How can one give negative feedback regarding Australia Post without it reflecting on the seller?

[tsmurf8_8]

Sellers make promises that Australia Post can't (won't) keep.  It's a shame really, gives the seller a low rating meanwhile Oz Post just sit back and please themselves!

[lyndal1838]

Feedback is supposed to reflect your dealings with the seller.

Everyone knows that Australia Post is not reliable, so why attach any blame to the seller for their shortcomings.

The estimated delivery dates are just that...estimates put on the listing by ebay, not Australia Post or the seller.

Why would you rate the seller on Australia Post's performance.  If the seller has posted within their handling time then they should be given a full 5 stars.

[curraone]

lt would not be appropriate to give negative feedback to a seller when the seller has done all they can to get your item to you promptly and as described.

The way to complain about Australia Post is directly on their site, or one of their feedback sites, like Facebook.

[chameleon54]

Australia post seems to be getting slower and more unreliable lately. If the seller mails an item within their stated handling time, it is not fair to hit them with a negative or low rating on stars, just because AP has not delivered within ebays questionable postage times.

To leave negative feedback for Australia Post without affecting the seller, go to Australia Posts facebook site and leave your comments there. It is also much more likely to get noticed and have some impact there rather than damaging an individual sellers feedback on ebay.

[kopenhagen5]

If you are referring to the postage times shown on the listing, the seller is not making those promises.

It is an eBay software program designed to work in with AP but is often completely unrealistic.

The seller has nothing to do with those.

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

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@tsmurf8_8 wrote:

Sellers make promises that Australia Post can't (won't) keep.  It's a shame really, gives the seller a low rating meanwhile Oz Post just sit back and please themselves!

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way to go!

What is a real shame is that you think that giving the seller a low rating is somehow justified for eBay's stupid delivery estimates and Aust Post slow delivery.

I, for one, would like to thank you for starting this thread . . . . . my thank you list is growing by the day.

[ambercat16]

In defence of the OP, how were they to know that the delivery estimates are put there by eBay and not the seller?  

Sure, people reading these boards are well aware that the estimates are often unrealistic and are out of control of the seller, but a casual buyer would have no idea of knowing that.  All they see is the description, postage, price, handling time and estimated delivery date - all presumably entered by the seller at the time of creating the listing.  The fact that one of the pieces of information is actually entered by eBay would not even occur to them.

The gripe of this buyer appears to be that he thinks the seller is intentionally misleading prospective buyers by putting a too short estimated delivery date.  We know that is not the case but I would guess many casual buyers may have the same impression.

[digital*ghost]

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@ambercat16 wrote:

In defence of the OP, how were they to know that the delivery estimates are put there by eBay and not the seller?  

Sure, people reading these boards are well aware that the estimates are often unrealistic and are out of control of the seller, but a casual buyer would have no idea of knowing that.  All they see is the description, postage, price, handling time and estimated delivery date - all presumably entered by the seller at the time of creating the listing.  The fact that one of the pieces of information is actually entered by eBay would not even occur to them.

The gripe of this buyer appears to be that he thinks the seller is intentionally misleading prospective buyers by putting a too short estimated delivery date.  We know that is not the case but I would guess many casual buyers may have the same impression.

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I mostly agree with this, the one point where I feel differently about is the fact that the word "promise" is used in the OP.

They are not alone, though. The ETA is all to often interpreted as a 'due date' by buyers, which entirely neglects what the E stands for (i.e. estimate - which isn't actually abbreviated on listings, the full word is there, and it's the first one).

eBay do put specific dates there, but they also put this there: "Delivery time is estimated using our proprietary method which is based on the buyer's proximity to the item location, the postage service selected, the seller's postage history, and other factors. Delivery times may vary, especially during peak periods."

So, it's not even remotely a promise, or a due date, by the seller, or eBay, and that wording clearly indicates that it's an eBay calculation. 

That being said, every time a buyer mentions the ETA to me in a message, I very politely explain that they're an estimate to provide an average guideline, then tell them that it's placed there by eBay and if I had my way they wouldn't be there at all, and I don't think I've had a single buyer who wasn't surprised to find all this out. 

[irathesquire]

Based on my experience I'm not too sure if the seller has zero responsibility for the late postage.

I just received my package that I ordered on the 30th September today, which is right on the day 1 of the ETA period (actually arrived yesterday). While my other packages from other sellers (all of them ordered way before 30th) save one (that one was a week late from the last day of ETA, during a time when the Border Force was about to go on strike) still haven't arrived yet. This is the second time the same seller has somehow managed to send me the package and arrived within the ETA, and at a time when I thought Australia Post and the Customs are tossing salad, to boot.

So until the late items arrive (if they arrive) I can't really say what that seller has done right, but I have a feeling there are things that sellers can do to make their packages more likely to arrive on time.

[digital*ghost]

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@irathesquire wrote:

I have a feeling there are things that sellers can do to make their packages more likely to arrive on time.

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Such as what, for example?

A seller is responsible for posting items within their handling time, so I put it to you that the only reason you feel like there is "on time delivery" is because eBay has taken it upon themselves to give you an estimated date of arrival. If those dates weren't there, how would you judge an "on time delivery"? 

I once sent two packages to the same address on the same day (well within my handling time). They arrived a week apart - what do you think I could have done about that?