Refunded Item not returned

[BelleEpoqueJewelers]

Hello All,

I'm hoping someone might be able to help me. I had an order come through in July for a man in Australia. I shipped his items with UPS but soon ran into problems as UPS requested the paperwork digitally that I had provided printed, the package missed planes, and generally there were a lot of delays that meant the package was still in transit after three weeks. The client lost confidence in the transaction, believing I had done something wrong for there to be so many delays even though it was out of my control. He decided not to pay the customs/duty fees and have the package returned to France. This was already a very frustrating situation but to make matters worse he opened a case and Etsy sided with him, refunding him the full 800 EUR value of the transaction before the goods had even been returned to me. This happened several weeks ago. In the meantime I've been trying to contact UPS for a return. I've filled out the paperwork authorizing a return multiple times and contacted French and Australian customs explaining the situation over roughly two dozen e-mails. I checked today and the package was delivered to the client in Australia who has already been refunded. He now has no incentive to return the package to me, and I'm out 1,000 Euros. What can I do? I feel that UPS messed up by delivering to the client after I contacted them telling them the package needed to be returned, but Etsy messed up by refunding a very expensive item before it had actually been returned to me. 

[Adorabilities]

If the item arrived later than the expected date, or was never delivered to the customer at all, Etsy will refund the customer. (Why it arrived late doesn't seem to matter much.) If the order is over $250, that refund will come from your account. That's simply how the policy works. And a returned item is nearly never required.

I would continue to pursue this with UPS. If you had done what was necessary to request the package be returned to you, then they should not have delivered it to the buyer. As far as getting the item back, I don't think there's any way for you to make that happen.

Was there something unusual happening that UPS requested paperwork outside of the norm? If the delay was due to UPS, then that's another reason to pursue a refund from them.

[nineteen27]

send the customer an email.

tell him you were notified the package finally arrived.

and since he was refunded.

could he please pay you for the package now.

ups is not going to refund for a delivered package.

they never guarantee they can get a package back.

plus the buyer paid the fees to get the package.

after they received their refund.

etsy is not going to refund you either.