SENDLE disaster

[mark.wooba]

Sent an item to a buyer in a small town in Victoria, mostly because Sendle was pushed at me by eBay itself. So took the Sendle option on the eBay "print a postage label" screen. Paid $8.83

Turns out Fastway do not service that town in VIC, or they do, but for a huge fee. So lo and behold my package arrives back at my address, 3 weeks later,  marked Return to Sender and a OOA sticker (outside our area).

Buyer is upset and wants me to send it again or refund.

Called eBay. No joy, want me to contact Sendle for a shipping refund (even though eBay deducted the shipping payment and legally they are obliged to refund it if the service is not provided). Sendle website is rubbish, will allow you to send an email and they say they will respond ... sometime. No phone number to call.

What to do next....?

[jellybirddesigns]

Lots of issues with Sendle, but at the end of the day the choice was yours alone whether or not to use them.

I would absolutely refund or send again at your cost - the buyer is in no way responsible.

If you resend, use good old AP.

[mark.wooba]

Buyer not responsible, and nor am I. This is eBay's fault for forcibly promoting a broker like Sendle, who uses a third party courier (Fastway) with limited delivery areas, of which Sendle is not properly aware.

Sendle should match the delivery address against Fastway's known delivery map, and reject addresses outside of it.

Instead, it is allowing items to be sent to addresses they will never reach.

This is amateur's hour.

I have offered to send the item (a chainsaw chain), in an ordinary $2.20 Auspost letter (less than 2cm thick). No tracking.

[gutterpunkz05]

While you have means of recourse with sendle, as much as you don't like it, you are responsible until the item reaches the buyer.

Offering to send the item by  AP  untracked and  underpaid, is only going to add to your problems

[padi*0409]

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@mark.wooba wrote:

Buyer not responsible, and nor am I. This is eBay's fault for forcibly promoting a broker like Sendle, who uses a third party courier (Fastway) with limited delivery areas, of which Sendle is not properly aware.

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The buyer is certainly not responsible but you made the choice (presumably because postage was cheaper) to use Sendle. Yes, eBay does promote Sendle, and probably gets a kickback from it, but they do not force you to use Sendle.

Edit. G'day GP.

[*sons_and_daughters*]

Why would you send with no tracking? That is asking for more trouble than using Sendle!

Sendle don't just use Aramex (Fastway). They use multiple different courier services. They use Aramex the most, because they are the cheapest, which means more in Sendle's pocket.

You are to blame, because you chose to try and save 50c. Ebay force ideas onto both buyers and sellers all the time. You aren't forced to accept the offers, yet you thought you could save 50c, so took the offer up. Having done that, you will probably be hounded to death now from ebay to do it again.

I just hope the chainsaw chain isn't more than 20mm thick or more than 125g, or you're going to find yourself out of pocket a lot more than $2.20. Then there's the issue with the sharp teeth penetrating the envelope and potentially falling out in the post.

I expect we'll hear back from you in the next few weeks saying you have copped a underpaid fine from Aust Post for not putting enough stamps on the envelope. I can tell you now, the last chain I bought weighed more than 125g.

[jellybirddesigns]

You need to make the buyer whole right away. Either refund them in full, (you can use the reason "problem with buyers address"), or send the item out today with tracking.

Every day you delay brings you closer to getting a neg on your account.

Yes, Ebay promotes Sendle, but you are in no way forced to use them.

You would be better off signing up for an Aus Post "MyPost" business account, and use either your own packaging OR the new parcel bags which are NOT prepaid (get the ones where you need a label). You'll need to lodge over the counter,  but when the postal agent scans the QR code you get, you'll obtain a good discount, depending on your posting volume. I'm on Band 5, and I get approx $1.86 off the $9.30 parcel post label. 

[cezm]

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@mark.wooba wrote:

I have offered to send the item (a chainsaw chain), in an ordinary $2.20 Auspost letter (less than 2cm thick). No tracking.

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I'm sure that'll travel well through the sorting machine

[mark.wooba]

I'm already losing on this sale, profit gone, so any extra postage paid just compounds the loss. It looks like I should simply withdraw from using eBay. I can't be bothered dealing with all the stupidity, and mailing system promoted by eBay that simply does not work. I have another item sent with Sendle that has been a month in limbo, now "handed over to third party" for delivery. Sydney buyer upset she does not have her item, dispute raised, money held.

Anyway, finally got through to a CS manager who is going to ask another department to refund me the shipping costs, allowing me to resend this with tracking, without losing money.

Interestingly, he said I am not the first such case, and agreed with me that something needs to change. This will be highlighted to Sendle. He sort of implied that eBay is in a contract with them and cannot withdraw, even though Sendle is selling services without providing them.

> You are to blame, because you chose to try and save 50c.

What an absurd comment! You really have some prize characters commenting here.

And BTW the chain weighs 155g, so would have to go for $3.30 if I sent it as a letter. But I'll send it tracked, now that I'm getting a refund.

Cezm, regarding those 'letter guidelines', note that the postal worker at the post office puts the items though the 20mm slot. Surely that's the time to flag an unsuitable item to the client?

[mark.wooba]

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I'm on Band 5, and I get approx $1.86 off the $9.30 parcel post label. 

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I'm a casual user on 'Band 0', so no discount at all.