topic Re: Tracking number is not correct in Buying

Tracking number is not correct

kiya777 — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 20:58:26 GMT

I bought an item and received a tracking number for it, I clicked ont it and it says the item has already been delivered to Canada, Dec 14th 2015!

Trouble is I bought the item from the US-I live in Australia not Canada and it's Oct 2016 not Dec 2015!!!

What is going on?

I contacted the seller and he said that USPS often use the same custom forms and he thinks that's why this has happened??????

Well I guess we'll see if the item turns up.

Has this happened to anyone else?

Re: Tracking number is not correct

chameleon54 — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 22:12:01 GMT

Some companies send items by cheaper untracked post, but upload fake tracking numbers to try to discourage online shop lifters who are becoming a scourge for ebay sellers. The dispute process encourages unscrupulous buyers to lodge item not recieved claims for untracked items and ebay will always take the money from the sellers account and refund the buyer.

I use fake tracking number stickers with a barcode and ' scanned on delivery " written on them. I dont uplaod the tracking number though. On the few occasions I get questioned about tracking by buyers, I tell them the stickers dont track in Australia, but the post office staff do scan the parcels to show they are delivered. This works a treat and has completely solved my problems with untracked "item not recieved" cases.

Maybe this is the reason for the obsolete tracking number.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

janeababe — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 03:01:45 GMT

I use fake tracking number stickers with a barcode and ' scanned on delivery " written on them.

Is that even legal?
It certainly isnt ethical !!

struth !!!!

Re: Tracking number is not correct

kiya777 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 05:10:17 GMT

Why would you do that????????????????????????

Re: Tracking number is not correct

padi*0409 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 05:14:18 GMT

To try and stop the eBay "shoplifting" that is becoming more and more prevalent on untracked mail. (Thanks to eBay's decisions on disputes nearly always siding with the buyer).

Re: Tracking number is not correct

digital*ghost — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 05:40:51 GMT

@janeababe wrote:
I use fake tracking number stickers with a barcode and ' scanned on delivery " written on them.

Is that even legal?
It certainly isnt ethical !!

struth !!!!

I don't condone uploading fake or old tracking numbers, but if a buyer is never advised or lead to believe there is tracking, then receives a package with that sticker on it, what actually changes for them?

The only people that kind of sticker will affect is those who intended to falsely claim an item hasn't arrived, and who may then believe they won't be able to.

All sorts of labels can be applied to the outer of a package, some may even have barcodes or QR codes and serve all sorts of different purposes, none of which are tracking, and although I personally wouldn't attempt to use stickers that mislead buyers about their purpose and function, I also don't see any harm in applying a sticker and allowing a buyer to make their own assumptions about what it's for when they receive it. I know my rates of international INR instances went down when AP made some changes to their postal systems and started printing the untrackable customs number on the price sticker.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

janeababe — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 06:08:41 GMT

@padi*0409 wrote:
To try and stop the eBay "shoplifting" that is becoming more and more prevalent on untracked mail. (Thanks to eBay's decisions on disputes nearly always siding with the buyer).

So, effectivly, you are saying its ok to trick your buyers into believeing they have a trackable item, when in fact, they dont?

I hope chameleon's buyers arent paying for trackable postage!
Not that we can check, since his feedback is private so all item listings are hidden!

appalling! just appaling!

Re: Tracking number is not correct

padi*0409 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 06:17:26 GMT

@janeababe wrote:
@padi*0409 wrote:
To try and stop the eBay "shoplifting" that is becoming more and more prevalent on untracked mail. (Thanks to eBay's decisions on disputes nearly always siding with the buyer).
So, effectivly, you are saying its ok to trick your buyers into believeing they have a trackable item, when in fact, they dont?

I hope chameleon's buyers arent paying for trackable postage!
Not that we can check, since his feedback is private so all item listings are hidden!

appalling! just appaling!

Sheesh jane, that's not what I'm saying, what I am saying is that it's a way to try and stop eBay "shoplifters" when a seller has had a number of them in the past rorting the system to rop off sellers when they are using untracked letters.

And I'm certain that chamelion has far more morals than to charge his buyers for false tracking numbers.................

Re: Tracking number is not correct

digital*ghost — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 06:31:58 GMT

chameleon is more than capable of speaking for himself, but since I'm here... from his post:

"I use fake tracking number stickers with a barcode and ' scanned on delivery " written on them. I dont uplaod the tracking number though"

All throughout the order process, the buyer will believe there is no tracking. If they ask, they are told there is no tracking. When they receive the package, there's a sticker on it that says "scanned on delivery".

So, where's the trick? At what stage will the buyer believe they have a tracked item?

Re: Tracking number is not correct

lyndal1838 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 08:00:53 GMT

@janeababe wrote:

Not that we can check, since his feedback is private so all item listings are hidden!
appalling! just appaling!

Jane you have been around ebay long enough to know that sellers cannot sell on accounts with private feedback.

Chameleon is selling on at least 2 other accounts.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

chameleon54 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 08:29:08 GMT

@janeababe wrote:
@padi*0409 wrote:
To try and stop the eBay "shoplifting" that is becoming more and more prevalent on untracked mail. (Thanks to eBay's decisions on disputes nearly always siding with the buyer).
So, effectivly, you are saying its ok to trick your buyers into believeing they have a trackable item, when in fact, they dont?

I hope chameleon's buyers arent paying for trackable postage!
Not that we can check, since his feedback is private so all item listings are hidden!

appalling! just appaling!

Hi Janeababe, WOW I wasnt quite expecting that , but I guess its all part of the cut and thrust of forum discussion. No offence taken

To set your mind at ease over some of the concerns you have raised.

1) I dont ever charge my buyers for tracking and then mail the items untracked. I always refund customers for combined post and dont profit from my postal charges.

2) I dont ever upload the fake tracking number to the ebay site or try to pass it off as a genuine tracking number to buyers.

3) I dont " trick my buyers into believing they are recieving tracked postage " . The first most buyers know about the stickers is when the they recieve their parcel.

4) Since using the stickers, I have had two buyers inform me they have not recieved their item. On both occasions the item arrived the next day, once I told them the item had a "scanned on delivery" barcode. Before using the stickers I recieved quite a number of item not recieved claims and it was escalating into a real problem.

5) I dont sell anything on the Chameleon 54 account. It is a posting ID I use to protect my selling accounts from unwanted attention.

6 ) The barcode stickers are legal. I have had several detailed converstations with my Post office manager about them. She is aware of the problems of ebay online shoplifters, with buyers falsely claiming item not recieved ( she regularly gets complaints from sellers over the issue ). I am lucky in that I have a good relationship with my local Australia Post office and the manager has offered her support for the stickers. I am aware that other sellers have had different experiences from their post office managers. The AP manager has informed all counter staff that the stickers I use have been discussed with her.

7) Over three selling accounts I currently have around 7500 feedbacks. All accounts are Powersellers, 100 % positive feedback and all have 4.9 stars for everything, although I did crack 5 stars on one account for a short period recently. Out of the 7500 feedbacks on 3 selling accounts I currently have no negs and one nuetral feedback with the comment " great " ?????. Not sure what that was all about. Basically my customers seem to be reasonably happy with my products and service and with 4.9,s across the board for postage costs, I must be keeping most of my customers happy, most of the time.

Online shoplifting is becoming a serious problem for many sellers. Dishonest buyers have worked out they can claim an item not recieved and ebay will give them their money back every time if an item is not tracked. This money is debited to the sellers paypal account, including the postage cost. The seller also recieves a defect if the claim is not settled by the seller, resulting in damage to their selling account.

I recently reported a buyer who had six consecutive feedbacks from different sellers stating INR claims. That buyer is still registered and active. Ebay seems to be reluctant to manage this problem, leaving sellers with little choice, but to protect themselves from theft as best they can.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

janeababe — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 08:41:22 GMT

hi Chameleon,
thanks for clearing that up for me.. i must admit, i was really shocked to see that you use used tracking numbers....

But your explaination has cleared it up for me, thank you

Im sorry I judged, the added info has set my mind at ease...

Please accept my appology

xxj

Re: Tracking number is not correct

shepherdsrule — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 09:08:15 GMT

WOW to you as well janeababe........

a genuine apology and IMO a reasonable assumption was made by you in the beginning regarding cham's practice, the only reason I did not have the same knee jerk reaction was that I used to do the same sort of thing as chameleon on occasion for smaller items I would post in the red box rather than queue in the PO.

It is a sad state of affairs, but dishonest people are out there and good sellers often pay for that. (As do good buyers on the other side of things also).

Onliine buying has opened a wealth of areas for rip off's, and it is a b***y shame.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

collect247 — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 11:32:45 GMT

Resulting in damage to their selling account.

Yes to the point where the selling account is no longer an account because of permanent suspension.

Wish I had posted with fake tracking then I might still have a selling account.

Well done chameleon54

Re: Tracking number is not correct

englishrosegardens — Sun, 30 Oct 2016 04:45:10 GMT

@janeababe wrote:
hi Chameleon,
thanks for clearing that up for me.. i must admit, i was really shocked to see that you use used tracking numbers....
But your explaination has cleared it up for me, thank you

Im sorry I judged, the added info has set my mind at ease...

Please accept my appology

xxj

You still don't seem to get it. He doesn't use used tracking numbers at all, just stickers that have no tracking number at all and that buyers don't see until they no longer have a use for them, ie. when they arrive. If there's only a barcode and the words "scanned on delivery" then they're not even being passed off as tracking numbers - the obscure wording about being scanned on delivery might lead buyers to assume they're tracked but there's not really anything to indicate this.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

irathesquire — Tue, 01 Nov 2016 00:29:51 GMT

@chameleon54 wrote:
Some companies send items by cheaper untracked post, but upload fake tracking numbers to try to discourage online shop lifters who are becoming a scourge for ebay sellers. The dispute process encourages unscrupulous buyers to lodge item not recieved claims for untracked items and ebay will always take the money from the sellers account and refund the buyer.

I'm not sure if I agree with this practice though. I've had a seller who did just that and most likely never sent the item (given the feedback it doesn't seem like I am alone). Given the format of eBay it is already hard for sellers and buyers to trust each other - practices like this hardly improves matters.

It's this point that I wish eBay asks some sort of proof from sellers when they say that the item has been shipped (at least a photo of the package with labels ready for shipping or the like), and actually tries to contact the seller when a dispute happens.

Re: Tracking number is not correct

uncle-2061 — Tue, 11 Oct 2022 02:09:43 GMT

I sold an item international from australia to italy,

the item has arrived in italy, but it is still not delivered to the buyer

and Ebay have given me the wrong tracking number so I have not way of tracking the item

I can not seem to communicate with a customer service at ebay to assist in finding the correct tracking number :s. Probably the last time I ship something internationally.