WARNING to all AUSSIE Buyers

[barneywomble]

I would like to take this opportunity to warn all Australian eBay buyers about a serious problem that exist when purchasing items from eBay USA and paying for "Priority" International Postage through the Global Shipping Program.

I recently made 2 purchases from eBay USA from 2 different sellers. On both the listings it clearly stated the postage method was "Priority" International Postage. When I clicked on the "see details" link underneath the postage section on the listing it confirmed the service I was paying for was indeed "Priority" International Postage. (I have screen shots of both the listing and the Postage details to verify this). So I went ahead and paid for the items and the "Priority" International Postage via PAYPAL. ONce this was completed I clicked on the "view order details" link for each of the 2 purchases and it also confirmed the postage as being "Priority" International Postage. I was given a number of tracking numbers and eventually the items were dispatched from the USA via FEDEX where another tracking number was provided for the international leg of the postage from the USA to Australia. Now to my horror on checking those FEDEX tracking numbers they provide detailed information including the method of delivery which in both cases showed "ECONOMY" International Postage. (I have screen shots verifying this) I contatced FEDEX directly regarding this and they responed via email stating the eBay shipments via the Global Shipping Program are dispatched via "ECONOMY" International Shipping (I have screen shots of this email).

I contatced eBay regarding this matter and then began an amazing "run a round" of companies and responabilities and confusing wording all leading to the point that if an Australian buyer purchases an item from eBay in the USA and pays for "Priority" International Postage through the Global Shipping Program then the items are shipped "ECONOMY" irrispective of the payment made for postage. Apart from the fact that it appears to be completely unfair to clearly advertise a service, pay for that service and not get that service it appears to raise a number of serious legal issues within eBay and its partners.

When I paid for my items from the USA the "shipping or postage" portion, the amount I paid for the "Priority" International Postage was sent to PItney Bowes as they are the legal entity responsible for the Global Shipping Program and a simple check of my PAYPAL account verified a portion of my payment indeed did go to Pitney Bowes. I contatcted them directly and asked them why when I paid for "Priority" International Postage did they not arrange for the items to be shipped that way and I was immediately met with a wall of silence and was told to contact eBay. Pitney Bowes and the Global Shipping Program stand to make millionsof dollars of the backs of hard working Australians if they are charging us for a "Priority" International Postage service but using an "ECONOMY" postage service which is of course CONSIDERABLY CHEAPER and SLOWER. I had posted these concerns along with the screen shots on eBay.com facebook page and they were immediately removed and I guess because I was correct and the less people who know about it the better.

If you are an Australian eBayer and have purchased an item from eBay USA and you paid for "Priority" International Postage through the Global Shipping Program please CHECK with the actual carrier (it will probably be FEDEX and see how your items were shipped. If they were not shipped using a "Priority" International Postage Service you are by law entitled to be reimbursed for the difference between the "Priority" International Postage you paid for and the "ECONOMY" service actually used. I will of course be contacting the revelent a number of media outlets both here in Australia and in the USA and I will also get a facebook campaign up and running to promote awareness for this disgusting business practice.

[joztamps]

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@gutterpunkz05 wrote:

Priority international,  11-21 business days.   The pony express has made a comeback.  Maybe it is a matter of terminology versus expectation, that is I would expect a priority service to be well less than  21 business days.  When sending from Australia  via standard air,  Delivery is usually expected in less than 21 business days to most countries, and when sending via International express, the delivery time is usually less than 11 days.

So really the test will be if your items arrive/d within the 21 business days timeframe

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Not using Pegasus, though.

[barneywomble]

So why does Pitney Bowes charge for an advertised PRIORITY service ? You cannot charge people for a service and not deliver it, that is fraud. The items I purchaesd clearly stated "Priority International Shipping to Australia", the details link regarding the postage clearly stated "Priority International Shipping to Australia" and after the purchase the order details clearly stated Priority International Shipping... so I am at a loss to explain why they did not just arrange with Fedex to ship the items Priority International Shipping instead of Economy. 

[lyndal1838]

You would have to ask Pitney Bowes why they call it a Priority service.  It has never been a fast service compared with USPS shipping.....you only have to look at the number of business days that are given as an estimated delivery time.

Any courier service is termed priority as it supposedly quicker than the postal service of the country.

The GSP is a contracted service.....Pitney Bowes has a contract with FedEx to carry the goods from the USA and deliver them in Australia.  The goods are loaded into bulk cages and loaded onto the aircraft in the USA.  When they arrive in Australia they are bulk cleared through Customs....as in they are not unpacked and cleared individually as happens with USPS.

In Sydney the cages are taken to a FedEx depot in Matraville where they are sorted for delivery.  The majority of smaller items are given to Australia Post for delivery as an eParcel.  Larger items are delivered by FedEx themselves or another courier service if FedEx does not deliver in an area.

Once an item is in the GSP system it cannot be removed and sent by another service.  There is no way that anything can be delivered any other way.

If you want a true Priority service you would need to have your items sent individually with a courier or with one of the USPS International Priority/Express services.

[hobal56]

Hi. How long did it take to get your items? 

[leatherland1]

Thank you barneywomble,

I guess I must be the only one who didn't know that.

Cheers.

[digital*ghost]

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@barneywomble wrote:

So why does Pitney Bowes charge for an advertised PRIORITY service ? 

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I doubt Pitney Bowes are in charge of what ebay display to customers on items offered via the GSP. TBH, the only mail carrier I know (and admittedly I don't know them all) who use "Priority" as a service standard is USPS and Aus Post, and the USPS priority mail is as good as the next carrier's economy most of the time (in other words, priority isn't express, same like priority letters in Aus aren't express, it just means the letter isn't held back for a day or two like non-priority). 

eBay also lists all courier services as "express", regardless of the actual service standard. Some couriers take a couple of weeks to deliver a package within Australia, which is hardly what anyone would call express. (i.e. The problem here is eBay, and their complete lack of understanding - and therefore ability to convey - general mail service standards). 

[marwi5023]

GSP is a rort

[countessalmirena]

Exactly.

It's been said several times that the GSP is good value for larger, heavier items in comparison with other international courier prices. Equally, there is positively no doubt that it's appallingly bad value for smaller, lighter items, and for multiple items from the same buyer (no combined postage even when the meanest sense could see that all of the items together wouldn't cost more to deliver than one of the items on its own). Small caveat: it's not quite as bad value for smaller lighter items if the seller inputs the correct dimensions and weight!      But... it's also worse than useless for certain items which PB have, in their mad wisdom, decided would be prohibited from delivery into Australia.

Who knows? Perhaps one day an army of enraged shoppers will arise, flourishing deadly drums, garrotting PB workers and eBay management with guitars, and finally wielding those terribly dangerous butter knives over the corpses in order to smear butter all over them with a final shout of maddened relief.

In the meantime, I will continue to avoid having any items sent via the GSP, not because I don't see that it has its place, but because I think it's too risky for me as the buyer. What would PB do with the double-sided solid red cedar music stand that my heart, mind, fingers and debit card are longing to purchase (before the end of this month)? If they purloined that, I'd be incandescent with fury! I'd want to slice them up, dribble lemon juice on them, and salt them and serve them to a hunting party.           No, calm, calm...I'm not a psychopath... that wouldn't help anyone...

[michellebartley]

Its 10 to one or half a dozen to the other. The item was delivered so stop grumbling.

[4channel]

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@michellebartley wrote:
Its 10 to one or half a dozen to the other. The item was delivered so stop grumbling.

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 Hello michellebartley , barneywomble is not grumbling. Just sharing with us some more info about this horrid rip-off service that calls itself Global Shipping. Good on barneywomble  for sharing another horrible aspect of this with us.