went from the seller's perspective. You placed an order which involved giving them a certain number of Euros, they were contractually not able to fulfill it, and they refunded you the correct number of Euros. That you had some adverse exchange-rate fluctuations in the meantime, is not their problem. It's probably more worthwhile to pursue it with Visa/Mastercard/Paypal and make sure they processed it as a reversed transaction, not as an additional separate transaction.

Would you be complaining if the exchange rate had fluctuated in the other direction? (didn't think so ...)
 
Brian P said:
Just bear in mind how this transaction went from the seller's perspective. You placed an order which involved giving them a certain number of Euros, they were contractually not able to fulfill it, and they refunded you the correct number of Euros. That you had some adverse exchange-rate fluctuations in the meantime, is not their problem. It's probably more worthwhile to pursue it with Visa/Mastercard/Paypal and make sure they processed it as a reversed transaction, not as an additional separate transaction.

Would you be complaining if the exchange rate had fluctuated in the other direction? (didn't think so ...)
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I'm not complaining about the company not refunding the payment or stealing some money. Surely, they refunded the exact same amount I paid them in Euro. I'm complaining about the situation in general. The company accepted the payment from Canadian customer knowing up front that they would not ship the product to Canada. Yes, they did refund immediately, but I lost $50 on this transaction because of their system allowing me to place an order? Is it my fault? Should I pay $50 for this? That's what I'm trying to find out.
 
And, btw, on their website in "Shipping & Returns" section there is the following line:

"Delivery is by GLS (Germany + most EU countries) or DHL (USA, Australia, EU-member countries, etc.) as an insured package."

Yes, there is no word "Canada", but I'm ok with them shipping to my US mailing address. But they still refuse to do so...
 
Does the German company have any other distributors in Europe that will sell you the part? It's not SW Motech by any chance is it?
 
EX500R2001 said:
I'm not complaining about the company not refunding the payment or stealing some money. Surely, they refunded the exact same amount I paid them in Euro. I'm complaining about the situation in general. The company accepted the payment from Canadian customer knowing up front that they would not ship the product to Canada. Yes, they did refund immediately, but I lost $50 on this transaction because of their system allowing me to place an order? Is it my fault? Should I pay $50 for this? That's what I'm trying to find out.
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The list where Canada appears is a standard world wide list ... nobody who ships worldwide maintains lists based on whether they have some exclusive distributor closer.

Learn from it (If you know there's a distributor in US, send an e-mail first before you place an order ....) and move on ... that's what I would do.
 
mxs said:
Learn from it (If you know there's a distributor in US, send an e-mail first before you place an order ....) and move on ... that's what I would do.
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I already mentioned that the same order from US distributor would me cost 54% (over $300) more!
And what should I learn from it? Not buying stuffs overseas? I did it many times and never had issues like this. Yes, some shops don't ship to North America, but they state it clearly on their websites and DO NOT ALLOW YOU TO ORDER. In this case, before placing the order I double checked that they don't have any shipping restrictions. So, again, what exactly should I learn from it?
$50 is not something I'll lose sleep over. I was just curious if there is something that can be done in this situation. I did everything right, but still lost money. I just don't think it's normal or fair.
Anyway, obviously I'm not going to deal with this company anymore. Actually, I found another manufacture (also in Germany) who produces the similar (even better) part, and are willing to ship it to Canada. Will most likely order from them.
 
mxs said:
They didn't ... what are you talking about?
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I am talking about this from the post. The whole issues starts from being charged with nothing shipped. It should have flashed a warning as soon as he said he was in Canada and stopped him there. He was charged immediately on his credit card before an item was shipped.


"So, I went to the manufacture's website and placed an order. Paid by credit card through PayPal. No problems here. In a few hours I got a refund along with an email saying that they can't sell me the part (even though I could place an order on their website!) because they have an exclusive North America distributor and I have to order the part from them. Everything seems good, right? WRONG!
My credit card was charged by PayPal in Euro using the credit card's exchange rate (selling Euro)"
 
It's how Paypal works .... It's a feature not normally seen when you pay directly with your credit card. Has your credit card been ever charged BEFORE goods were shipped? Not mine ...

My point was that it was not the intent of the store to take his money before they shipped anything. By paying with Paypal, you are essentially depositing your money with the seller ... Important distinction.
 
OP , share the original off shore vendor please, I'm just curious to look at thier website.
 
mxs said:
It's how Paypal works .... It's a feature not normally seen when you pay directly with your credit card. Has your credit card been ever charged BEFORE goods were shipped? Not mine ...

My point was that it was not the intent of the store to take his money before they shipped anything. By paying with Paypal, you are essentially depositing your money with the seller ... Important distinction.
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That's right. As I stated in my original post, the situation is complicated by many parties involved in the transaction. Even though they all seem to play nice, I would still blame the original manufacture website that allowed me to place an order (starting a chain reaction: PayPal takes money from my CC, CC exchanges $$$ to Euro, etc.).

crankcall said:
OP , share the original off shore vendor please, I'm just curious to look at thier website.
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I'm still trying to let the vendor to resolve the issue (although it looks like they don't bother answering my emails anymore). If/when all my "goodwill" :) attempts fail, I'll post names and proofs...
 
Oh, and regarding a suggestion to "learn from it". I did! I did learn not do deal with this particular manufacture (or any of its distributor) Any knowledge's worth something. Let's say in my case it costs $50 :)
 
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