Shipping

[port4556]

Hi al , im generaly very happy with my Ebay dealings , but id like to know how a seller can mark an item as sent when it physically hasn't ? . Of late ive hd a few sellers claim an item sent on say the 5th and it arrives 2 or 3 days late on say the 18th , then when one delves into it deeper the item didn't hit the local postage handler till the 10th , then the surface or air transport company on maybe the 12th ?and so on , i mean in todays world it shouldn't take 2 or 3 weeks from Brisbane to Melourne or Adeaide to Sydney, but what erks me the most is claiming its sent on a date it clearly wasn't ! , does Ebay take any action on this type of behavour ? , cheers.

[lyndal1838]

If a seller is using an online method to prepare/pay for shipping the system marks the item as sent as soon as the seller prepares the shipping label even though he/she does not actually lodge the package at the post office till later.

For example, a seller may prepare all their items for posting on a Saturday or Sunday but not post till Monday or Tuesday when the PO is open for them to get their proof of posting.

There is nothing wrong with this as long as the item is posted within their handling time as stated on the listing.

Once the item is handed to the shipping service (post office or courier) it is up to that service when the item is next scanned...it is out of the seller's hands.   Once an item is scanned in at the PO it is often not scanned again until it is delivered.

While I agree that it should not take 2-3 weeks for interstate deliveries, the fact is that it sometimes does.   There are known bottlenecks in the AP services at Chullora in NSW and Sunshine in Victoria.

These are clearly not the seller's fault and they should not be penalised for something that is not their fault.

As for ebay taking any action on this type of behaviour....you would have to as ebay but they do hand out defects to sellers when buyers mark down their stars even when it is not the seller's fault.   The biggest problem would have to be the ebay postage service...it is the service that automatically marks the item as posted as soon as the seller prepares the label.

[port4556]

Thanks for the reply , yes the Ebay system can lead to confusion , on the other hand an item as listed as being in Darwin arrived at my address 7 days late  , it came from Thailand via Melbourne ! , clearly misleading adertising , cheers.

[lyndal1838]

If an item is listed as being in Darwin you can be pretty sure it is going to come from Asia.

You can also take an educated guess at the origin of the listing depending on the type of language used.....it is easy enough to pick out Chinglish, even if the location of the seller's account is in Australia.

[davewil1964]

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@port4556 wrote:

Thanks for the reply , yes the Ebay system can lead to confusion , on the other hand an item as listed as being in Darwin arrived at my address 7 days late  , it came from Thailand via Melbourne ! , clearly misleading adertising , cheers.

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Late as in?

Was it time sensitive? If so why would you buy an item supposedly located in Darwin? If not, what the hell does it matter how long it took? You got your item; surely THAT is the salient point.

[jbmbkb]

the op probably bought the item from darwin because its in "australia" and didnt want to buy from overseas , well deserved neg for that seller ...i hate sellers lying about item locations if i bought something that was listed as item location australia id leave a neg too just because the seller is a liar regardless of whether i got the item or not. 

[port4556]

It was part of a project i was building , i allowed an extra week in my calculations . If an item is listed being at certain place , then i expect that to be the truth , nothing radical about that , nobody , certainly not a reputable selling and auction company should accept false addresse's .

[port4556]

Thanks for reply , and yes being in Australia is what won the deal , and they know it . . Ive bought from overseas many a time , depents if its urgent or cant get it here , but this was a blatant lie .