Yes, It has reached ridiculous proportions...Reading the comments about this issue on questions going back to 2015, I have 2 major points.
1. In my opinion there is too much sympathy and regard for the 'sellers' as a group. The great thing about ebay vs. Amazon or Corporations(Wal-mart, BestBuy etc.) Is you are dealing person to person and as eBay founder Pierre O. points out in his 'Explanation of Feedback' letter is , "They can't hide here".......I have a retail store. ALOT of my stock is ordered from China on eBay. This year alone I have ordered over 2000 items. 99% have arrived eventually(that should dispell the conspiracy theorists that think the intent to send or the product itself does not exist)....
When you buy a few items you don't get a clear picture because things squeeze through, you may have got lucky or unlucky as it were. But when you buy a few thousand you start to see these patterns. And yes, 80% have arrived 50+ days, 60% 60+ days......I have seen it all....Pay for express- still 50+, split into little packs-still 50+ days each, while sometimes e-cigs incl. nicotine products, weapons, a tonne of counterfeit products have showed up in 7 days(Edmonton)..?? **bleep** right?....Here is the rub....Packages from one seller come through every time in time while others do not....The seller clearly has something to do with it. Think about if your places were reversed, would you tell your customer, "Tough luck. I did my part.". The unfortunate reality is that a large majority of sellers are willing to be dishonest to get the sale. A service called e-packet started a couple years ago. Packages being carried by this service are not subject to the same schedules and line-ups as regular post. They are not immune to being held up, but they are handled differently. It is of course more expensive. So sellers have to make a choice how to sell and ship. and so, it gets to be like Ed Norton's work in Fight Club:)(Awesome movie)....Remember he talks about his insurance company doing calculations on the cost of stopping production vs. the cost of settling wrongful death lawsuits? They can either sell more and give 20% refunds or charge more, sell less and give no refunds. Whichever comes out higher is the route they will choose....The problem is this has no regard for the consumer unfortunate enough to be 1 of the 20%. And if that consumer is a business relying on the product's timely delivery the damage can be far greater than just not receiving an item. And so, the decisions the seller is making on price, shipping and service are certainly their responsibility. This problem is old, 99% of sellers are very aware of it, yet they choose to proceed. And not only proceed, but they make no notes or alerts or warnings in their listings. In fact they still advertise ">31 days=refund".....if they do not use e-packet they are taking a risk, they know this(I tell them beforehand). If they decide to take a risk with my business you had better believe when their gamble fails I will not be taking the fall for them. I deal with every individual on a case by case basis. If they have good intent and show concern, competence and take responsibility I work with them as much as I can. Unfortunately most sellers I deal with are extremely ignorant and have little or no concern for my struggle. In fact, about half I would say are not even capable of empathizing but continually harass me over negative feedback like their struggle is the only important thing going on.....I have had at least 50% of those thousand items refunded and as I say they eventually show........Should I repay the money?? Not on your life. the money is re-budgeted, re-spent because my business has to keep moving, they made me a guarantee, I hold them to it. I only choose sellers that make this guarantee. Some still do not honor it but it is one tool. The damages incurred when they don't meet their obligation are far greater then the free stuff. I have lost several customers and indeed am inching closer to losing my business over this issue. Which brings me to my second point....
If businesses are starting to go down, WHERE IS THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA??????? I appreciate Customs' work on trying to keep us safe but if there procedure is killing Canadian businesses and commercial relationships with China WHERE THE HELL IS THE GOVERNMENT??? Higher more people maybe?? expedited hirings of civilian personel to do paperwork etc., whatever. Canada is seperating itself from the rest of the G8 nations quickly. Medicare, Commerce and Education are all degrading in this country. And its because 90% of Canadians have their heads up their butts and think they do a good job and are among the greatest people to ever live. This leads to a very solid identity as a fence sitter and very unlikely to believe there is even a problem that needs to be adressed. You can't get through to individuals in this country that their work isn't good enough....Well, message to Government officials, " YOUR WORK IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH." How about skip your next 'ATTACK THE OTHER MINISTER DAY' and "GET SOMETHING IMPORTANT DONE" because the economy is the # 1 issue for Canadians and businesses are failing! Long before the current round of corrupt officials were in power we made all kinds of programs and laws designed to help businesses and more largely designed to create success for our businesses, including trade deals with CHINA! And on your watch, Mr. Trudeau it is all going to hell because of a little desk in the Vancouver airport....Less than smart people could solve this issue quickly....you should all be asking yourselves not, "What's wrong with China?" but "What's wrong with me that I keep voting in this corrupt sytem?" We are subjects of an empire that has a plan for us...and it is not Freedom, Justice and Truth.
Because of the freedom of communication and interaction and trade eBay in many ways is a blessing to the human race, as is youtube. But operating on a platform that is subjugated behind the scenes by the same powers that seemingly offer this Freedom is, well, we have a name for that.......I believe we call it a 'puppet'. We are puppets, and we keep voting for the puppeteer.
Ask yourself what right Canada Border Services has to disrupt commerce and take actions that result in the demise of a company or individual. To insert themselves in the middle of a trade between its citizens. Their rights may be written in law but those are corrupt laws written by corrupt men and women. When did crime fighting become proactive hassling of honest citizens based on a 'maybe'...As far as I know we don't storm into people's homes because 'maybe' he is a drug dealer. Why is the border any different. I signed agreements for this package. I am a citizen. You can take my word that it is what I say it is. If you don't believe me then go through the same process any other Law enforcement agent must go through to prove it. Their power is unbalanced with the rest of society. I guess I have to suffer and live on the street so CBS can stop the next drug addict from killing himself.
Tim Racine
Edmonton, AB
