ChitChat Slim to open tomorrow

[chicweb]

Hello all,

Quick question for those who already used ChitChat before.

I see their Chit Chat Slim will open tomorrow (17 december). I guess they use Canada Post? They offer partial tracking with it.

As I understand, that partial tracking is when they get the item and until they give the package to the actual carrier (in this case, Canada Post?). Then, the tracking stops. So, no delivery confirmation.

My question is:  How does the eBay protection for sellers work for this? In the current postal situation, having a tracking is very important. I guess it would help a lot to, at least, have this partial tracking?

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Chit Chats Slim is Canada Post lettermail. It's mostly a pointless service because it has the same limitations as lettermail (2CM thickness). 

eBay seller protection requires a delivery scan. (Delivered, or delivery attempt, or available for pickup.) That is why when you send an order via a fully tracked service, a buyer can get a refund if it is stuck in transit. eBay requirs proof of delivery, not proof that you handed it off to the courier. 

You will not be protected without a delivery scan. Chit Chats does offer insurance with Chit Chats slim. You would have to contact Chit Chats to ask if the insurance covers the packages after they are handed off to Canada Post. If you experience a high amount of INRs and Chit Chats covers that, it might be worth it. Keep in mind, my only Chit Chats insurance experience required the buyer to sign an affidavit. So I doubt the time wasted and risk that the buyer doesn't cooperate would be worth sending just for insurance. 

If Chit Chats rates do not go up with lettermail, it might be more appealing. I can't see how it makes sense compared to using discount stamps (stamp dealers at 20-40 percent off, or even Costco's 5 percent off) and going with traditional lettermail. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I will add that it is possible that having partial tracking might prevent a scam INR claim because the buyer genuinely won't know if you have a delivery scan, and the envelope will look like a tracked one with a label on it. But it doesn't justify using a more expensive and less accessible service just to maybe stop a few INRs a year. 

With that said, I think for (most) categories, people get too hung up on INRs. Yes, they suck - but people end up wasting more time and money while also making their own service worse just to try to combat a very small amount of claims. In most cases, it's cheaper simply to send with traditional lettermail, and then refund+block INRs than it is to do anything to combat them. Your time is worth money. For a cheaper item that went lettermail, even responding to a case with anything other than a stock message that says when it was sent, when it should arrive, and what the buyer should do if they receive it after being refunded is pointless. 

[chicweb]

ChitChat Slim is 3,43$. So it's the same price (for me) for an oversized package at Canada Post.

I have to test it for some PO boxes shipping I must send, I will know a bit more soon for sure.

[chicweb]

The recent notices by eBay says specifically that they extend protection for tracked item.

- Negative or Neutral Feedback if you uploaded tracking before the case was opened and have a physical scan from the carrier

This Chit Chat Slim scan counts as a physical scan from the carrier?

[byto253]

I doubt that a scan that shows you dropped it off with chitchats and ends when they give it to Canada Post would trigger protection as it does not provide a scan to prove delivery.   

The ability to insure more expensive items that will fit as lettermail is a nice addition with the cost of parcels being so high in Canada.  I do wonder what Chitchats will require as proof of non-delivery to pay out the insurance.  

[teenytrinkets]

Can someone do a test run and let us know what the tracking looks like on this? My guess is it serves no purpose except to facilitate an online purchase (no stamps/more professional looking?) and secure a drop point scan.  It will just take longer and add another unnecessary step for most of us. Not to mention add increased risk for loss because it's changing hands. You don't want to do that if it's untracked/uninsured 100% of the way. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

This is a good point. Assuming that you're worried about issues with sending untracked until Canada Post is done with the backlog, the acceptance scan from Chit Chats Slim should in theory qualify you for some of the added protection that eBay is offering. That is assuming eBay offers it for shipments with all carriers, and not just Canada Post.

The main point is that it doesn't protect you from INRs. You may get an extension, but without a delivery scan you will have to refund if the buyer doesn't eventually close the INR. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

My assumption would be that it is the same tracking as any Chit Chats package until it is given to Canada Post. 

Chit Chats Select and Slim are the same product, with the exception being that last mile delivery with slim is strictly lettermail and select is parcel via non-Canada Post carriers. So if anybody has Chit Chats Select tracking, I would strongly assume that the Select tracking is the same up until it is handed to Canada Post. 

As far as non-delivery goes, my only experience with the Chit Chats insurance process was time consuming and drawn out. It also required the customer to be open to filling out paperwork on their end. The item ended up delivered a few weeks into the insurance process, so I closed the claim. This was with a USPS item. My guess would be that the insurance is not worth it. I forget how much Chit Chats charges for insurance, but let's say it's 50 cents an order. Most items going Lettermail are $20 or so. That means, you have to lose 1 in 40 items to break even, but you also have to spend a lot of time facilitating the insurance claim, and your time has value. It seems like it makes more sense just to refund+block for INRs than to even pay to insure them. 

[chicweb]

Yes, I don't think I would use it for insurance, for low value items.

My main goal is for volume. If I want to ship fast using mail-in, I have to have volume. By using exclusively ChitChat, even for lettermail, I can then have more volume (and let's say add 1$ per item for the mail-in fees).

That would be my main goal. If things come back like before the strike using this method, it would only take me a day or 2 before a mail-in and I wouldn't have to drive to the post office everyday but use the pickup instead.

That's my main goal and is the most logical. Of course, it adds a day or two delay, but with lettermail and the backlog with Canada Post, I don't think it's an issue.

The eBay protection for the first scan would be a good bonus to this strategy.

I don't think it is worth it for the insurance and INR. Must be treated like a normal lettermail.

Also, it could be interesting for customers to see, at least, that the item has been sent with a tracking to prove it, even partial.

[byto253]

"Chit Chats Select and Slim are the same product, with the exception being that last mile delivery with slim is strictly lettermail and select is parcel via non-Canada Post carriers. So if anybody has Chit Chats Select tracking, I would strongly assume that the Select tracking is the same up until it is handed to Canada Post. "

Not clear on the point about Select.  Did you mean that the Slim tracking is the same as Select until it is handed to Canada Post?  Select provides tracking and confirmation of delivery. 

[teenytrinkets]

Chit Chats Select is not handed off to Canada Post. It's an urban tracked courier service handled by ChitChats.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I am not sure if I made a typo, but that's what I meant.

With both Select and Slim, they pass through the Chit Chats network. The difference is that they are handed off to different couriers for last mile. Slim lettermail, Select non-Canada Post couriers.

My assumption is that they are both the same until they reach Chit Chat's end point for the last mile. So I can't see why Slim wouldn't get Chit Chats scans similar to Select. 

[fantasticsportcards]

Hello,

Anyone go through an ebay claim on this yet? for the Chit Chat items only partially tracked. Wondering what the outcome is

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

For resolving an INR, tracking is not the important part. The important part is a delivery scan. 

Even if you ship with a regular tracked service from Canada Post, and the item is stuck somewhere, the buyer is entitled to a refund by eBay policies if the tracking never showed as delivered.

Because you have tracking, you might be able to convince eBay to extend the deadline for the case, but if there is no delivery scan by the deadline you will have to refund the buyer. If you do not refund the buyer, eBay will refund them and you will get a defect. So it's better just to refund them before the deadline. 

[recped]

"Partial Tracking" probably means an initial tracking scan done by ChitChats which would provide "proof" that you shipped and did so within your handling time. If the "partial tracking" doesn't include a Delivery scan then it's basically useless.