An international buyer raised a case: 'item has not received'. Item still in Australia due to COVID

[raff-coll]

Seeking some advice please:

An International buyer has raised a case againt me regarding not having received their items.

eBay has ruled in their favour as I did not provide a tracking number - This is NOT the case.  

The tracking number was provided when the items were sent.

It is not tracking as it is still in Australia and has not departed, even though it was posted on the 14th April.

I have opened a case with Australia Post and they can corroborate my story with supporting evidence.

Also, on the Australia Post website, they advise "for items sent from the end of March to May, additional delays have occurred of up to 4 – 8 weeks due to limited international flights and government restrictions due to COVID-19". The date from when I sent the items (14th April) is clearly still within the 4 - 8 week window Australia post have indicated on their website.

This has all been documented in the case correspondence and the appeal that I have raised, but eBay has ruled in their favour with the reason of: "Unfortunately, you didn't provide tracking information in time to win this case. You won't receive a refund for this case"

I have contact eBay Australia, but they advise that I need to contact the country in which I am sending to.

Unfortunately this country's customer service is not opened over the weekend. 

I have also tried contacting the buyer, on several occasions, with no response...

I feel like this is an uphill battle and no matter what I do or how much evidence I give them to support my appeal, eBay will not take this into consideration. Everything has become generalised and cases are no longer being looked at on an individual case by case bases. They simply do not defend their sellers like they use too!

Has anyone in the eBay community experienced anything similar? Especially during this COVID-19 period?

If so, how was it dealt and what was the outcome?

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? Am very interested to know. 

[raff-coll]

So we have to accept it and just be quiet about it then?

Heaven forbid if there is a difference of opinion towards 'the eBay conglomerate' and state the obvious of the what they are doing is completely wrong!

Yes my bad! Listings re-listed automatically and I just didn't realised until it was too late!

This is not my full time job; just selling items my family has accumulated over the years, that we have out grown and no longer need. 

The question can also be asked why the buyers bought overseas products knowing too of the entire world shutting due to COVID-19, and postal services being severely disrupted?

Wait, rhetorical question here...to exploit the situation and take advantage of sellers just like me! 😞 

Lesson learnt!

Listings have since be updated.

Cheers

[sandypebbles]

You hit the nail right on the head. That is exactly why some buyers are doing this more now

And they know eBay will fulling support them

[*tippy*toes*]

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@raff-coll wrote:

Not sure whether I agree at only having a chat room because the call centres in the Phillipines are currently closed due to COVID-19. The majority of businesses (if not all) in Australia have their call centres up and running from people working from home, where you can physically speak to someone. eBay is a large global corporation and should have this type of facility up and running very easily and efficiently and not have diminished capabilities instead. 

Plus, when chatting with online help yesterday, they put me through to Spain which they advised were opened. Only to be effectively on hold for 30 minutes to discover that eBay Spain does not operate over the weekend! This is something the online help should have been aware and not just forwarded me across... but again too much to ask of eBay to do their job properly!

Yes I have checked with Aust Post and what I stipulated in my previous response "to expect delays of a further 6 to 8 weeks on top of their normal estimated timeframes"  is what they are indicating for Spain and Germany.

Yes, gathered that their dispute process is automated and run by bots, given the generic responses received. So my statement "a one size fits all response / solution is not always the answer", rings very true here!

Why would a large global corporation do that, especially when they would have the man power to be able to response individually and appropriately, or are they just cost cutting? Again, it shouldn't surprise me, illustrating further that eBay has lost touch with its seller community!

Yes, my bad to assume that eBay would do the right thing to indivdually work together with their sellers and buyers in getting disputes resolved in a professional, fair and proper manner!

Cheers

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Given there would be millions of disputes opened every day around the world, it would be physically impossible to have every one vetted by a human. It's only when you get in contact with them, that a person might look at it.

My recent delivery to the US showed several scans on My Post before it left the country. Then it showed a scan saying it was in NY. Nothing after that. I checked on the USPS site, which said it had actually landed in Ca rather that NY. There were multiple scans a day on USPS as it moved between locations, but the next scan on My Post was when it was delivered. Have you checked the websites for German and Spain post to see if there are any updates on there?

As for the call centres, maybe they are available here because the risk is now low, whereas the Phillipines is still high. Given it's classed as a 3rd world country, not everyone might have a phone, so diverting the call centres to people's homes would not be an option. Even if they all did have a phone, diverting the call centres to their homes would be a nightmare in itself. Not to mention that people would be calling at all hours of the night not realising that the call centres are closed for the day.

[max-power-models]

Went through something similar. Best to let it go. 

[raff-coll]

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@*tippy*toes* wrote:

Given there would be millions of disputes opened every day around the world, it would be physically impossible to have every one vetted by a human. It's only when you get in contact with them, that a person might look at it.

My recent delivery to the US showed several scans on My Post before it left the country. Then it showed a scan saying it was in NY. Nothing after that. I checked on the USPS site, which said it had actually landed in Ca rather that NY. There were multiple scans a day on USPS as it moved between locations, but the next scan on My Post was when it was delivered. Have you checked the websites for German and Spain post to see if there are any updates on there?

As for the call centres, maybe they are available here because the risk is now low, whereas the Phillipines is still high. Given it's classed as a 3rd world country, not everyone might have a phone, so diverting the call centres to people's homes would not be an option. Even if they all did have a phone, diverting the call centres to their homes would be a nightmare in itself. Not to mention that people would be calling at all hours of the night not realising that the call centres are closed for the day.

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Agree there would be millions of disputes, and there is no disputing that. Not asking for every one to be vetted by a human, but simply if an appeal is raised eBay should make a concerted effort to investigate the validity of the appeal and not have a bot automatically side with the buyer, especially if all the supporting information has been provided and it can be proven where the item is at. Put some smarts into the bot to know better or at the very least hold off from making the decision until a certain amount of time has lapsed.

Why is eBay biting the hands that feeds them...

Of course I have checked the postage website for Germany and Spain (I check this daily), because you are right, what Aust Post are saying may not necessarily be true and all other possible scenerios should be explored and exhausted. And to preempt your next question: I have also raised a case with each of them with Australia Post. 

Seriously, if that was the case regarding Phillipines or any other 3rd world country eBay's customer services centres are based in, eBay would not have invested the time, money and effort and not to mention infrastructure to establish these types of resources within these countries!  It would not be ecomically viable for them!

They are a global organisation, with sophisticated technology and distributed computer systems in place (cloud based or otherwise), plus, if what you are stating were to be the true, other countries in their network should and could take up this load transparently and seamlessly if Phillipines or otherwise couldn't!

Cheers

[lyndal1838]

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@raff-coll wrote:

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Seriously, if that was the case regarding Phillipines or any other 3rd world country eBay's customer services centres are based in, eBay would not have invested the time, money and effort and not to mention infrastructure to establish these types of resources within these countries!  It would not be ecomically viable for them!

They are a global organisation, with sophisticated technology and distributed computer systems in place (cloud based or otherwise), plus, if what you are stating were to be the true, other countries in their network should and could take up this load transparently and seamlessly if Phillipines or otherwise couldn't!

Cheers

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This is ebay land not la la land.  Just because you think this should happen doesn't mean that ebay does too.  Take it from me, the regulars know what happens.

[raff-coll]

Too much to ask isn't it, from a conglomerate like eBay!!!

And this is where eBay's bottom line is the only truth in this matter!

[davewil1964]

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@raff-coll wrote:

Too much to ask isn't it, from a conglomerate like eBay!!!

And this is where eBay's bottom line is the only truth in this matter!

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But you're not asking eBay, you're asking members. Who probably know more about eBay workings than somebody in Manila working for whatever is the minimum wage there, and reading answers from a cheatsheet of keywords.

Live chat is still available. Have you tried that?

[raff-coll]

No, just voicing an opinion... and venting. 

Find this whole situation very fustrating, as do other eBayer's. 

It was good to hear that I am not alone in this matter. 

Yes, have contacted online chat only to be told that I need to speak to the concerning country the item was sent to.

Was transferred acrossed as I was advised they were opened, to then be on hold for 30 minutes, only to find out their customer service in that country is not opened on the weekend - which I had to discover for myself or else I would have been on hold for the whole weekend...  

After which, I tried contacting eBay Australia...they had already closed for the evening...

Yes, I will try again this week.

Cheers

[chameleon54]

Just had a similar experience. Item was mailed to Uraguay early march and tracking shows it hasnt even left Australia yet. The item plus postage was around $100 so not small beer. Buyer opened a case and what can you do. If I wait for the buyer to request ebay steps in I cop a defect. Two of those and my account gets restricted, so I just coughed up the one hundred bucks. 

I sent a message to the buyer stating that if tracking shows the item is delivered soon I will re-send an ebay invoice requesting repayment. A couple of other international buyers have been very understanding and honoured invoices sent, after already having recieved refunds through INR claims. I will also instigate an enquiry with AP and see if I can get any recompense from them. ( not holding my breath though ) 

Most buyers are honest and just want to recieve their purchases. Unfortunately there will always be a few scumbags who try it on. You just need to ensure your profit margins are high enough to cover unexpected expenses such as COVID item not recieved disputes. Pay up, move on and dont sweat the small stuff. It really isnt that important in the big scheme of things.