An international shipping dispute is rarely one clean legal bucket. It's the seller's ship date, the way you paid, and sometimes a customs or carrier bill stacked on top.
Who took your money comes first.
Did the seller miss the advertised ship date, or did a package arrive with a fee nobody disclosed?
Covered sellers that take mail, internet, or telephone orders must follow the FTC Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule. The rule is about the ship-by promise, delay notices, and when a refund is required. It does not set duty rates.
Your card issuer is a separate desk, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection decides how the goods enter. The Federal Maritime Commission only shows up for certain ocean common-carrier charges.
Commercial terms on an invoice can still assign freight or import costs. They are not a consumer complaint form.
Which office can actually move your dispute
Match the snag to the party that controls it.
A seller who never gave the goods to a carrier owns a shipment problem, while a parcel stuck in an International Mail Branch is a CBP or postal-processing mess. Courier "brokerage" at the door is usually two bills: the government duty and the company's extra fee.
Marketplace guarantees, if you bought on a platform, often move faster than any agency letter. Store refund policies still apply on top of any federal shipping rule.
Thing is, people mail the wrong office for weeks. You can't get a warehouse to waive a CBP duty. CBP can't force a refund because a product page was sloppy.
When the goods never shipped, or shipped late
The FTC rule tracks what the seller represented about shipment. If they named a time, that time is the clock. If they named nothing, the 30-day default applies once the order is complete. Complete means payment in the proper amount, or a valid charge authorization, and the details they need to process it.
A "label created" email is not your package; the rule cares that the seller shipped, not that the doorbell rang. Delivery is a different fight.
Delay notices have a specific shape in 16 CFR Part 435. If the seller gives a new definite date more than 30 days past the original window, or says it cannot give any date, you get a chance to cancel. The FTC's own guide describes automatic cancellation language and when a Rule-required refund is due. How fast that refund must move depends on how you paid.
Plenty of overseas checkouts will not behave like a U.S. catalog company. You'll waste less time if you run the practical order anyway.
- Save the listing, the promised ship date, the confirmation, and every tracking status.
- Ask the seller, and the marketplace if there is one, for shipment proof or a refund.
- If they offer a new date, accept or reject it in writing.
- If the order is canceled or you reject a long delay, request the refund.
- If they won't answer, take the same packet to the payment method, then a regulator complaint if you still need a record.
A tracking number gets treated as proof the seller finished the job, and then the wait starts, and a store refund window can close while the carton sits in a warehouse with a label that was printed weeks ago.
Customs bills, brokerage, and who pays the duty
CBP's page on internet purchases is the official map for a household importer. Mail shipments go to an International Mail Branch. A completed CN 22 or CN 23 on the package can speed examination there. Courier and express freight are often cleared by a broker the carrier hired, then brought to your door.
Goods valued under $2,500 and sent by mail or freight may, in most cases, come in as an informal entry. That is a processing path. It is not a free pass.
Shoppers still repeat older advice that packages at $800 or less skip duties. CBP's e-commerce FAQs say a suspension applies to merchandise valued at $800 or less arriving by all modes, including the international postal network, unless a separate authority specifically excepts it. Read CBP's current FAQ before you budget a "no-duty" order.
"Free shipping" on a product page may cover postage only. If the seller never prepaid import costs, you can still be the person CBP or the courier asks to pay.
| How it arrived | Who contacts you | What you may be asked to pay |
|---|---|---|
| International mail | CBP or the Postal Service after the mail branch | Duty, plus time lost in inspection |
| Courier or express | The courier or its broker, often before delivery | Duty, and a separate clearance or brokerage fee the company sets |
| Ocean household goods | The ocean carrier, a forwarder, or a terminal | Freight balances, detention, or other extra charges |
CBP does not price a courier's brokerage add-on. Ask for the entry paperwork on the government duty. Argue the extra service fee with the company that billed it, and with the original seller if they promised a delivered, duties-paid price.
When you paid by credit card
Card issuers run their own dispute desks. Those desks are not the FTC and they are not CBP.
Contact the merchant first and keep the email. Then open a billing dispute in the issuer's app or at the billing-inquiries address on your statement. State whether the goods never shipped, arrived damaged, or don't match what you bought.
Turns out the file that works is dull: order number, promised date, tracking that never moved, last seller reply.
The CFPB complaint portal takes credit card complaints. On that system, companies generally respond in 15 days, and you can review what they said. It creates a record. It does not promise a reversal.
Keep the payment rail straight. This path is a credit card billing dispute.
Ocean carrier bills and FMC complaints
Most online parcels never generate an ocean common-carrier invoice in your name. Furniture, vehicles, and personal effects sometimes do.
The FMC complaints and assistance page lets any person complain about charges assessed by a common carrier that may not comply with the Shipping Act. Claims of $50,000 or less can go in as a small claim. A charge complaint may be investigated and can lead to a refund or a waiver of a noncompliant charge.
CADRS is informal assistance. A formal complaint is a different track. Reporting a violation is a third. Use the Commission's own comparison, and to be honest skip this office if the only problem is a $40 gadget that never left the seller.
Staff will not issue a private legal opinion on a live fight.
Paper worth keeping in one folder
Put the confirmation, the exact ship-by wording, the payment receipt, and the full tracking log together. Add photos of damage, the carton, and any customs notice. Keep the commercial invoice, a CN 22 or CN 23 if you have one, and every fee email. Save your refund request with the date on it.
A one-line timeline beats a long vent. Date, what happened, who you told.
If CBP is holding the goods, follow the notice they mailed. When entry is required, CBP's e-commerce FAQs say it is made by the owner or purchaser, or by a licensed customs broker you designate.
Do this tonight
Open the original confirmation. Write the promised ship date, the last tracking status, and whether anyone billed you for customs. You'll see which office to contact first.