OMG a buyer is asking about where his CD is and it has only been 4 working days Vancouver to ONT.

[musicyouneed]

I was contacted by a buyer today who purchased something from me on Feb 7, it was sent on Feb 8.  Vancouver to Ontario oversize letter mail.   It was listed on .com using economy shipping.  There is no specific date to be received by the buyer on the order.  The buyer stated where is his CD as ebay said he would receive it on the 14th.  

I responded to the buyer that I was sorry he had not received it but it was sent oversize letter mail which in my experience takes 10 days from Vancouver to Ontario as it goes by truck.  I asked him to send him me a screen shot as that was totally wrong and he responded something like this.  

Don't ask me to send shots of any kind.   The truth is in front of you on Ebay.   If you don't know how Ebay works that's not my problem.  If I don't receive the order by tomorrow Feb 15 I will escalate an ITEM NOT RECEIVED claim.

What do I do now?  

[5274646]

I asked a question recently on another post...probably at the wrong time...lol...it seems that the op probably felt I've hijacked their post...

So thanks again! And all the best with your store after the adjustments.

[musicyouneed]

MJ, That is a good point too.  On the one hand do I want possible INR's after 7 days and loose money.  I have wasted 2 days on this.  Or someone who is going to ask me for tracking number.  Usually I get asked for a tracking number when the item they are expecting to receive hasn't come yet.   That was usually only people from the US who are really hung up on tracking numbers.  Hopefully with the dates EDD, by that time they would have received their item. 

[momcqueen]

I don’t know but I do suspect that if you list with Priority but ship without tracking, you’re opening yourself up to enraged buyers who feel ripped off and potential SNADs that you won’t be able to contest. Refunds anyway.

The solution is to collectively put pressure on eBay to FIX this loophole good and proper so that sellers don’t have to contort themselves to compensate for a programming shortfall. Like with the current (massive) Calculated Shipping error on eBay. Ca there are two possible workarounds but both are less than ideal and require an investment of hours and hours of extra work which all needs to be undone when it’s fixed.

[higgswtop12]

USPS priority mail international d be a turnoff for many as they would think it was being sent from the U.S. and would worry about potential customs charges.

It might be better to just put a note at the bottom of the listings pointing out realistic expected delivery times.

[pjcdn2005]

I 100% do believe he was given by ebay the date Feb 14/17.   He kept telling me that I chose that mail service to get it to him by Feb 14/17 but without a screen shot I have to take his word.  "It's posted on my Ebay beside the item of purchase. When you link on to CONTACT SELLER, item not received." 

We're both guessing without a screenshot. I'm not saying that he wasn't given that date. I'm saying that the only way he would see it is if he tried to contact seller using the inr option. I don't think that it is something that he sees immediately when he looks at his purchase history. Otherwise, why mention the contact seller link?

[reallynicestamps]

It might be better to just put a note at the bottom of the listings pointing out realistic expected delivery times.

Oh my sweet summer child..... Buyers Don't Read ™.

It wouldn't hurt though.

[momcqueen]

I suspect it says nothing of the kind, and that this fellow seller of the same items via the same method has been burned in the past in the precise way he seeks to burn you and that this is how he knows about the seven-day rule. 

[pjcdn2005]

The buyer may have run into the same thing as a seller and known about the 7 day delivery date already.    But when a buyer clicks on contact seller, item not received and it is before the ebay expected arrival date they definitely get a message that says they can open a case if the item is not received by xx date.  The item was purchased on the 7th so if they tried to open a case on the 14th  (the date of the original post) it would tell them they could open one by the 15th..the day after the supposed delivery date.

[pjcdn2005]

I might have missed it but has the buyer opened a case yet?

[momcqueen]

Supposed delivery date. There is none. It is officially ‘no estimate available’ with the caveat that a buyer can open their INR after seven calendar days. Making it a de facto EDD but not a real one.

[zee-chan]

I really don't think music needs to over react just because of one a-hole buyer. How many successful sales have you had before this a-hole came along? Like others said, changing your shipping method to an USPS method has more downfalls potentially (I for one don't buy from the States if it's over $20). If he does file INR, can't you just pay him out of your cookie jar? Like you said, you've already wasted two days over it, I'm not sure if this issue is worth even more of your time.

I sell comic books so I think buyers do read to some extent. I always add a "your item will arrive in roughly 2-4 weeks" in the message I send buyers after I have mailed the books. Out of 700+ transactions, I had less than 5 people write back saying that 2-4 weeks is too long, and only 1 of them gave me a late defect. So that's less than 1% of my eBay transactions. And I have refunded 4 INRs (they all waited over 4 weeks and those books were all shipped within a few weeks of each other to somewhere in Europe, so there probably was some sort of shipping problem during that time). That's still less than 1%. So I personally wouldn't stress over it.

[momcqueen]

I agree with zee. This seven-day 'no estimate available' is a troublesome loophole but the solution is to pressure ebay to fix it and not contort ourselves to compensate for it. And I think especially that promising buyers Priority as a shipment method to get the right number of days right fore an Estimated Date of Delivery when the method is wrong is both asking for more trouble, and more trouble than it's worth. If it was affecting me, I think I would prefer to stand my ground and ask ebay to fix it instead of trying to patch it myself with sticks, grass and chewing gum. 

[jt-libra]

@musicyouneed  I'm curious.  What kind of feedback has he received from his buyers?  Anything to indicate that he isn't a "stand-up guy"?

For what it's worth, if during some future communication with him, would you consider saying something like:

"No doubt, as a seller, you too have received notes from buyers concerned that they have not yet received their items.  Therefore, I'm sure you can appreciate that shipments across country through Canada Post is not an exact science."

[musicyouneed]

Check my last feedback.  He must have received it today as he said "Perfect Smooth Transaction"

LOL!

[momcqueen]

OH my gosh. Okay. Well. Unblock him, I guess. Did he leave you a Late Shipment Defect? All is well that ends well.

[musicyouneed]

Hi MJ, I am going to leave the block up until he asks about it. 

I am so happy that it turned out OK, but I am sure I got 50 more grey hairs because of it.

I knew he would get it but he did bring up a good point that if there is no EDD, they add 7 days from date of payment within Canada and 30 days outside of Canada.   I do have in my TOS that it take 4 to 10 working days within Canada but when ebay posts a date to the buyer that I can't see or complain out that worries me. 

https://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html

I have already emailed Tyler and as sellers we should pursue this as it wrong.  

[musicyouneed]

Hi Stamps I do put it into my TOS.  It was because ebay only gave me 7 days to get it to him that is the problem.  Had he done a INR after 7 days I would have lost even if I had it in my TOS. 

[zee-chan]

Good to hear it went okay, but boy, I would probably keep blocking him unless he contacts you again, like you said.