Hello 'bigted99',
The problem is not the shipping labels, - the problem is not understanding the procedure.
As PJ tells you, once you place your order and the seller processes it, the seller prints off a mailing label.
"As soon as a shipping label is printed ... the item is automatically marked as being shipped."
"Shipped", here, is not misleading. The item is on its way. If you personally feel there should be
no indication until you are able to see that it is half way to your house, that is your misunderstanding,
not anything misleading about the system.
Think of the sellers who must send out hundreds or even thousands if items per day. Your order
comes in, they wrap it, slap the label on, toss it into a bin to move out with the other orders. It is simply
not possible for that seller to scrutinize each and every order to know when yours will in fact have hit
the mailbox. There may be many people handling it along the way before it leaves the shop.
Ebay has the system set up this way. Even a small vendor who only sells a few items per month can
be assumed to have processed the order once the label is printed. At the very least it tells you the seller
is serious about getting the item to you.
Once you know how to use the shipping-tracking information privided to you, you will find it very useful
indeed.
Sure, it's too bad that all sellers do not have the option to switch that on or off, - so that the major sellers
can have it on, and the small ones can mark your item shipped later in the week when they send that
friendly little note to tell you it's finally in the mailbox.
But that option is not yet available, - most likely because too many sellers, big and small, were not using
it at all and that causes far more problems than the present form.
The existence of a label means the seller fully intends to send it to you.
After all, as 'hocotate' states, when a seller has paid for and printed the label, "there's no reason NOT to use it on a parcel."
From there, you only need to know how to read the information. If your items has not yet been checked into
a postal outlet, the tracking tells you 'electronic shipping info received'.
What that means in English is that the label has been printed. What's the difference if a little brown envelope icon
has or has not been highlighted?
Once the item enters the postal system, the tracking information will show it. This enables you to know if
a seller mails your item in a reasonable length of time, or retains your item for 3 weeks.
Even if a seller keeps the item back for 3 weeks (mistakenly thinking he needs to wait out that 21-day hold)
when the item does finally get into the mail stream, you will know it is on its way. Similarly, if you paid
immediately (not an e-cheque) and the seller hasn't mailed it for over a week, you may feel justified in asking
the seller where it is.
In either case, the availability of this information greatly reduces false 'not received' claims. A buyer who
knows his item has been delayed but is finally on its way will feel greatly relieved and be more willing to
wait for its arrival rather than blindly react with a claim.
Your item will be 'checked in' at various points along the way, and even if it is held up in Customs for a
few days, the tracking info will tell you this. All you have to do is click on the number provided.
It will even tell you if a signature is required, in case you need to have someone available to sign
for the parcel in your absence.
If clicking the number doesn't seem to work, any genuine tracking number will certainly register here
when the item enters the country:
http://www.canadapost.ca/cpotools/apps/track/personal/findByTrackNumber?execution=e1s1
There is nothing misleading about the system. The item is being sent to you, and the best way for ebay
to let you know this is to indicate it once your address label is printed.
A major seller will have slapped it on your package right away. A small seller will fiddle around with
scizzors and glue a bit first.
Like people who lose money because they don't know how to file for refunds, when you know how to interpret
the tracking information you are given you will see that it is extremely handy to have at any stage of the delivery.
What causes 'emotional upset' is not the existence of the tracking sytem, but rather the buyers' not
knowing how to read it.
No system of any kind will be beneficial to its users if they do not understand it. That lack of comprehension
on the part of some users does not equate with a lack of utility of the system for those who do.
Just like filing for refunds, -- know how the thing works so you can get the most out of it.
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