Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Do you have questions about the Global Shipping Program? Please post here & I'll do my best to track those answers down for you!

 

If you have any comments about the program, use this forum instead.

 

Thanks,

~Kalvin
eBay.ca Community Manager

kalvin@ebay.com

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

You dont' have to use the GSP.

Search using List view and don't Search on a mobile.

The GSP warning
Customs services and international tracking provided

Doesn't appear on Gallery View or on a mobile.

 

The Kentucky plant is the hub in a hub and spoke delivery system. The same type of system is used by USPS, FedEx, UPS and Canada Post. As well as most airlines.

Your item should not be in Customs. It cleared customs in Kentucky.

It may be with Canada Post.

Upstream in this thread is the PitneyBowes email for tracking.

They seem to be pretty good at shaking things loose.

 

And yeah. The GSP is the PITS.

 

 

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program


@a-delle wrote:

 


The seller lives one hour from the Ontario border so I am think no problem.  I will have these for my race on the 16th no problem....

 

Well It takes 4 days to go to KENTUCKY (wrong direction tools).  Then it takes another 3 days to get to Canada customs. 


I live on Vancouver Island.  If I mail a letter to a relative 100 km north of me, it goes to Vancouver to be processed first before being trucked back to the island, over to my relative's town to be delivered.

Just out of curiosity, did the delivery time estimate on the listing page suggest that the sunglasses could reach you by the 16th?

Message 3003 of 3,104
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

It originally did say the 16th. Then when bought it changed to the 18th.
I actually work for Canada Post and know the system quite well. The last 10 years of modernization and improvements have not done anything for the customer. It has cut service and costs but increased time for everything.

I have never seen an Item like this get stuck in customs. As of today it has been lost there for 9 days.

I have never used GSP before. Reading up on it it seemed like a no brainer. Pay fees in advance and simple slide right through customs. Pay in advance for better service....

Not here. If I had not paid GSP it would of had a 2 day clearance for customs and been here on time or shortly thereafter. Not stuck for 9 days. False advertising and terrible customer service!

The reason it goes to Vancouver first is that Canada post eliminated all the jobs in postal plants where the mail was hand sorted.

For instance in Red Deer AB, if a letter was going to Red Deer from Red Deer it would have been sorted that night and delivered the next day. Now that letter can either got to Clagary or to Edmonton and THEN Calgary and then wait for the machines and then be sent back to Red Deer. This process can add 3-6 days to the process. Ridiculous process and shameful. But lets spend Billions to get rid of jobs that cost thousand's.

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program


@a-delle wrote:

I have never seen an Item like this get stuck in customs. As of today it has been lost there for 9 days.

I have never used GSP before. Reading up on it it seemed like a no brainer. Pay fees in advance and simple slide right through customs. Pay in advance for better service....

Not here. If I had not paid GSP it would of had a 2 day clearance for customs and been here on time or shortly thereafter. Not stuck for 9 days. False advertising and terrible customer service!


You're not the first to complain about GSP items being "stuck in customs" in Canada.

What I think is happening, based on what information I've been able to scrape together, is that PitneyBowes has started to use a subcontractor who is using a mail consolidator, rather than a freight consolidator as is usually the case.

The shipments sent through freight consolidators are pre-cleared through customs and end up at a logistics company's warehouse and are forwarded to the buyer from there by the logistics company's choice of carrier, often Canada Post.  The shipments sent through this mail consolidator appear to be cleared in Canada, and the delay is likely because CBSA  is waiting for some sort of documentation that shows that taxes and duties (if applicable) have been paid on them before releasing them to Canada Post.

Why are some GSP items now being sent as mail from Kentucky?  I have two guesses:

 

1.  This subcontractor that PitneyBowes is dealing with has lost the plot and doesn't understand how GSP shipments usually work.

 

2.  PitneyBowes is experimenting with alternative shipping arrangements for oversize letter items to see if this brings their shipping costs down to something more easily digested for Canadians.

 

In either case, if buyers were to complain to PBI in droves about the delays in customs for items forwarded in this manner, PBI might look into this.  I suspect there haven't been that many complaints, if any.

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Hi,

I have been noticed that my item has been "attempted delivery" on a specific time and date. But in fact, I was at home with ears open, and nobody "attempted delivery" to my home.

Anyway, how can I get the item? Do I need to stop by the nearest CP? or Just wait until it is delivered?

There is no phone number provided to ask the carrier, PBI? (what is 'PBI'?)

What can I do? 

Thanks~

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Pitney Bowes International.

The postal meter people-- but they are much bigger than that.

 

If you were home when the delivery was attempted, there should have been a paper Notice left telling you where and when to pick up your parcel.

Most deliveries are subcontracted to Canada Post, since they do deliver everywhere. So your PO, 24 hours later is a good bet.

Bring ID with your address.

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Another way for ebay to profit.....complete rip off
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Disgusted with this company....need to open US for my purchases in the states to avoid their run around and high fees !!!!
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Another scam!!!
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Bought a hockey card for $10 US. And the global shipping charged me an additional $19 US . Nice.....
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Lol
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program


@prisonyardboss wrote:

Bought a hockey card for $10 US. And the global shipping charged me an additional $19 US . Nice.....


How do you think that shipping rate was calculated?

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Hi, is there a way to fix this? My buyer forgot to listen her apartment number in her eBay profile, and the item I shipped to her appears to have been forwarded from Erlanger KY, into Ontario. Is there a way to catch it in transit and have the number added? TIA!
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

*list
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

You shipped using the GSP and the parcel ended up appropriately in the GSP plant in Erlanger.

You can ever see it on Google Maps.

The GSP will ship it to Canada and probably it will be handed over to Canada Post.

 

Is there a way to catch it in transit and have the number added?

No.

Your customer's best bet is to keep an eye on the tracking (there will be a UP.xxxxxxx number once it gets to the plant, the USPS leg has a different number.)

Once it clears the border,usually only a couple of days at most, she should put a postit note on her apartment mail box telling the carrier she is expecting the parcel, but not to Safe Drop it, but to take it to the PO for pickup.

Most letter carriers can read.

The smaller her apartment building, the more likely this is to be successful.

 

As the seller, your responsibility ended when the shipment got to Erlanger. So you are helping her because you are a polite and helpful person.

If it cannot be delivered, it will eventually get back to.... hmm. Good question.

Normally an undeliverable shipment would wend its way back to the seller. With GSP, her error (and it is her error, not yours) may mean that it goes back to the GSP who will deal with it as they see fit, whether that is donate or destroy.

 

 

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

marnotom!
Community Member
Unless this buyer is brand new to eBay or just changed their shipping address, they've likely had items sent to that same incomplete address in the past. If this hasn't created problems in the past, it's unlikely to create problems for this shipment.
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

Thanks so much both of you!
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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

ciny2k
Community Member

I'm stuck in Global Shipping Purgatory! Please advise me on how to proceed.

 

I won an auction from a US seller, whose listing showed shipping via the GSP. I've had issues in the past, when the US sellers had no idea that they'd been enrolled in the program, but I was able to clear up the confusion and the transactions went smoothly. This time, I've hit a wall: the seller won't accept non-US Paypal accounts. When I tried to pay with a credit card, an error code came up. So I cannot pay for my item! WTH!?

 

I've sent 2 messages to the seller, and they haven't replied. I really want the item, but even more: I really DO NOT want an unpaid item strike against me! 

 

I posted my dilemma on their discussion board, but nobody's answered. And worse yet, there's other people in the same boat who've posed this question before, and their posts are unanswered too. 

 

I don't know what to do. I reported the listing, because IMO it isn't right that an auction should lead people to believe that they're entitled to bid, when they're unable to pay. It's easy to avoid sellers who don't ship to Canada, because their listings always say shipping not specified. It's easy to message sellers and ask them to reconsider international shipping, if you really want something badly enough. It's bleeping frustrating as heck to know that you've done nothing wrong, and yet here you are with an unpaid item and no way to pay for it. This is ridiculous! 

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Questions about the Global Shipping Program

I'm having a problem with the GSP.  I have an item that shipped from the US, has gone through the Erlanger sort center and cleared customs. Since october 5 the tracking with Canada Post has shown that it is in Mississauga, has been released from customs and is now with Canada Post for further processing. The expected delivery date still shows October 11 but I have not received it! The seller has been awful with communication since the start and is refusing to respond to my requests for her to help me. I tried calling Canada Post myself to open a service ticket, but they said they need to hear from the seller (who is deciding to uninvolve herself from the situation). So I realized it had been over 30 days since date of purchase, and I panicked and opened an eBay dispute. It is telling me it's the seller's turn to do something, but she hasn't done anything. It says I can "take action" tomorrow Monday 16. I plan on calling eBay to discuss all this come Monday but am worried they will settle in the seller's favour, because there is a valid tracking number and everything? After all it's not her fault it's stuck in transit (although I do need her to contact Canada Post on my behalf!!). This was a $225 item! Any advice in the meantime about how to handle this would be appreciated!! I just want to receive the item!!

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