eBay

07sierra60 · ‎12-31-2020

Ebay - how do I contact you to make a formal complaint about Global Shipping program and lack of tracking details once the item arrives in Erlanger KY?

I am always able to track my shipments from the seller to Erlanger via USPS but can never follow the item with the GSP tracking number from Erlanger to the final destination.

IF I'm buying anything online, I want to be able to track it. Like I can with other retailers like Amazon.

Thanks,

07S60

marnotom! · ‎12-31-2020

I used to be pretty obsessive about tracking my items until one day it hit me that we buyers are being brainwashed about the importance of tracking.

It doesn’t make the item arrive any faster or in one piece.

It’s not necessarily a good predictor of when the item will arrive.

It only shows where an item has been, not where it is; it’s not a real-time GPS system.

Having the item in my lukewarm little hands within the timeframe suggested in the listing in the advertised condition is more important than knowing if it’s travelling through Mississauga or Manitou Beach.

Having said all that, there’s a lot of trouble with tracking from a number of carriers right now, including our own Canada Post. I suspect the insane volume of packages handled this year has been a lot for databases to handle.

If you’re relying on emails or “My eBay” for your event scans, you might want to try one of these PitneyBowes sites for tracking info: (PitneyBowes coordinates the Global Shipping Program, not eBay. Direct your complaints to it.)

https://tracking.pb.com

https://parceltracking.pb.com

Use the “UPAA” tracking code you should have received in an email short after you made your purchase.

reallynicestamps · ‎12-31-2020

Second time I've uploaded this today.

Step 1: Go to the Pitney Bowes Parcel Tracker page at https://parceltracking.pb.com/app/#/dashboard/

Step 2: Enter your eBay-supplied Global Tracking number (mine began with UPAA...)

Step 3: You will be shown limited tracking info. In my case, only up to the point the package left the USA and entered Canada.

Step 4: Click on the "Track on carrier's website" link at the top right.

Step 5: You will be provided with tracking on the page of the actual shipping company, in my case Canada Post, with a tracking number in THEIR system.

Problem solved! If only eBay would put a link to https://parceltracking.pb.com/app/#/dashboard/ in their shipping emails, this could all be avoided...

marnotom! · ‎12-31-2020

The site you mention in that blurb is the same as the one in mine, @reallynicestamps, but thanks for elaborating.

zigartenzewel · ‎01-04-2021

Thanks for the link.

I can't see any CP tracking ID website on that page, alI see is:

Shipped from the Global Shipping Center to International Destination Dec 16

Going on 3 weeks, I HAVE to assume CP has it somewhere in their world.

marnotom! · ‎01-04-2021

Just below (I think) the “progress meter” on the tracking information page will be a hyperlink labelled “Click here to track item on carrier’s website” or something to that effect.

If the link isn’t there, it probably means the new carrier’s acceptance scan hasn’t made it to PitneyBowes’ database yet.

reallynicestamps · ‎01-04-2021

Has eBay/GST/Pitney Bowes given you a new tracking number starting UPAxxx xxx xxx yet?

zigartenzewel · ‎01-05-2021

Thansk marnontom!

Well, I guess it pays to complain on here on here, it showed up today!

(using the term of female pooch gets bleeped)

The really odd thing was the box label had a return address label as Mississauga!

Yet:

Item location:

Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Thanks for the PB link, it was worth a try but was no better than the eBay status. It wasn't late yet, but it was coming down to the wire

reallynicestamps

Yes it did have the UPA number, I used in the PB system. All it showed yesterday was Kentucky.

Magically the GSP system shows it out for delivery and delivered now, so big dead spot from Dec 16th departure from Kentucky, routed to Mississauga somehow and then to Calgary.

I really don't use eBay as much as I used too. Has really become off putting. If I have to I will, but I tend to look elsewhere first.

Edit: The item was delivered at 11 am, it is now 9:30 pm. JUST got an email from the almighty eBay GSP system with a big loud SUCCESS! title in the mail...lol....

marnotom! · ‎01-06-2021

@zigartenzewel wrote:

The really odd thing was the box label had a return address label as Mississauga!

Yet:

Item location:
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Did you also notice that your item had no customs form on it? 😄

The Global Shipping Program is a forwarding service. The item was originally addressed to the program's forwarding base in Kentucky where a new address label was put on it after it pre-cleared the customs process. It was then put on a truck to Mississauga with many other packages and parcels also bound for Mississauga. These parcels and packages were on a shipping manifest that was checked at the border before being released to Canada Post's YUGE Gateway Facility.

A lot of US-based e-tailers with a presence in Canada are doing things in a similar way now. You're going to find Canadian return addresses that are actually shipping hubs on packages for items you order from them.

@zigartenzewel wrote:

Magically the GSP system shows it out for delivery and delivered now, so big dead spot from Dec 16th departure from Kentucky, routed to Mississauga somehow and then to Calgary.

And a big dead spot doesn't mean you didn't receive your item, as your "SUCCESS!" email demonstrates. (I find those emails amusing, too.)

We buyers say they want tracking and we get sold on tracking as if it were the cure for all sorts of ills, but it's really not that beneficial to us in the big picture. I think what buyers want is some reassurance that their item is going to arrive within the stated timeframe on the listing page in the advertised condition. Tracking doesn't necessarily accomplish that.

Anyway, glad all ended well!

calvpet37 · ‎09-09-2022

Can’t do step #4 because there is NO SUCH LINK at the top right saying "Track on carrier's website"
So without such a link you’d advice I’d retarded

ypdc_dennis · ‎09-09-2022

You replied to a post from 2020.

ZOMBIE threads can contain out of date information when things change.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎09-10-2022

@ypdc_dennis wrote:
You replied to a post from 2020.

ZOMBIE threads can contain out of date information when things change.

When you think about it, it's ironic that a buyer or seller searching eBay for help...Majority of time it brings up a zombie thread!!! Ahhh the perils of eBay's best match!!

-Lotz