Returned shoes stuck in Netherlands!

[Netherlandspost]

I bought some shoes from Steve Madden, from the UK online shop.
Wanted to return them, was told I had to return them to THE NETHERLANDS and pay for the privilege - £14.10!!!

I did what I was told, sent them via the post office, but they have been in the Netherlands since the 9th AUGUST and haven't reached the company's warehouse.
The tracking says 'due for delivery today' but the date is the 17th August..... No updates since then.

I have had several emailed back and forth from the company I bought the shoes from, and they've just said there's nothing they can do, and as I sent it it's up to me to CALL the Netherlands postal service and find out what the delay is?!

They have also now changed things so any UK returns go back to the UK warehouse.....funny that....but it doesn't help me.

I have so far spent £85 on shoes, £14.10 on sending them back, and have nothing to show for it.

The last email from them said the shoes will be returned to me as they weren't collected, but will they, and am I then going to incur more charges to get them back (customs etc)?

Can anyone help?

Surely it's not unreasonable to expect Steve Madden to refund me??

I have tried the post office but can only get £50 back as a 'undelivered parcel', and that is still ongoing so I don't even know if I will get that.
Paypal said I don't have a case.
I have asked my bank to look into it.

Are they due import duty on return to the Netherlands- if so the company may not have them,.

Post on their twitter page.

Contact their PR team. Tell them either they refund you immediately or you will go to the media.

I’m not being unreasonable though am I?

Your mistake was sending them to the Netherlands, a UK based site has to provide a UK address for returns, by law.

ManifestDestinee - Really?

Their reviews on Trustpilot are terrible, I just wish I’d read them before buying!

Are you sure you weren't on the wrong site? Steve Madden UK gives a UK address for returns. The .eu version gives an address in the Netherlands. Which did you buy on?

I'm in the Netherlands, is the Dutch courier PostNL? Sounds like it's stuck in customs, did you fill in a customs declaration form and attach three copies of the return invoice on the outside of the package in a see through film envelope thingy? If not, it's probably bottom of the pile somewhere to be processed while they figure out what's in it and what the value is.

I'm not sure who is to blame but I do think whomever you sent it with is supposed to only accept packages with the custom declaration form and invoices attached. Otherwise it may very well be that they sent an invoice to Steve Madden for import fees/taxes and they're not paying them for whatever reason, after a certain amount of time they usually return the package.

I bought some shoes from camper. I didn't realise you had to return them at my own expense to Spain. I'd have never bought them if I'd known that!

Did they give you a returns label? It doesn’t sound like it, but it’ll make a difference…

If you paid for the return yourself, and didn’t adequately insure the shoes, you’re likely to end up out of pocket. The couriers contract is with you; so you’d need to chase them, Steve Madden don’t legally have anything to do with it.

The bank will likely temporarily refund you and then reclaim the funds, as you don’t have a valid chargeback claim, from what you’ve said here.

ManifestDestinee - definitely the UK site, and they only changed the returns address 2 weeks after I’d posted to the Netherlands, so NOW it’s returns to the UK! 😡

botemp - yes, that’s who the person on email has told me to contact. I can’t remember now what I did, just posted it back to the address they gave me. But it says it’s cleared customs I think and ‘due to be delivered today’ which was a month ago!

TakeYourFinalPosition - there wasn’t a returns label, the person on email just told me to send it to the address she gave me.

I’ll try and copy and paste the tracking!

This is what it’s saying in tracking

Try again!

I had the same with Hollister. Returns to The Netherlands at a cost of £14.00! Flipping BREXIT...

I had exactly this with Italy. Returned in February. Could see they were sitting in Turin for months. They suddenly turned up here with ‘uncollected returned’.
Nicely enough they fit my sister in law who adores them so I’ve given them to her. Well travelled shoes !
Good luck sorting out yours.

PostNL's phone number is +31882255629, they will speak English. The international tracking can be confusing, 'due to be delivered today' is often just a scheduling notice, it can say that for days before they even have possession of a package, it's just when they receive a notice that a package is on its way to them.

The customs declaration form and invoices are mandatory and a pain to fill in so I'm sure you'd remember the process if you did fill them. It does seem that whomever accepted your package without them is at fault here, they shouldn't be transporting a package without them so might be worth taking up with Royal Mail.

If you want to PM me the tracking number I can check it on the local tracking PostNL site, see if says anything different.

botemp - Amazing! Thank you!

If they did get returned I’d be fine keeping them, I actually liked them but they didn’t go with an outfit I decided to wear to a wedding!

Ok, I have some more information for you. There's import vat due of €28,33 that Steve Madden need to pay before PostNL will deliver it. I've attached a screenshot, the information is in Dutch, I can't seem to get it in English but I assume someone at Steve Madden should be able to read it or translate it. I've added a Google Lens translation for you. It may have been delivered at a PostNL pickup point and is awaiting payment there, it usually gets returned after two weeks of being there but it may be longer now with covid. Best to contact PostNL directly for that specific information.

Ok, some more digging elsewhere, yes, it's at a PostNL pickup point awaiting Steve Madden to come collect it and pay the VAT bill. The second screenshot shows the pickup point where it is. So it's not lost, Steve Madden are just not accepting/picking up the package.

I see to be having issues posting pictures. Trying again.

FIY, Steve Madden will have received a notification (I'm assuming around the 16/17th of August) that there's a package for them and that they need to pay the VAT and pay it online or at a PostNL point, their lack of response over a period of time (my guess is 14 days but I'd have to look it up) meant it got sent to the closest PostNL point and they'll have notified Steve Madden once again there's a package for them and that they need to pay the invoice.

Sorry, it all sounds like a nightmare but Steve Madden does seem to be ignoring your package.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

Did they give you a returns label? It doesn’t sound like it, but it’ll make a difference…

If you paid for the return yourself, and didn’t adequately insure the shoes, you’re likely to end up out of pocket. The couriers contract is with you; so you’d need to chase them, Steve Madden don’t legally have anything to do with it.

The bank will likely temporarily refund you and then reclaim the funds, as you don’t have a valid chargeback claim, from what you’ve said here.

Not true. If the company told her to send to the Netherlands rather than their UK address, any issues from doing so and any charges are on them, not on OP. She's not liable for their error.

Interesting!

I’ll be emailing them again tomorrow with that info! Thank you!
It’s just ridiculous that I’m the one chasing and am out of pocket when I can’t do anything my end!

Oh they did offer me a 20% discount off my next purchase! Thanks…..

When I look up their address it's a logistics company that probably handles everything on their behalf, they really should understand all this packaging stuff. At any point they could have refused the package with a simple click of a button and it would have been returned to you, they've just been non responsive instead.

This is useless for this situation but I'd suggest activating this PayPal service, if you're ever caught unaware again, at least they'll reimburse the return costs (but only if you have that activated).

Cheers, botemp, all done!

If I can just get the shoes back or the £85 back I’ll be happy. Never ever EVER use them again, but will be happy to have something!