This year, COVID-19 has changed the way both sellers and carriers fulfil and deliver eBay orders, so it’s never been more important to ensure your orders are tracked.
As announced in the recent Spring Seller Update, the below changes will apply from October 1 until at least January 2021. These temporary changes are applicable to all transactions on ebay.com.au:
- Sellers who use a postage tracked service AND upload valid tracking
- For items valued up to $15, we’ll automatically resolve the request on your behalf and refund the buyer. We’ll absorb the cost of the refund and you won’t receive a defect, provided that the order:
- Was sent using an eBay-integrated carrier
- Has at least one valid tracking event (i.e. an acceptance scan)
- For items valued over $15, you should still respond to the request and ensure that the tracking number for the order is correct. However, if we're asked to step in and help, we’ll automatically resolve the claim. If we determine the buyer should receive a refund, we'll absorb the cost and you won’t receive a defect, provided that the order:
- Was sent using an eBay-integrated carrier
- Has at least one valid tracking event (e.g. an acceptance scan)
- Was sent within your stated handling time
- Sellers who use an untracked postage service or do not upload valid tracking
- If a buyer opens an ‘Item not received’ request, we will resolve the request and refund them after 3 business days, unless the request is closed. We will do this without requiring the buyer to ask eBay to step in and help.
We’ve also updated our list of eBay-integrated carriers. Hong Kong Post, UBI and La Poste are no longer available for overseas sellers sending items to Australia. USPS is also no longer available for Australian-based sellers sending an item overseas.
I have had an Item not received case opened on 1st October, for an item of approx AU$43. As the item was posted by Australia Post (an ebay integrated carrier) with tracking, has 2 Australia Post activity events/scans - although not yet delivered (policy says 1 required), and was sent next day after payment was made (within my stated handling time) I was confident that for once ebay would actually protect me from this problem with delayed postage that is clearly out of my control. I waited for this "new policy" to sort out the case (as I would under normal circumstances refund the buyer myself), after a few days I asked the buyer to click on the "Ask ebay to step in" button, which they did after waiting the 7 days. (I was doing EVERYTHING the new policy asks).
Within minutes ebay resolved the case, refunded the buyer from my paypal, and gave me a defect for an unresolved transaction.
Needless to say I was taken aback,and very annoyed. the next 1 hour and 22minuites were spent on a chat where the customer service person confirmed the new policy was in force, but apart from that they could not help me.....they bounced me from person to person for well over an hour. Eventaully I asked to have contact with a manager or supervisor, which they tried to not do...eventually they said nobody was available, but the supervisor would send me an email within 48 hours....Guess what? No email. (I would really like to complain abouth this service from the chat people, but first thing is first).
I am writing here in the hope others may have had this issue, and can offer some help or advise, or let me know a way to contact ebay Australia to try and sort this out.
Thanks
