eBay

izzame · ‎01-28-2016

How I spent this morning on the phone with USPS (I'd spend the day, all day with CP vs USPS )

Background: Buyer purchased pd. right away, I shipped within 24hrs. Oversize letter rate USA . Destination: Virginia USA

I do not print postage online, go to my CP station as I always do. Point being, I am physically involved in this process and not new to mailing. Pd. for correct postage watched employee do what they need to do. Custom form was attached filled out by myself. Item was made in USA. declared value under $20.00 (true) Again, point being, no customs/duty issues.

Email from the buyer this AM extremely upset (reasonably so). Letter carrier came to his door yesterday with oversize letter package, telling him that to give him the mail he would have to PAY the letter carrier for the postage and declared value of the item !!!! Buyer, refused ..... so would I have. Buyer states in email that he checked his PP account and that the payment in full had been taken out of his account as it should so basically WT*

To cover all the bases, yes postage and documentation was secure on pkg, filed out correctly, placed on pkg were it should be etc.

So a nice challenging way to start the day instead of listing, again. Started with USPS 800# on website then continued to escalate call, more the call was escalated, the worse the "customer service" became to the point 1 "professional" told me that if I thought it was such a big deal, that I should be calling the police not them. When I replied that I was hoping that this could be resolved "internally" but if that is her suggestion as way to resolve this, if she could kindly give me the local sherriff's #, the call got escalated again. Next person comes on starting with, "Are you the Canadian calling accusing USPS of doing something wrong ...... I was given, finally, the local postal station for the buyers addy # Called them, I assumed they were foreworned of my call .... anyway it was challenging to say the least and it took me speaking with/explaining the situation to 2 different supervisors , though I think one person was a union rep as they were more focused on how dare I say anything about the letter carrier than resolving the situation .... I finally had to ask to speak to someone who was interested in resolving. End of the story ... the package was still there( not on it's way back here yet) "It will be delivered today!! I asked if there was any $$$ owing ... no and they hung up

So based on this real situation: If buyer marks didn't receive on time ...... All I can say... no matter how eBay wants to twist/spin/sugar coat/be in denial, this is a measurement of postal service.... not the seller, as I assume the initial intent of this festering can of worms that is about to be unleashed, was to be. Remember, the program isn't "officially" under way yet and many many sellers have various situations that are the same.. it's affecting the seller and should not .... eBay don't use sellers for what they can't control. In this case, I feel that I did everything short of getting in my car, driving to Virginia, retrieving pkg and hand delivering. So If I get a "not arrived" mark .... is our only recourse to spend time with a CSR pleading our case, instead of listing and when the CSR asks for tracking (which I don't have) does that mean basically call over, seller once again SOL

What are your thoughts?

avenueshopswapsell · ‎01-28-2016

Something weird here...IMO I think the letter carrier was trying to get some cash from the buyer. I can't think of any other reason why the union rep would get involved, plus the fact that they stated the letter would be delivered today, and nothing was owing.

Either the letter carrier screwed up and thought the letter was COD ( I am not sure how COD works, so maybe?) Or he/she was pulling a scam trying to grab some extra cash.

Good for you for persisting!

Kinda laughable, "Are you the CANADIAN accusing USPS of doing something wrong?" LOL, we are stereotyped as so nice, I bet they just couldn't believe, down in Virginia, that you were persistent and demanding a resolution!

mr.elmwood · ‎01-28-2016

" telling him that to give him the mail he would have to PAY the letter carrier for the postage and declared value of the item"

That makes no sense.

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sylviebee · ‎01-28-2016

@izzame wrote:
Email from the buyer this AM extremely upset (reasonably so). Letter carrier came to his door yesterday with oversize letter package, telling him that to give him the mail he would have to PAY the letter carrier for the postage and declared value of the item !!!! ?

You're saying that the buyer was asked to pay postage and import fees, so two payments, right?

1. Was the postage on the package not enough for shipping and the buyer was asked to top if off?

2. It sounds like they were asking the buyer to also pay $20 which was actually the item value, sort of like a C.O.D. order. There are no import fees in the US for a $20 items.

Did I get that right?

mr.elmwood · ‎01-28-2016

@sylviebee wrote:
@izzame wrote:
Email from the buyer this AM extremely upset (reasonably so). Letter carrier came to his door yesterday with oversize letter package, telling him that to give him the mail he would have to PAY the letter carrier for the postage and declared value of the item !!!! ?
You're saying that the buyer was asked to pay postage and import fees, so two payments, right?

1. Was the postage on the package not enough for shipping and the buyer was asked to top if off?

2. It sounds like they were asking the buyer to also pay $20 which was actually the item value, sort of like a C.O.D. order. There are no import fees in the US for a $20 items.

Did I get that right?

There limit is $200 (two hundred), I believe. Again, none of this makes any sense.

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pjcdn2005 · ‎01-28-2016

It's a really odd story. I have to wonder why and IF a USPS employee would be willing to risk his job and do something like that.

Anyway.... are you saying that if the package was delivered yesterday it would be on time but if it were delivered today it would be late and that's why you are worried that the buyer may mark it as being late?

I doubt that anyone is going to disagree that it is not fair that we are held responsible for something that isn't within our control but it's been like that for a long time. Under the old system if the buyer gave you a negative for this situation or filed for an item not received, you would get a mark against you even though the situation wasn't your fault.

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-28-2016

1. Was the postage on the package not enough for shipping and the buyer was asked to top if off?

USPS would have no way of knowing how much the postage was supposed to be and I can't see them collecting on behalf of Canada Post.

izzame · ‎01-28-2016

Everything was in order, definitely not COD, correct postage etc. I think letter carrier was pulling a scam or giving a real stretch, 1st day and not sure how to read mail. When the person came back on the phone, much softer spoken, felt they couldn't get off the phone fast enough ..... the jig was up so to speak.

izzame · ‎01-28-2016

Buyer claims how letter carrier came up with amt he wanted for postage is what it said on the CP postage label, hmmmm. Quite frankly, this has "grey USPS issues" all over it, I don't care that's their internal deal, My concern was getting it to the buyer as best I could, and unravel things asap.

sylviebee · ‎01-28-2016

Is it possible there's something up with your buyer?

izzame · ‎01-28-2016

Had given that thought but if it was the buyer, wouldn't USPS have eagerly put the blame on them ? I'm really hoping this situation is over with happy ending for all, fingers X

izzame · ‎01-28-2016

Every level I spoke to (6) was worse than the one before. I can guarantee, if they were at any business in Canada, speaking with the tone and attitude they had, they would have been fired on the spot. One even said if all I was doing was calling to raise an issue regarding a letter carrier, she was hanging up. Could this mean they get a lot of letter carrier related issues. Anyway, like I said, I really hope problem solved, enough further time spent as I have to take an eBay break to put in some laundry

hlmacdon · ‎01-28-2016

@izzame wrote:
Buyer claims how letter carrier came up with amt he wanted for postage is what it said on the CP postage label, hmmmm. Quite frankly, this has "grey USPS issues" all over it, I don't care that's their internal deal, My concern was getting it to the buyer as best I could, and unravel things asap.

The entire story is not adding up. If a piece of mailing going to the US has insufficient postage it will get stamped postage due with the exact amount noted, and typically held for pickup. Anything under $200 is not subject to tax, and even it it were subject to state tax or duty, it wouldn't be an amount matching the declared value.

You could have a rogue postie, but I have also seen buyers try to use this as a scam to get a partial/full refund for items, especially for international shipments.

Regarding the late defect issue, with a non-trackable service you are dependent on the buyer marking it as late or not when leaving feedback. My understanding is that defects will be reset before the program goes live as part of the February update.

musicyouneed · ‎01-28-2016

Hi himacdon, your statement:

'Regarding the late defect issue, with a non-trackable service you are dependent on the buyer marking it as late or not when leaving feedback. My understanding is that defects will be reset before the program goes live as part of the February update."

I don't think that is true. I think that whatever it is now is what it is going to be. You are only allowed less than 5% late shipment after that you lose TRS and any other punishments ebay feels you deserve.

I think that whole measurement is ridiculous and we are really measuring the postal service delivery standards and not the ebay seller. I called after I got my first late and CS said I created a bad selling experience for the buyer, how did I do that? I got it in the mail the same day, how am I responsible for Canada Post and their lack of delivery on time.

We have to keep bring it up and not just accept it as is. It is totally unfair to sellers who bust their a-_ to do a good job.

hlmacdon · ‎01-28-2016

I don't think that is true. I think that whatever it is now is what it is going to be. You are only allowed less than 5% late shipment after that you lose TRS and any other punishments ebay feels you deserve.

Per the program:

Shipments will be considered late only when:
Tracking shows that the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date and there's no acceptance scan within your handling time, or there's no confirmation from the buyer of on-time delivery; or
The buyer confirms that the item was delivered after the estimated delivery date and there's no acceptance within your handling time, or there's no delivery confirmation by the estimated delivery date
From talking with CS reps and seeing mentions elsewhere, the defects are supposed to be reset prior to the program going live Feb 20th, and the measurements in the meantime were to allow sellers to gauge the potential impact of the new standards and adjust accordingly prior to launch.

I think that whole measurement is ridiculous and we are really measuring the postal service delivery standards and not the ebay seller. I called after I got my first late and CS said I created a bad selling experience for the buyer, how did I do that? I got it in the mail the same day, how am I responsible for Canada Post and their lack of delivery on time.

We have to keep bring it up and not just accept it as is. It is totally unfair to sellers who bust their a-_ to do a good job.

I think the basic idea is fine, it just doesn't take into account the unique nature of Canadian logistics where tracking (or acceptance scans in the case of destinations without delivery confirmation) is not standardized for lower cost services like it is in the US. In that respect it is unfair to a large group of Canadian sellers and the program doesn't accurately reflect the effort that those sellers put in.

pjcdn2005 · ‎01-28-2016

From talking with CS reps and seeing mentions elsewhere, the defects are supposed to be reset prior to the program going live Feb 20th, and the measurements in the meantime were to allow sellers to gauge the potential impact of the new standards and adjust accordingly prior to launch.

Music is correct, if you are rated yearly, any late shipping mark against you received since Sept 12 will remain in February.

As far as defects being reset,that means that defects you may have right now for an inr or nad will no longer exist as they

will no longer be considered defects. The way that I understand it, any out of stock defects or unresolved claim strikes that you now have will remain in February. I don't remember reading anything about all defects been reset to zero. Plus, according to the dashboard, the late shipment section isn't considered a defect as it is in its own separate category.

musicyouneed · ‎01-28-2016

I hope your statement is true:
'From talking with CS reps and seeing mentions elsewhere, the defects are supposed to be reset prior to the program going live Feb 20th, and the measurements in the meantime were to allow sellers to gauge the potential impact of the new standards and adjust accordingly prior to launch."

As one more late and I lose my TRS.

amya4295 · ‎01-28-2016

I love how this time given to us until Feb. was for us to gauge how this new defect system would affect us but how does that help us? If we are already doing everything possible with the exception of paying for tracked shipments, how do we possibly make any adjustments if we are seeing late shipments to buyers? There is simply nothing to adjust, sell the item, mail in our required handling time and then the rest is completely out of our control leaving all of the power with Canada Post and praying our buyers receive the item on time and tick the "yes" box.

There has to be a better way! When they announced this new seller update they praised the changes claiming that now sellers are fully "in control" of defects and in the same statement told us defects were now based on delivery time....something fully out of our control. I really can't comprehend how anyone can believe that this is a fair system of rating sellers. Yes, find a way to hold us accountable for what we state we can do, describe our items accurately, ship based on our handling times, use the method of shipping as stated in our listings and stop there. The rest we CAN'T control. To make matters worse, to only factor in the sales where feedback is left instead of all sales totally skews the numbers, leaving small sellers completely vulnerable to the one or two defects that will wipe out years of 5 star 100% feedback and service and for many, TRS status and discounts. Still shaking my head and sprinting to the post office the minute a sale happens.

musicyouneed · ‎01-28-2016

Could not have said it better myself. Thanks!

cumos55 · ‎01-28-2016

If a seller mails a parcel within their handling time

With tracking... There is an official record ... The parcel has entered the postal system.... A buyer's comment has no effect... on the seller's standing on eBay.

WITHOUT tracking.... It is the buyer's word that counts... early or late...

It appears then that tracking is being promoted.... to the benefit of sellers

Canadian sellers need some form of indication that the parcel was delivered to a postal outlet and has entered the delivery system.

Delivery confirmation is not required....