International Shipping Delays due to COVID-19

[kn3th]

Hi everyone, hope you're all staying safe.

I had a question about international shipping delays and a dispute that a buyer has raised with ebay about the item taking ages to arrive. For context, I'm sending a parcel from Aus to the USA. Handling was within 48 hours of payment, and tracking included with everything. 

It has been just over a month since I posted now and given the major delays to the US it still says that the package is on its way. I've tried multiple attempts at contacting Auspost to clarify with no luck, and have only been met with automated replies. 

In the meantime my buyer in the US is getting agitated because this was apparently for a surprise gift which has passed its due date. Note this was never communicated to me at the start otherwise I may have attempted to use express instead of standard. I've communicated about international delays and again pointed out to the tracking number which I listed as soon as I shipped.

Today, a dispute has been raised with the buyer accusing me of using a slow delivery method (ha!) and demanding a refund on international shipping. I have all records of everything, but I'm uncertain how ebay is going to proceed.

For now I'm still trying to try and find a middle ground with my buyer including levying part of the fees, but of course I'm quite annoyed that I'm getting penalised because of a global pandemic outside my control while I did everything I could as a seller. Has anyone else experienced something similar? 

TIA

[davewil1964]

No, but I would not be mug enough to sell internationally when the whole world is in lockdown.

For instance, there are very few planes flying, so there is very little room for freight. Customs in most countries are, anecdotally, checking everything, so a further delay.

Just over a month ago was certainly within the COVID-19 lockdowns, so your decision to post internationally when there is a global pandemic was certainly within your control.

[digital*ghost]

I would link the buyer to Australia Post's announcement page, and if you can, proof that a standard (not economy) service was used: https://auspost.com.au/about-us/news-media/important-updates/coronavirus/coronavirus-international-u...

And highlight to them a couple of key points listed there - these are the US updates:

24 April 2020
There are flight disruptions and cancellations impacting all inbound and outbound items to USA.

We expect delays to USA of up to 2-4 weeks due to flight cancellations and government restrictions because of COVID-19. Express items will be given priority over Standard items during this time.

Australia Post has suspended its Economy Services for parcels effective 3 April and until further notice. Economy Services for letters will continue.

Australia Post is working closely with partner airlines and postal operators to move items as quickly possible.

Please note: USA will no longer be performing signature on delivery for items delivered to USA due to government restrictions.

I have been answering enquiries from US buyers with a similar explanation, including a bit about these delays affecting the mail system at almost every stage in transit, because it's not just very low flight availability, but that more packages are in an overloaded system since so many people can now only shop online, there's fewer staff able to perform the manual parts of package processing so that postal services can follow new safety / social distancing regulations, plus new import regulations need to be followed to ensure safety for all involved. So far, when framing it that way, the response has been quite positive and my buyers have been expressing understanding and a willingness to wait (I suspect most buyers don't give very much thought into the actual logistics and manpower involved in getting a package half way around the world, because up until now it's been relatively smooth, so if you gently point it out to them, they hopefully can see the reality of the situation and have a better understanding of why the delays can be quite extensive.

There's always the chance they'll refuse to see things in a broader perspective and just insist it's your fault somehow, as there's a few of those types out there too, but hopefully you can gently shift their perspective this way. If not, you may have to deal with the case as is, unfortunately, as while eBay have been warning buyers about delays, and providing some protections against the effect of late deliveries / open cases, they're still upholding all the regular policies and timeframes to reach a resolution with the buyer. 

[tazzieterror]

---

@davewil1964 wrote:

No, but I would not be mug enough to sell internationally when the whole world is in lockdown.

For instance, there are very few planes flying, so there is very little room for freight. Customs in most countries are, anecdotally, checking everything, so a further delay.

Just over a month ago was certainly within the COVID-19 lockdowns, so your decision to post internationally when there is a global pandemic was certainly within your control.

---

Meh...not the seller's fault a dumb buyer made the poor decision to order a time-sensitive item in the middle of a pandemic and didn't communicate as much at the time of purchase.  

Any aspect of mid-pandemic logistics that should be obvious to the seller applies equally to the buyer, though I will make the small concession that given the country of destination, I'd estimate a minimum 1 in 4 chance of encountering a buyer who lacks the capacity to think rationally.

[ozpartssale]

Hi, i have gone through exactly this.. items i posted were in late march before there was any advice on postal service delays. 

Customer has put through an undelivered claim and ebay has refunded them $2800 dollars. I am more than **bleep** about this because it clearly shows the item has left australia and the informaiton i am getting out of Aus post is the delays are with USPS. 

I would highly reccomend stopping all trade, ebay is not recognising the delay in shipments and still allowing these claims based off standard delivery dates. 

Meanwhile you cannnot contact the appeals team via phone due to the pandemic, kind of ironic how they seem to believe they are the only ones affected by this. I have had to close my bank account to stop them just handing out refunds as they feel.. 

It is an unfortuante circumstances however i am not a charity and i cannot just give away expensive items for free because people including ebay cant accept the delays. The entire world is affected and most likely will be affected in many ways for years to come. 

so i will say again " do not risk internaitonal sales at this point in time, you will lose money"