Another Australia Post and Late Arrival Defect Thread

[jfmgray]

The last week has been a disaster for me in terms of items not arriving or arriving later than eBay's estimated delivery dates.  I have had 10 messages or items not received cases from buyers in NSW and Queensland (I am in Melbourne).  And whist I continue to communicate with buyers to try and minimise the damage, I have received 3 late arrival defects this month (compared to nil for the rest of 2016) and will refund the 3 item not received cases by the due date if the item has not arrived.  My business model exists on posting at large letter rates so there is no need to recommend tracked postage for me as I can't affort it (nor can buyers for most of my low cost items).

Is anyone else noticing an increase in late arrivals?

What are seller's experiences in using the 50 cent priority stickers for letters expecially for destinations in galaxies far far away?

I have avoided increasing my handling time from 1 day basacially as I have not needed to do this.  But the increases in late delivery defects and the grief (and time) being caused by late deliveries has made me rethink.  I know most sellers who have increased handling times would say heir sales have not been affected but are there any sellers who have noticed a negative consequence?  Additionally how far can you stretch out handling time before there is an effect on things like Top Rated status or best match placements or anything else?

In saying all this, my late arrival defects are an 0.5% and I can never see them reaching 5%.  So this may all be an over reaction for one bad week!!

[Anonymous]

I am furious that I have over 35 items (international) over a $1000 dollars worth of stuff outstanding an over due by 1 1/2 months to 2 !!!!! I have so much money outstanding it's redulous!!! I don't want the money back !!! I want the items I purchased, SO EBAY THOW UP THEY'RE WALLS AN A FRONT (so you can file through the website ) avoiding all negativity !!! WHEN THE REST OF THE WORLD RAISE THEYRE WHITE FLAG ADMITTI NG UNFORTUNATELY THEY CAN NO LONGER MANAGE THEYRE BUISNESS (An go under) WHILST DAMN EBAY CONTI UE TO PUT THEYRE DAMN HAND OUT TAKING WORLD MONEY !!!!!!! KNOWING THEY CANT FORFIL THEYRE ROLE AN COMMITTMENT, WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD SUFFER !!!!!!!! (if I had the money to take them to court I would)...

[*tippy*toes*]

I wasn't going to reply because I don't particularly like getting yelled at, but it's nearly 3am and I have nothing better to do. 

If you haven't received your items, then it's in your best interest to get a refund, otherwise you will lose the items, and the money. If you are happy to sit back and wait, not to mention have a rant, then it's your loss.

In case you weren't aware, there's this pandemic thing going on around the world, and it's impacting things, like mail. I know it's hard to believe, but I read it on Facebook, so it must be true.

You can try taking eBay to court, but they have no control over mail, or worldwide pandemics. Nor the complete shut down of boarders, and airlines grounding all their planes. Good luck with that one. 

See, I was able to reply without yelling back.

[lm-entertainment]

you can visit this website (which has been public knowledge for a long time) - https://auspost.com.au/about-us/news-media/important-updates/coronavirus/coronavirus-international-u...

it has country-specific updates.. to give you a general idea - mail to the US is currently delayed by 4-6 weeks for standard airmail / parcel. international express items get priority of them as well. this is one of the more frequently mailed to countries and they are the posted delays. unfortunately, no screaming or whinging is going to change that. you have to tell your buyers to wait patiently and it's out of your control..

[queenslander-4]

Sorry to disagree I post a Tracked item to the USA on 21 March Tracking shows as accepeted  at the Post Office on 21  March then nothing looks like my client who has filled an item not received complaint is pretty racked off as well. I will be left having to return $90 for item and $24 postage Thanks Ebay INR **bleep**.

[davewil1964]

Lodge a case with Australia Post. If they have indeed lost it, they should compensate you.

[lm-entertainment]

no worries - nothing wrong with disagreeing. though, it can be common for a lot of items to lack tracking updates, especially now. even from 21st march until now it's barely out of that 6 week timeframe. it may still show up. it's wishful thinking, but there is still a chance. also, what dave said is 100% correct. i did have an item prior to all of this go missing. it was a pain in the bum to get any sort of cooperation between AP and USPS but in the end i got refunded the value of the contents + postage.

[masterstroke.eng]

I don't know whats worse ..using upper case letters , bad grammar Or waking up at 3 AM and going on eBay !

[davewil1964]

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@masterstroke.eng wrote:
I don't know whats worse ..using upper case letters , bad grammar Or waking up at 3 AM and going on eBay !

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I am deliberately not doing that. It is slipping though. I'm naturally nocturnal and my body would prefer me to go to sleep about 5am.

[lyndal1838]

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@masterstroke.eng wrote:
I don't know whats worse ..using upper case letters , bad grammar Or waking up at 3 AM and going on eBay !

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You should not make assumptions.....Tippy is a shift worker and at 3am she can be just coming home from work.

[everard6920]

Didn't want to start a whole new thread for this, but I've had a package in transit to rural TAS since April 17. eBay's estimated delivery time was May 5th.

Seeing as the buyer is new, I went ahead and lodged an inquiry - mostly so it'd show "customer inquiry lodged" on the tracking for the buyer, and then I messaged them letting them know I was looking into it. Buyer was good about it, and actually went ahead and placed another order soon after.

AP's response was that the estimated delivery time for this package is not until "at least" the end of this week. They also advised that Tasmania is the worst affected state as far as delays go, followed by WA, because flights (and, in the case of TAS, ships) have been cut back more so than those of other states.This echoes what a friend told me, who works for AP in the ACT.

So, just a reminder to everyone to consider pushing out your handling time, because eBay's estimated delivery dates do not match AP's by a long shot. Mine is currently at 5 days, but I'm strongly considering pushing that out to 7. All buyers should expect delays, but you may want to advise any buyers from TAS and WA to expect lengthy delays.