It's an interesting problem. There's a lot of speculation in this thread, but the general consensus seems to be that it's the USPS's fault: that Esterval ships its packages properly and that the USPS claim that this is either an "improperly addressed" issue or a Customs issue is false.
Assuming that's the case I'm not sure why Esterval would ever take responsibility for packages which go astray. They don't run the U.S. post office (maybe they should), and it's unclear why they would essentially indemnify customers for failures of third parties beyond their control. The only reasons for Esterval to compensate anyone for a USPS screw-up is general kindness, or as a way of continuing to encourage orders from the U.S. In either case there's a limit to the cost they should incur to cover someone else's mistakes. I have no idea how important U.S. orders are to them, but unless the number is a measurable line on their income statement it wouldn't surprise me if they eventually said "screw it, this is more trouble than it's worth." This would hardly be unprecedented; think of eBay sellers or buyers who won't sell to or buy from certain countries. And now perhaps the U.S. gets added to that rarified company.
The obvious answer of course is insurance, but it would have to be general enough to cover any possible loss (i.e. not just lost packages, but packages that aren't delivered for any reason); and frankly I doubt that such insurance is available. And if by some miracle it is, it'd be too expensive relative to the purchase price. And if by some further miracle it's not, the policies would be withdrawn after a number of claims.
As for getting your money back from Chase, my experience has been different. Decades ago cardholders, especially of status T&E cards like Amex or Diners, could count on support in the case of a dispute with a vendor. In my personal experience those days are long, long gone. You can still initiate a dispute, but the presumption of right now favors the seller. And "proving" a case is tougher than ever since many if not most transactions don't involve physical presentation of a card and the creation of a signature for each purchase. That's not to say that charges can't be successfully challenged, just that I think it's tougher to prevail today than it was in years gone by. I'd be interested in hearing how this turns out, although I know it'll take weeks or months to resolve.
Hi Jon,
It is an interesting proposition and I have no idea how it will play out. Here's how I view it. Estervals entered into a contract with me to provide specified tobacco blends for a specified amount. Estervals was unable to fulfill it's part of the contract due to an "insufficient address", constituting negligence on their part. That's about the only objective part of this whole affair. The rest is speculation.
Others have stated similar issues with Estervals, though in their cases they were either able to rescue the package before it got shipped back or Estervals sent it back to them a second time. In the instance of the person who fortunately intercepted his package, he says the address looked perfect to him. But he's not an expert in postal regulations, and we don't know the condition of the address labels on my shipment since I never received it. Maybe the ink was printed too faintly to go through an optical reader. Maybe it was incomplete. Maybe the other documentation was not filled out completely. Maybe the USPS has it head up its ass. We don't know. All we know is that the USPS deemed the address "insufficient".
Estervals made the decision to offer shipping in this manner. If they are experiencing problems with this shipping procedure, which it appears they are, they can explore other options like shipping completely with DHL. Their shipping isn't cheap as it is. If they're choosing a risky shipping procedure, I am not responsible for that. That's Esterval's responsibility.
Moreover, Estervals response for a refund if they were not willing to resend the package, was to tell me that they would charge me for EU customs fees on a package that was returned because their address labeling was "insufficient" and made it clear that they would offer no assistance. That's very bad, frankly lousy, customer service. Bottom of the septic tank service.
Since Estervals presented me with an unreasonable response, I pulled back the money I had spent, at least temporarily, pending a decision by Chase. I'm damned happy I didn't do a money transfer. If nothing else, maybe this will wake them up.
In the meantime, I've let others know what my experience is dealing with Estervals and they can make their own decisions regarding whether they want to take that risk.
