I am. It really doesn't seem fair that eBay blames the sellers if the item arrives late. I do fill out if the item arrived by the estimated delivery date, but reading your post, I am not sure if I want to do it any more if the answer would be "NO." The weird thing is when the carrier says late delivery, but the buyer doesn't. It is really annoying me...
Alex
Hello 'craftyhands',
<< Is anyone else with me on this?>>
Just about everyone. . . . just about. 
You are right, -- it is a terribly unfair question. Like so many aspects of ebay, another policy which seems to have been
put in place by people who never use the system. Mails are unbelievably slow lately, no fault of any seller, but they are
the ones to be blamed.
Some time ago one of the ebay suits offered some gobbledy-**bleep** to others who complained about that question,
saying that it is "working for sellers" according to ebay. I think most people would agree that it works against sellers.
Even same-day dispatch will not save a seller from a "no".
One of the worst aspects of that question, in my opinion, is that buyers are asked this question before the last date of
delivery has passed. It seems to me that if a buyer is leaving feedback before the last estimated date of delivery, then
the question should have an automatic and non-removable 'yes'.
If the buyer has made a mistake and is leaving feedback for the wrong seller, well, so be it, -- any and all feedback
could be a mistake then.
To use this as a means to force sellers to send with tracking would make it impossible for so many sellers who can
do quite well on inexpensive but alas untracked items. It is bad enough that these sellers will have to make the
occasional false-claim refund, but to be held responsible for the world's postal delays is monstrously unfair.
And lately the postal systems are unusually slow. I'm not sure why that would be, and have wondered if situations
in the world have resulted in closer scrutiny for all mailed items and hence delivery delays.
At the moment I am waiting for 3 "late" parcels, -- 2 from the UK (last dates, March 22, March 28) and one from Australia
(March 31).
I have no doubt at all that all 3 sellers put the parcels in the mail. I blame the postal system. When the items eventually
arrive I will click "yes" to the 'on time' question because I know whose fault it is, -- and whose it isn't.
I always click "yes" because I fear an unanswered question could be left to ebay's interpretation and I simply find myself
unable to completely trust what the wrong mind-set may infer from a blank space.
None of the packages had tracking, but if mail systems take longer than what we would all like I would think sellers
ought to be able to adjust the "expect by" dates. There needs to be a wider window or something. Part of the problem
is that too many people do not understand the difference between an optimistic "estimate" and an etched-in-stone guarantee.
So I'm not sure what the solution is. Perhaps if enough sellers vociferously complain about how detrimental this is
chiefly because it is not an accurate tool of measurement for seller performance, then maybe it can be adjusted, at least
for Canadian sellers who do not have cheap tracking like they do in the US.
I can find no policy that prohibits including a sweetly worded note with a package explaining how the question affects
the seller who, from the postmark, clearly mailed the item as quickly as possible. I have received many such notes in
parcels explaining the need for 5 stars and green feedback. I understand why some sellers include these, -- too many
buyers think that 4 stars means "very good" which is about as enthusiastically excited as some people can get.
As it is, buyers answer the question honestly, sellers have to pad their handling times, and the postal systems do what
they do. The question then causes the seller to take the blame and buyers to imagine they are answering a survey.
It's not accurate, not true, not useful and not right.
Well then, . . . my rant about it. 
You are in good (infuriated and indignantly outraged) company.
Woah, I got 'bleeped'.
I think I understand why now, -- that portion of the word can be a disparaging way to refer to certain foreigners.
Haha, even though 'gobbledy-bleep' is the language spoken by goblins in the Harry Potter books. 
Wow.
@dmil8030 wrote:
Woah, I got 'bleeped'.
I think I understand why now, -- that portion of the word can be a disparaging way to refer to certain foreigners.
Haha, even though 'gobbledy-bleep' is the language spoken by goblins in the Harry Potter books.
Wow.
I have realized that when you type the s word, it covers it up with **bleep**. I don't know if it does it with all swear words too 😉
Alex
Hello Alex,
<<I have realized that when you type the s word, it covers it up with **bleep**. >>
Haha, so many ways to read that sentence.
But yes, anything that an auto-system can interpret (misinterpret?) as a naughty word gets bleeped out. Better to err
on the side of caution, as the saying goes, -- especially on public boards. I think it is funny when it happens, though,
I just read it as is, "bleep". I don't read any dirty words into it, - far more amusing to read it as is.
This is weird. The first 2 posts, one by 'craftyhands' who began the topic, and Alex who next replied, have
disappeared. I didn't start this thread. Where did the others go? And what happens if I click all those
"Accept as solution" buttons?
Hmmmm, too much shuffling around, for my taste. The other 2 posts were so clean they squeaked so I can't
imagine they were removed on purpose.
Ebay glitches again? Didn't I read around here somewhere about things vanishing then reappearing?
@dmil8030 wrote:
This is weird. The first 2 posts, one by 'craftyhands' who began the topic, and Alex who next replied, have
disappeared. I didn't start this thread. Where did the others go? And what happens if I click all those
"Accept as solution" buttons?
Hmmmm, too much shuffling around, for my taste. The other 2 posts were so clean they squeaked so I can't
imagine they were removed on purpose.
Ebay glitches again? Didn't I read around here somewhere about things vanishing then reappearing?
Only click the green "solution" buttons if somebody answers in somebody gives you a good answer to whatever problem you are posting about. My answer is that this is probably a glitch...unless one of the moderators went crazy
Alex
Hello 'katlover',
<< What I cannot understand is why eBay cannot accept the date the Paypal label is printed as proof of mailing.>>
This may get better eventually, if Canada Post cannot be persuaded to offer cheap tracking the way the USPS does.
I have heard that some folks can win a chargeback case with a paypal label indicating the item was intended for the
buyer, but on a straight automated INR claim, no such luck.
As you suggest, there will always be someone somewhere who prints a label and does not mail the expensive item,
but if there was at least an 'entry scan' of some sort at postal outlets to show it got into the system even if an item is not
worth tracking after that.
This could settle the 'on time' problem by indicating when an item was posted but also act as 'proof of shipment' for
chargebacks, and ought to be sufficient to save a seller from false INR claims, at least if the number indicated that the
parcel was mailed to the recipient, and not just simply mailed.
Well, my opinion, anyway.
"What I cannot understand is why eBay cannot accept the date the Paypal label is printed as proof of mailing. I suppose you could print & then not mail it but really why would one want to go to that expense. "
Unfortunately, proof of purchase of a shipping label is NOT proof of shipment.
Quite possibly, a seller only ships once a week. However, that seller could print shipping labels on the day of payment letting the buyer think the items is on its way. In fact, it may not leave for several days.
Or, other sellers may sell "stuff" they do not yet have in stock but expect to receive in a few days - or they will buy from their suppliers to receive and ship in a few days. Once again, by printing shipping labels immediately they let the buyer (and eBay) think the item is on the way.
Or... or... or...
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