Item going missing at shipping hub

[hornetsss]

My items keep disappearing at the shipping hub, in the last two in a half months the shipping hub has lost two of my purchases and my third purchase shipping hub would not export my third item, I could not imagine why my purchase of Lionel train tracks could not be exported??

This has been going on for a long time items disappearing at shipping hub , I'm sure it has happened to many people.

this needs to be investigated , and corrected , I am fed up with buying items and never receiving them!

[marnotom!]

I suspect the other two items were deemed "undeliverable" for whatever reason as well, but the tracking information doesn't reflect that.

Would you mind sharing the listing number of your latest purchase (assuming the listing is still available to be viewed) so we can take a look at it and do some detective work?

[hornetsss]

First one was a Victorian clock 266199015159 , disappeared .

second was Lionel train tracks 115873548931, cannot export.

latest one was vintage train accessories 314735674013, disappeared .

I have been with eBay a long time and have lost many items at the shipping hub, I don't buy items that are hazardous so I don't understand the problem!

[marnotom!]

My guess is that the corrosion damage in the battery compartment dead-ended the shipment of the clock.  In its ABC's of Mailing, Canada Post states that we can't ship damaged equipment requiring batteries.  I suspect other carriers have similar guidelines.

The "unexportable" lot of train switches may have been stopped at the hub because of the seller's use of the term "untested" in the item title and description.  There may have been safety concerns about the lot.  Similarly, the "unknown" condition of some of the train accessories in that third lot may have been cause for concern at the hub, if not for actual shipping reasons then perhaps for liability reasons as eBay would have taken on responsibility for the shipment as the exporter.

eIS seems to be more cautious (to the point of squeamish) about forwarding items that could possibly bear safety risks than the previous forwarding scheme on this site (Global Shipping Program).  I don't think your items went missing due to malfeasance on the part of eIS shipping hub employees, but having said that, more communication with buyers and sellers on why unforwardable items dead-ended at the hub would be helpful.

[hornetsss]

I guess if shipping is going to be so critical over such minor imperfections then there is no sense to buy internationally anymore considering I buy used stuff to be restored so these items will always have these imperfections , it is such a shame that things have got to this point in shipping.

I can understand if an item was leaking oil or other chemicals that would have a flash point which could cause fire etc . 
but to have such harsh restrictions on items that pose no threat to persons or property ,is to much!

[marnotom!]

It may not be an issue of "minor imperfections" but an issue of the termology used in the listing description setting off automated red flags.  It might be that a bot or AI routine looks for terms such as "battery corrosion," "untested" and "unknown condition" which then sets off a chain of events leading to the item being impounded at the eIS forwarding hub.

I'm reminded of this eBay for Business podcast from the days of the Global Shipping Program that explains why a vintage hat got erroneously confiscated at the Global Shipping Center in Kentucky because of a single word that the seller used in the item description that migrated over to the Item Specifics section.  The story starts around the 42:45 mark:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/eBay-for-Business/Episode-160-Part-3-Tracking-Your-Social-Campaign/ba-...

[hornetsss]

Now is this a policy that eBay put in place or is it a law?

[reallynicestamps]

The battery corrosion would likely be a law or industry standard, in the same way that there are restrictions on lithium batteries.  Lithium batteries were specifically banned on the no-fly list on WestJet when I travelled this weekend.

What the older batteries leak is acid, and while there isn't much in a clock battery, and it may have aged to the strength of lemon juice, the ban is absolute.

The other two may be insurance standards.

[reallynicestamps]

@hornetsss 

You did file a Not Received claim for each of those purchases right?
This does not affect your sellers, because once at the eIS plant, the seller's responsibility for delivery ends.

[theindigogrrl]

The last item I ordered through eBay's International Shipping was handed off to a courier service (Intelcom?) who promptly lost the item, but tried to claim it was delivered. I suspect the courier delivered it to the wrong address and refused to correct the error, as I had that same issue with them before for a textbook delivery from the publisher.

It took weeks to get the issue resolved, and I lost out on a one-of-a-kind item because of eBay's poor choice in courier services. They really just need to stick with Canada Post for the Canadian portion of the item's journey because at least then, there's some level of tracking and accountability if something goes wrong. As it stands now, eBay is doing its customers a disservice with how it handles its International Shipping Program.

[mariemilagritos]

If only ebay at least had the decency to provide the reason for which a given item is being rejected or held... Why not block the listings at the source if they feel they go against regulation instead of just making the objects disappear in transit, with no justification ? How could we still buy from abroad ? Shopping just feels like a waste of time now.

[marnotom!]

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@theindigogrrl wrote:

The last item I ordered through eBay's International Shipping was handed off to a courier service (Intelcom?) who promptly lost the item, but tried to claim it was delivered. I suspect the courier delivered it to the wrong address and refused to correct the error, as I had that same issue with them before for a textbook delivery from the publisher.

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Is the name of the carrier mentioned on this tracking site, @theindigogrrl?  It should be in small print to the right of the event scan information:

https://parcelsapp.com/

[marnotom!]

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@mariemilagritos wrote:

If only ebay at least had the decency to provide the reason for which a given item is being rejected or held... Why not block the listings at the source if they feel they go against regulation instead of just making the objects disappear in transit, with no justification ?

---

I think some blocking at the time of listing is going on.  I've seen a few posts on the .com discussion boards from sellers wondering why some of their listings don't have eIS attached to them or that some countries don't show up on their "ships to" location lists.  The problem is is that eBay's AI isn't sophisticated enough to figure out what is being listed much of the time and only has the item category to work with.

Given the volume of packages and parcels that must be going through the various eIS forwarding hubs, I think a personalized email or message explaining why an item was impounded is out of the question, but perhaps as the program gets more of its bumps smoothed out, something automated with a brief explanation can be sent to the buyer that's triggered with the "unable to be exported" scan.

[mariemilagritos]

The sorting of items seems absurdly random and baseless. For example, I bought 2 coins from the same seller 3 weeks apart, both shipped through eIS. First one described as "Unresearched Ancient Greek or Roman Coin", delivered within the timeframe. Second one described as "Unresearched Ancient Coin", which disapeared at Glendale. Neither one was "leaking battery acid",  i.e., there is no import restriction. Looks like someone decided it could not go through on the only basis that he did not know what it was. Yes, ebay refunded my payment, but it could have had a resale value of 10X  + what I paid for it, so quite frustrating. Don't see the use of ebay anymore if this is how things are going to work.

[marnotom!]

"Coins, stamps, and paper money" is not a category supported by eIS, unfortunately.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/shipping-items/setting-shipping-options/ebay-international-shippin...

Your seller may have listed the coins in a manner that inadvertently or intentionally circumvented blocking, or perhaps the block failed for whatever other reason.

[mariemilagritos]

Now that is weird. Just had a quick look at a couple dozen of listings from the US in that same category (Ancient) and only one of the sellers did not use eIS.

[reallynicestamps]

First one described as "Unresearched Ancient Greek or Roman Coin", delivered within the timeframe. Second one described as "Unresearched Ancient Coin", which disapeared at Glendale.

I wonder what was printed on the label? The full title or just the first four words .

We are often told that the first four words in our titles are the only ones seen on a phone, so I'm winging it from there.

Which means the plant worker saw  Unresearched Ancient Greek or  and  passed it but Unresearched Ancient Coin  and rejected it.

Or not.

and only one of the sellers did not use eIS.

Just as we say Buyers Don't Read™, we have to say Sellers Don't Read™.

A lot of problems would never be problems if someone read the instructions.

[mariemilagritos]

If I remember correctly it was described as "Unresearched Ancient Greek or Roman Coin", but I'm not entirely sure...

Kind of strange that coins/stamps/paper money are treated the same way as hazardous material and weapons. I bought some big coins but don't think they were large enough to kill someone 😁

I wonder why would ebay offer that shipping service in these categories if, as a whole, they are restricted ?

[pjcdn2005]

I see a lot of coins and stamps being shipped with EIS so perhaps that restriction has changed.

You said that the second coin 'disappeared".   Did they actually say that it wasn't allowed to be shipped or did it just get lost?

[mariemilagritos]

It was promptly shipped by the seller on August 16 and reached the Glendale shipping hub on August 21, then no more updates until 2 hours ago (weird)...