Delayed Shipment
Hi, so I have a dilemma I could use some help with: I made a sale ($18) to a buyer in Hawaii. The buyer chose USPS ground, she paid on 3/13, and I shipped the item the same day. The buyer opened a case yesterday (4/1) stating that the item has not moved on the tracking since 3/22, and she requested a refund. I responded to her and told her I would open a case with USPS, which I did on 4/2. USPS informed that ground shipments go by boat to Hawaii, and that the package is on the boat but it won’t sail until the boat is full and the weather is clear, so the buyer likely won’t get the item for 4-6 weeks. I am now questioning whether I should refund the buyer. I am a fairly new seller, and really don’t want a bad review or a negative case against me, and $18 really is not all that much money. However, the buyer will be eventually getting her skirt, and the delay is through no fault of mine. I have gone back and forth and can’t decide what to do!
gloryglorygifts
·2 years agoYou have me looking at my own orders. I shipped one yesterday to Hawaii, it cleared the Queens, NY postal hub last night and has an expected delivery date of April 8th. It will be interesting to see if it makes the boat or not....
If the buyer opened a case, don't do anything but respond to ebay with any requests they may have - like adding tracking. They take care of it from there. That's what buyer and seller protection is all about.
wheelworkzmurfreesboro
·2 years agoI woudn't do anything until ebay tells you you have to. You did your part and shipped the item. Your buyer chose ground. You haven't done anything wrong.
we-thrift-for-all
·2 years agoI shipped a bulk lot of Levis to Hawaii by USPS Ground from Iowa It was delivered in 2 days I was floored!
I cannot mail a letter inside the state and it be delivered that fast...
You never know how fast the mail will take
dbfolks166mt
·2 years agoA couple of pieces of missing information. What does eBay show as the expected delivery date on the item and what does the USPS tracking show as the expected delivery date. I am going to assume since your buyer opened a INR case that it is past the estimated eBay delivery date. You have little choice but to refund the buyer. If you do not they can ask eBay to step in and eBay will fully refund them and retain your fees. If you refund and close out the INR eBay should credit you back the FVF's.
I would file a lost package insurance claim with USPS since it has been more than 15 days since you shipped the item. I cannot see USPS shoving packages onto a boat for domestic shipments when they have delivery timelines they are supposed to meet. Following is the timeline for filing claims with USPS.
I have not had the best luck with USPS this year and have had to file 4 lost package claims all of which USPS paid in short order.
inhawaii
·2 years agoUSPS informed that ground shipments go by boat to Hawaii.
That is false. It goes by air.
I would advise the buyer to file a INR (item not received) case with ebay.
That will buy you some time.
Hopefully the item will arrive by the time ebay decides you need to refund the buyer.
robbie31415
·2 years agoNot actually correct.
It can go by air, but it might not.
If there is space avaliable it may hitch a ride.
If not then it will go by boat. Majority of mine have been air. 1 went by boat and took quite awhile.
evry1nositswindy
·2 years agoBe proactive and sign up for email updates. You can update the buyer and let them know you are on top of it. That is what I have always done and had good outcomes. Living in Hawaii, they are used to delays.
1786davycrockett
·2 years ago@makoan-37
As others have told you, do NOT refund UNTIL the buyer opens up an "item not received" case, since eBay may intercede on your behalf and allow your package some extended delivery time.
The latest Postmaster General (not appointed by Biden, by the way) has made quite a few questionable negative changes regarding mail delivery, and we should not be surprised if air shipments have also been whittled down.
Other major USPS problems have recently been reported in Houston, Memphis, Atlanta, and so on -- even my local post office in New Brighton, MN has been the subject of a postal investigation.
So we shouldn't be surprised to hear about yet another increase in postage soon, either.
buyselljack2016
·2 years ago@makoan-37
If it were me, I would consider NOT blocking the buyer ID. Blocking will also block communication.
Odds are that you will have to refund. Leaving a line of communication allows for the possibility that the buyer might want to pay you when the item arrives after they have been refunded.
mam98031
·2 years agoBlocking a buyer does NOT stop a buyer with a current transaction from being able to communicate with the seller. Unless something changed very recently in the policy that I'm unaware of.
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoSeveral months back it was posted that blocking an ID also blocks "ALL" communication even if there was a recent transaction even when the seller does not check mark the box to block communication for ID's that are blocked. That was confirmed by a "blue". I believe it was kyle.
I have heard of no/read of no change to that eBay policy change.
Sellers protested that change as there are instances when a repeat purchase is not desired from the buyer at the moment, but there may be details to work out with the present transaction that could be positive for both buyer, and seller, but again, to my knowledge (I don't always know what is going on) eBay has remained steadfast in their decision.
ETA: the buyer does not know that they have been blocked from "communication". Message just appears to have been sent leaving the buyer to think that the seller is ignoring. At the time that this started, two regular forum members tested the "send communication after being blocked by a seller" and confirmed that there is no indication given to the buyer that the message is just going out into cyberspace. (the two were not involved in a transaction)
mam98031
·2 years ago@buyselljack2016
I believe that has since been fixed as it never should have been that way. The Site Preferences for Buyer Requirements is back to what it was before that change had happened and you have to turn on the ability to prevent blocked bidders from emailing you.
There never should be a way to block a buyer from contacting a seller that they have a current transaction with IMHO.
I may be wrong on this. I'll do some more research.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoHaha you recently said this was old news which is why you wanted my discussion thread shut down where sellers were actively submitting feedback for @kyle@ebay to escalate on this problem. There's a link in the OP on the below discussion to the information you're seeking:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Changes-to-Buyer-Blocks/td-p/33977166
The link within that OP takes you to this post from Kyle:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Cant-receive-messages-from-Blocked-Buyers-Anymore/m-p/33976486#M2273582
I posed the question back in September:
Can buyers blocked through the BBL still message you if they're in a recent transaction with you or has that changed?
Kyle's response was:
No, not anymore.
Read the 2 linked discussions to refresh your memory on your replies when these changes took place. 🙂
mam98031
·2 years agocleared post was done by me.
wastingtime101
·2 years agoAdding a screenshot of the buyer management page for reference.
mam98031
·2 years agoI understand it is there, but thank you. All I'm trying to do is get clarity on the situation. Nothing else. I'm sorry I seem to be annoying you.
gurlcat
·2 years agoHere's the clarity. It's vital to understand that when it comes to blocked buyers' ability to reach the seller, buyers who are auto-blocked by seller preference settings are totally different from buyers whose names were manually placed by the seller into their Blocked Buyer List.
Seller preference auto-blocked buyers: The seller can OPT to allow their messages to come through (like to request allowance to bid because their unpaid item strikes were not their fault or whatever), or the seller can block messages completely. It's still a choice.
BBL buyers: Their messages do not reach the seller at all, not even when there's an open case. AND these buyers get no kind of notification that their messages won't go through. So they will take non-replies from the seller as being ignored by the seller.
I don't think @wastingtime101 is acting annoyed whatsoever, just providing corrective information. And it was really a shame when your assertion that his ongoing thread about the topic was "old" ended up getting the thread shut down, because for one thing it wasn't old, and people were posting their current/recent experiences with the problem, tagging a blue, and he was reporting them to the powers that be. Sure wastingtime (or anybody) could start a new thread about it, but that one was serving as a good clearinghouse type collection of various kinds of scenarios where this policy change was problematic.
mam98031
·2 years agoMy apologies for having this wrong. I was told that they were going to fix that, but clearly they did not. IMHO it isn't a good thing to block a current buyer from being able to converse with their seller as it can create other issues to include them posting negative or neutral feedback. But you are right, the Buyer Requirements clearly state that if you turn on the block for messages, it applies to all on the BBL, current transaction or not.
gurlcat
·2 years agoBut just to be precisely clear, even if you don't activate the block in Buyer Requirements, the names in your BBL will STILL have their messages blocked. There is no way to allow any of those names to contact you, starting from the moment you add them to the list.
dolcetreasures
·2 years agoDo not refund until the last possible moment you have to. Never ever refund. Open a case with usps online and it will push a new scan message which will bide your time. Absolutely do not listen to anyone who tells you to refund.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoDo not refund unless eBay tells you to refund on a certain time frame. Then you have to. The item may never show as "delivered".
And re-enter tracking on the claim.
I hardly think item would take 4-6 weeks to arrive.
There is sometimes when item scanned is not scanned "delivered" but got delivered.
I have items not scanned "delivered' since March 2023 but the buyers were honest and gave positive feedback.
I would block the buyer from future purchases of course.
And not to be a prune...as a merchant marine....please use the word "ship" and not "boat"in the future...I think of a boat as a canoe or something that size.
slippinjimmy
·2 years agoThank you for this diversion.......
https://www.dictionary.com/e/boat-vs-ship/
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoThank you for looking it up.......
makoan-37
OP2 years agoThe boat/ship discussion is cracking me up - I am a high school English teacher and it bugged me too, but it was the terminology that USPS used in their response, so I used it too. Lol
richard1rst
·2 years ago"ship", "boat" tomato tomahto.
Seems to me that submarines are somewhat larger than a canoe. As is the "Love Boat".
And there is this from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition •
noun
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoIf the buyer has filed an INR, not much you can do but refund, since there has been no tracking updates lately.
Ground to Hawaii does take awhile, I think they put them on a row boat.
mam98031
·2 years agoThat is not necessarily true, especially on INRs. It depends on the specifics of the transaction. Some I refund, others I don't. It is best to take it on a case by case basis.
buyselljack2016
·2 years agoWith rumors of "boat travel" I updated any of my listings that I would ship by GA to block sales to Alaska, Hawaii, and protectorates.
simba6
·2 years agoI would wait and see if a case is opened. eBay will at times delay a case if the item is in transit.
monster-deals
·2 years agoUsually if there has been at least one tracking update in the last 10 days
Policy may not be written in stone on that or may have changed but is my experience when speaking with Anchor CSRs
stainlessenginecovers
·2 years agoGround Advantage flies all the time. Unless the item has stickers stating it's a 'battery' (which it's not) then it would NOT go by 'boat'. That USPS clerk was wrong. If item hasn't 'updated' for over 2 weeks, I would just apologize to the buyer and refund them.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoIt flies if there's room, if not, it goes by boat.
Last time I shipped to Hawaii, I made the mistake and shipped ground and it went by boat and it took awhile to get there.
makoan-37
OP2 years agoIt wasn’t just a clerk, and it was the post office in the destination town in Hawaii who responded. Here is the response from USPS:
,
This is in response to your inquiry regarding the delivery of a package.
According to the tracking of your package, it was last processed at our distribution facility located in Tampa, FL on 3/15/24 and is estimated to arrive within 4-6 weeks. Your package is traveling to Hawaii by way of our USPS Ground Advantage service. Ground Advantage travels to Hawaii in a container on a boat. Although we can confirm that your package is on its way and is not lost, we are unable to give an accurate arrival of your package due to the container not being released to sail until it is full and/or weather conditions out at sea as the boat is traveling that will cause a delay.
We apologize if this time frame was not made apparent to you at the time of your order or transaction. We recommend using our Priority Mail service if timeliness is a concern. Unfortunately, the estimated delivery date is simply an estimated date and not a guaranteed delivery date associated only with our Express Mail service.
Please accept our sincerest apology for any trouble this may have caused you. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you again in the future. If you require additional assistance, please feel free to contact the Wailuku Post Office directly at (808) 244-1653.
Sincerely,
Management Team
Wailuku Post Office
Phone: (808) 244-1653
slippinjimmy
·2 years ago@makoan-37
In your OP you said the most recent scan you saw was on 03/22, the boiler plate response from USPS in HI says the last scan was 03/15 in Tampa. Is the 03/22 scan a real one or just a "In-Transit" placeholder scan? If real what is the location? Was the 03/15 an outbound or arrival scan at Tampa?
mam98031
·2 years ago@makoan-37
If you haven't done this already, go to the INR claim and send a message to your buyer, copy this email you got from USPS into that message to your buyer so they are fully informed. Communication is your best defense in cases like this. Keep that buyer completely informed.