04-14-2020 10:14 AM
Hello
To All Sellers I hope your all taking good care of yourselves and loved ones . Is anyone shipping from canada to the usa getting alot of requests for refunds due to items not arriving within the ebay stated time?
Solved! Go to Solution.
05-10-2020 04:37 PM
According to a News Release (March 23, 2020) by Canadapost the parcel delivery guarantee is no longer in effect.
Service guarantees: Our goal is to continue providing timely and reliable service. But to be safe, give our people time and manage potential challenges, we have suspended on On-time Delivery Guarantees for all parcel services, until further notice. (Nothing further in Ap 23rd announcement.)
Is this being factored into the eBay delivery estimates? Truly something Canadian sellers have ZERO control over or should be penalized for. (Refunds?)
-Lotz
05-10-2020 06:09 PM
05-10-2020 06:15 PM
Ordered some sewing items from the UK that were supposed to arrive by May 5.
I noticed today that the delivery window now ends August 5.
My money is on the items actually being shipped from China, which is fine, but the much later date is an annoyance.
05-12-2020 04:49 PM
Just an update for anybody who read my post on the previous page.
It seems like letter mail is recovering a bit.
A lot of feedback is coming in from mid/late April orders, and my orders from about a week ago before I temporarily suspended letter mail seem to be coming in very quickly. I'm talking about regional orders taking a week now, instead of the at least two to three weeks+ a lot of them seemed to be taking that were sent last month. Of course, that's a bit of a small sample size, because not everybody leaves feedback, so it is impossible to know, but it is a good sign.
05-12-2020 09:04 PM
My patches from the UK arrived yesterday, pretty much on time for the original estimate.
How do you keep from getting a no scan strike?
There really isn't such a thing.
Tracking is voluntary.
Tracking is however also a protection for sellers against bogus Not Received claims.
If we go commando on tracking, we have to factor occasional bogus claims into our pricing.
Tracking is also not used when Canadian sellers are being evaluated for Top Rated Seller status.
In these days of plague, Canadian TRS should evaluate whether the risible discounts on FVF from the program are worth the hassle of too short delivery windows, and move to five, seven, or even 30 day handling. (Without actually changing our shipping time of course.)
I've been getting FB about fast delivery lately, which is comforting.
In my long experience in mail order, 20 days for delivery within North America is normal, although most move faster than that.
But customers don't understand that, particularly US buyers, because they simply don't mail very often.
How often to we see someone complaining their payment was a week ago, only to later say the Tuesday complaint was for a Thursday purchase?
05-16-2020 04:23 PM
I ordered something back in east in Toronto, non Ebay and the parcel/package was picked up by Canada Post on May 08 and has been MIA. I just checked today and it was finally scanned as being processed in Mississauga with a estimated delivery to Vancouver by May 25. That is about a 18 day delivery time for expedited parcel. Looks like it sat for over a week in the processing center!!.
05-21-2020 03:39 PM
Here's a question: in your experience, how significant are the delays for parcels mailed within Canada? I've seen a lot of posts about delays for international shipments but not so much for domestic ones. I'm asking because I got a claim this morning from a buyer. The item was mailed on April 25 and still hasn't arrived as of today (May 21). It was an oversized envelope (bubble mailer) shipped by regular mail (so, unfortunately, no tracking) from Toronto to a suburb of Montreal. Given that those are two major urban areas that are relatively close, 4 weeks seems like a long time, even considering the delays. Normally, mail or parcels sent from here take less than a week to reach addresses in Quebec, sometimes even a day or two if it's sent to an address in a major city.
So, is it safe for me to assume the item is lost, or is a 4-week delay relatively common at this time?
05-21-2020 03:47 PM
05-21-2020 04:32 PM
i mailed myself a letter april 13th and still havent gotten it back yet . the postal system is running 6 times above christmas levels
05-21-2020 04:41 PM
I bought a CD (not from eBay) on May 4 from the USA, which arrived today and some dried fruit and nuts from Vancouver on Tuesday which arrived today (in Victoria).
And the New Yorker is still arriving steadily.*
I consider these normal delivery times based on over 35 years in mail order.
*If you watched The Good Place, one of the hells was an empty room with a tall stack of New Yorkers which the damned could read, but knew they never would. And more kept arriving.....
05-21-2020 05:17 PM
PC...Pre Covid 19 Calgary to Vancouver by Expedited was almost always overnight with following day delivery. Now routinely 3 to 6 days
Calgary to Toronto/Montreal by Expedited was 2 to 4 days. Now 8 to 12 days. Add a day or 3 more for outside those cities.
Maritimes was 6 to 8 days. Now 10 to 14 days. Really depends on how rural.
In the past US mail went Calgary to Richmond overnight 8 times out of 10. Richmond to LAX or SF normally 4 days plus a day to process then out from there with scans for expedited Calgary, Richmond, LAX/SF. Lately no consistency what so ever. My most recent shipment went Calgary 13th...Winnipeg 19th, Mississauga 21....So it appears it is Taking the Long Way Home.
Last but not least recent shipment to 2 hours outside of Greater Montreal was quoting 6 to 10 days for Xpresspost(1 day handling). Was in Mtl overnight(Friday) and delivered after the holiday. Customer was thrilled.
If a customer asks, best recommendation I can think of, spin a wheel with a bunch of random numbers and let them know + or - 5 days either way. No guarantees.
-Lotz
PS. Anything i do happen to mail letter service rarely hear back. Maybe for a timeframe for that service eBay could suggest.....Sooner or Later....No Guarantees!!!
05-21-2020 05:32 PM - edited 05-21-2020 05:33 PM
Ugh I have 3 items with expected Delivery dates for tomorrow. All small parcel air. Usually you can use the UR code to track once the item is in the US. Always works. Now it appears USPS isn't scanning in anything. Just putting them in big piles my paranoid mind is saying. I can hardly wait to get the emails tomorrow "Where is my item!?!?!!"
I don't like being melodramatic but I'm thinking of just shutting down until USPS is no longer a black hole. Specially if I get INRs and negative reviews over shipping USPS delays. Ugh.
05-21-2020 05:45 PM
Maybe, eBay instead of removing INR's(As per the Announcement), they will start paying for late shipments out of THEIR pocket. Ooopsies...Shouldn't have had that extra ummm alcoholic beverage. I tried depositing an INR's at the bank the other day but they don't seem to accept those as valid currency?? Go figure!!
-Lotz
05-21-2020 06:28 PM
@lotzofuniquegoodies wrote:
If a customer asks, best recommendation I can think of, spin a wheel with a bunch of random numbers and let them know + or - 5 days either way. No guarantees.
-Lotz
PS. Anything i do happen to mail letter service rarely hear back. Maybe for a timeframe for that service eBay could suggest.....Sooner or Later....No Guarantees!!!
Inspired by this idea we should have the Delivery Not Guaranteed tag made available for listings. At this point no service is guaranteeing anything other than delays. eBay's corporate response has been a bit baffling, while other competitors are going out of their way to manage customer expectations and very clearly moving away from a model of delivery certainty we are seeing a odd mix of strategies from ebay: Overpromise to get the orders then pivoting to block this country for no apparent reason.
From a user experience it is a bit of a mess for an ebay shopper at the moment as countries are blocked that shouldn't be, ones that should be aren't, listings are getting erroneously tagged with same day shipping, delivery estimate days aren't reflecting the reality on the ground, and so on. Perhaps during a time of uncertainty there should be less emphasis on buyer certainty. Some of the carriers here are having delays of up to 4 weeks for shipments within a 100km space. First in last out seems to be more frequent now.
05-21-2020 06:36 PM
Thanks for your replies, guys. Sounds like a month isn't entirely out of the ordinary these days, even for (relatively) short distances. That's worse than I expected but then again, if the amount of mail to deliver is as large as what I've heard, it's not too surprising either.
05-21-2020 06:38 PM
Alright, that one takes the cake. You win this thread!
05-21-2020 06:55 PM
The most likely result is:
-The item is not lost.
-Your buyer is not scamming you.
April oversized lettermail was very bad. I have had packages take over 30 days within the same province. I have refunded buyers, and had them message me because their item arrived, and they want to repay me.
The upside is that, as of now, items sent in May don't seem to be as bad, but they are still taking long. It is very touch and go.
How I have chosen to handle this is:
-Buyer contacts me, I politely explain the current realities of the mail system. Instruct them to message me if their item doesn't arrive by the expected delivery date so that I can provide further assistance.
-If it doesn't arrive by the date, heavily emphasize that it is not lost, but if they no longer wish to wait, offer a full refund. Politely ask that they don't open the package, and return it to their post office as refused.
-Assuming they take this refund, I also let them know after refunding them that if they choose ot keep the item, I can also send them a new invoice when it arrives
Obviously, you can get scammed, because people realize oh sweet he has no idea if it arrived, so I don't actually have to mark it as returned to sender or ask for another invoice. But that's the cost of dealing with lettermail, and MOST people I've dealt with are cool.
If someone opens a case before messaging me, I explain that it almost certainly isn't lost, and that I will resolve the case by refunding on X day (the last day I have to refund it). While asking them to close the case if it arrives. After refunding, I message them instructing them to refuse the package or contact me for a new invoice when it arrives.
I've gone as far as to subsidize expedited shipping, while making it blatantly clear that "free" shipping via letter mail might take 30 days. Even at an additional 6.49 a pop for shipping that costs me sometimes as much as 15 total, most people choose the free shipping. It's also possible, that most people (especially on mobile) don't read the listing before buying. Ironically, it's never the people in Ontario where I'll come close to breaking even on Expedited shipping who buy it, it's always the ones in BC or Alberta where it's going to cost 15
For anything going lettermail, set your shipping to "Economy Shipping". This will give a much more realistic time frame for a worst case scenario. I also think it is important right now to message people when you ship their item. Just draft up a stock message that explains you've dropped it off with Canada Post, and that while you do your best to ship things quickly, in some cases items are taking 20-30 days due to COVID-19. I also usually photograph the actual letter mail package at my post box and attach that so they know I'm not just saying I sent it, but I understand that is overkill. I think when buyers know that I have in fact sent their item, they are more comfortable waiting because they trust I did my job.
Good luck!
05-21-2020 07:04 PM
05-22-2020 09:22 AM
I'm having big problems with usps. i sell most of my items to USA buyers. what is the longest you've seen your parcel sit before moving? most of my parcels except for two outstanding are expedited shipping. one has been sitting in outbound out of customs for 11 days now. a tracked packet one has been outbound out of customs since April 30. i am wondering what the average waiting period now appears to be. it makes me really nervous but of course i understand the situation.
05-22-2020 01:22 PM
@ilikehockeyjerseys All great advice and I'm going to be using some of those suggestions. Since i'm just part time I'm weighing the cost of increased shipping costs/claims VS just waiting this out. It's not like I have to keep selling. My stuff can easily sit around a month or two until the backlog is hopefully cleared out.
What I am hoping is that since stores are reopening people will be ordering less online. Giving CP and USPS some time to catch up. I was talking to a CP person today and they said things are getting worse with communication issues between CP and USPS.