Complaint to eBay Regarding Damaged Parcels Sent via Sendle

[possum0493]

Addressing Issues with Parcel Handling and Request for Resolution

To Whom It May Concern,

I am writing to express my concern and disappointment regarding several recent incidents involving parcels we have sent through Sendle to our eBay customers. Unfortunately, a significant number of these parcels have arrived at their destinations damaged, with some items even broken beyond repair.

As a seller committed to providing a high standard of service and ensuring customer satisfaction, these incidents have not only resulted in financial losses but have also affected our reputation on the eBay platform. We take great care in packaging our products securely and have followed all recommended guidelines for safe dispatch. Nonetheless, the recurring issue suggests a problem either with the handling or transportation process managed by Sendle.

Our customers expect to receive their purchases in the condition described in our listings. Receiving damaged goods understandably leads to frustration, negative feedback, and requests for refunds or replacements. Some of the items are rare not always in cost but are often parts of sets which due to the breakage are now incomplete. This causes additional costs and administrative work and undermines the trust we strive to build with every transaction.

We kindly request that eBay investigate these incidents in partnership with Sendle and advise on any measures that can be taken to improve the handling of parcels sent via this courier.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. We look forward to your prompt response and a resolution that ensures a better experience for both sellers and buyers on your platform.

[sandypebbles]

This is a member to member forum that eBay rarely read

The many problems with Sendle are widely known

If you as a seller choose to use them, that is 100% your choice

If keep using them, that is the risk you take

You can't say 'As a seller committed to providing a high standard of service and ensuring customer satisfaction'  but then continue to use Sendle,( a courier broker, not a courier) who uses the cheapest possible option 

I am not sure how you expect eBay to 'investigate' simply because it is one of the shipping options listed

The resolution would be to stop using a 'service' you have had constant issues with, and who have literally hundreds of warnings here on the member forum alone about (let alone other review websites)

[padi*0409]

Firstly, you are not talking to eBay here, just members like yourself.

Secondly your problems with Sendle are easily fixed - don't use them, they are a courier broker who will use the cheapest possible courier service with obvious repercusssions.

Thirdly, I and many others will not buy from sellers that use Sendle due to past negative experiences.

[possum0493]

I am not an experienced seller and it appears that eBay defaults to Sendle as the main choice. I have tried to find out how to ask eBay to investigate this courier broker because of their poor service but it is the usual pick a box run around with eBay when trying contacting them. I certainly will in future organise the postage myself. It is just I have lost some rare (not expensive as such)  Blue Willow items due to damage by the courier they have used. 

Thank you.

[i-once-was-bump]

It is the courier you have chosen to use not  "the courier they have used".

Also a quick glance at some of your items you have delivery by Australia Post so are you using sendle instead?

[daydreams_12]

You obviously do not look at this Member to Member Forum at any stage.

I would love $10 for every complaint on here regarding them.   

They are cheap and nasty.  I am another buyer who would not support any seller using Sendle.

[rocket2retro]

Looking at some of your listings (and how much you are charging for postage) I would suggest that maybe you are not packing adequately. For example you have a creamer & sugar bowl with postage at $11.45. This price would suggest you are planning on a parcel under 500 grams (or a small satchel).

There is no way I would expect to securely pack both items and post at that price (yes I would be able to send one or the other at that price).

No matter which carrier you use your parcels will be thrown around & Australia Post state that they drop parcels from a conveyor belt at a height of 2 metres (and then theoretically may drop parcels up to 20kg on top).

A while ago I posted some parcels at my PO and the contractor arrived at the same time. He proceeded to toss all of the parcels in through the sliding door of the van (with force and at a distance of almost 3 metres). They were literally bouncing off the back wall of the vehicle. If this is how they treat parcels in front of the customer. I hate to think what goes on at the depot (out of view of the public). 

You really need to pack breakable item with these potential scenarios at the back of your mind.

Hopefully you find a solution.

[springyzone]

From what I have read (as I am not a seller any more), ebay is in a sort of partnership with sendle, but you don't actually have to use them. I am pretty sure you can still opt to use eg Australia Post and still print out postage labels and so on.

Sendle, as you know now, doesn't actually do the delivering. It subcontracts out to couriers.

A lot of the time in my area, it works out fine but I can tell you this much, if you do strike a problem (as seller or buyer), it is a virtual nightmare to solve as they give you scripted answers over the phone and you're not dealing directly wwith the company that delivered it.

But as rocket2retro pointed out, no matter who you use, the problem with breakages is very real.

I have in the past had deliveries of glassware that was packed professionally. It was already boxed and glasses individually cocooned then the whole packed into a second, solid box. But still, some glassware cracked.

Even if couriers don't actually toss things around, I think it is still possible for things to crack. I'd say you will just need to factor this into your selling prices as if you sell breakables, occasionally you are going to have to refund.

[paper-jack]

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@rocket2retro wrote:
.......

No matter which carrier you use your parcels will be thrown around & Australia Post state that they drop parcels from a conveyor belt at a height of 2 metres (and then theoretically may drop parcels up to 20kg on top).

A while ago I posted some parcels at my PO and the contractor arrived at the same time. He proceeded to toss all of the parcels in through the sliding door of the van (with force and at a distance of almost 3 metres). They were literally bouncing off the back wall of the vehicle. If this is how they treat parcels in front of the customer. I hate to think what goes on at the depot (out of view of the public). 

You really need to pack breakable item with these potential scenarios at the back of your mind.

Hopefully you find a solution.

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It is not only the contractors who don't give a proverbial ship, I've seen a post office person walking on top of parcels strewn on the floor behind the counter. Lucky she wasn't wearing stiletto heels, could've been worse.

Pack everything as if posting an egg. (old corflutes are handy to strengthen the inside of a box, light weight too - combined with bubble wrap, polystyrene pieces whatever, not too hard to get that egg across the country, or world, in one piece)