Christmas / NY Postage delays

[lulicool]

I am currently corresponding with 6 International buyers (US and UK) who purchased items early December that still haven't received them yet 😞

2 have been escalated to Paypal Claims.  Were it just one, or maybe even 2 I would replace / refund straight off, but 6?????

I have asked them to hold out a little longer - most aren't too pleased with this request...I can feel a couple of Negs in the pipeline here X-(

Anyone else experienced extra long delays for International mailing?

[carly2579]

all around the world postage was frantic at christmas sounds like they are being inpaitient

[jensmanchester-australia]

I currently have around 150 parcels which were sent from Australia from Late November to Mid December which have not been delivered to the buyers.

I have over 100 parcels sent since then which have still not arrived. One parcel which was sent Express Courier International on the 12th December only got scanned in at the US end on the 28th December and is still in customs.

The buyers are getting very edgy and I can't blame them.

Australia Post advised me last Friday that the USPS had advised them that there is a large backlog of parcels still waiting to be processed.

It also doesn't help that eBay advertise the expected delivery date as between about 4 and 18 days from Australia which is an absolutely ridiculous time frame.

I have had one parcel which was sent to the UK on the 4th December arrive today.

[lulicool]

YIKES!!!! YOU WIN JEN!!!!   And YES!!! What a ridiculous timeframe for eBay to use...grrrrrrrr!!!!!

[davewil1964]

If you sent using a PP acceptable method, then the buyers won't win an INR anyway. Or if they do, you won't be the one paying.

[jensmanchester-australia]

If you sent using a PP acceptable method, then the buyers won't win an INR anyway. Or if they do, you won't be the one paying.

If the buyers lodge a claim through the eBay buyer protection program proof of delivery is required in the US and in the UK regardless of whether or not the parcel is posted using an accepted Paypal payment method.

With the changes to Paypal earlier this year, if they lodge claims through Paypal and the seller is able to provide proof of postage then Paypal no longer automatically cover buyers out of their own pocket.

[davewil1964]

My point exactly. And if they are invoking eBay protection, I believe proof of postage helps insofar as they must allow normal delivery times, not just what eBay consider normal.

I would still be confident of winning a dispute if I sent by a PP compliant method. Whether with PP/eBay in the first instance, or the FOS in the second.

Admittedly, I made a conscious decision when I started selling to only sell to Australia. The vast bulk of my items would not be competitive internationally.

[putney32]

america is going broke.. bid time.... Over the Cliff or whatever they are calling it.

the US Post office has been broke for over a year now, no overtime, no holiday pay for posties ... no new recruiting of posties/sorters - some Depots have to wait to end of the week to buy more fuel as they used up their weekly allocation!

Add to that the snow storms they have been having, and you can gauge why their postal system (for one) is in total meltdown.

[pjay482000]

I am glad I discovered this thread,

as I have had a lot of queries from buyers in the USA to where there item is,

have already refunded some of them,

so now I will know what to tell them,