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Ebay International Shipping NIGHTMARE - A warning to buyers and sellers
TLDR: Lots of time wasted, complete frustration, lack of confidence in Ebay, finger-pointing between Ebay and Ebay International Shipping, poor customer service from Ebay, a lack of ability for Ebay to take ownership and fix problems.
If you ship through Ebay International Shipping it can become a huge obstacle in ensuring your buyers get a good experience and good customer service for their transaction.
In my case, a buyer purchased an item on the 17th then realized they made a mistake and contacted me to cancel it within just a few hours. But, trying to be a good seller I had shipped it and it was on a nearby Fedex truck headed to the Ebay International Shipping hub but out of my hands.
I tried to contact Fedex to have the shipment returned to sender but because "Ebay" is the official shipper, they could not do this.
When I tried to contact Ebay to have them contact Fedex to return the shipment to sender they told me they could not do this.
They told me they would stop the shipment at the Ebay International shipping hub, but when it arrived I received a notice from Ebay stating that the hub needed 48 hours notice to stop a shipment. (They had 2 business days + 2 weekend days notice.)
Ebay then told me to allow the buyer to receive the shipment and that a return + refund would be possible. I asked if Ebay would pay to have the item shipped back since it failed to stop the shipment and Ebay customer service agreed and put a note on the transaction regarding this.
Fast forward two weeks of shipping to today and the customer has received the package, but the process to return it and get a refund is falling apart.
To the customer, it looks like the refund is waiting on the seller to approve it. To the seller, Ebay clearly states that per Ebay International Shipping once you ship the package to the hub, the Seller's part of the transaction is complete and no interaction with the buyer for the transaction is needed. There is nothing in this case the Seller can do to approve or process a return.
Now the buyer has been waiting for two weeks, money out of pocket, does not know if they will get a refund, is being told it is dependent on the Seller, and is completely frustrated.
I have attempted to act on behalf of my buyer to contact Ebay customer service by chat and voice calls and this is what I experienced:
* Sometimes incorrect information as reps provide me with information that is inaccurate such as asking me to fill out lost shipment forms
* Promises that Ebay would handle the cost of return shipping since they failed to stop the shipment on day 1, day 2, day 3 or at any other time in a 2 week window. This should have happened quickly and easily today and resolved our issue but instead this issue continues.
* An inability for reps to escalate calls to a supervisor so that I could at least get a high level response regarding this unique situation
* An inability for anyone at Ebay to recognize the poor experience this buyer is happening, taken ownership of it and resolve this issue like a traditional brick and mortar business would.
Overall, I've wasted half my day trying to navigate this system and will be opting out of Ebay International Shipping from this point on. Some people will focus on the "ship it and forget it" nature that allows sellers to ship through Ebay International and walk away from transactions like this, but I pride myself on honesty and good customer service and I can't let a customer suffer because Ebay's processes, management and customer service with Ebay International are all flawed.
I compare this to a recent transaction shipping a package within the United States. I was able to have a Fedex package returned to Sender(Seller) even after traveling multiple states over multiple days. This allowed me to fix an issue and re-ship to the customer, updating them along the way to ensure good customer service. IF only this had happened with my Ebay International shipment all this frustration would have been avoided.
Best wishes,
kh-stanley1
·1 year agoHi everyone,
Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.
Thank you for understanding.
titipeo
·1 year agoThe dangerous goods label might come from your country, not the US. Good luck.
paugeb73
·1 year agoI live in Australia, ordered lipsticks, no tracking for almost 2 weeks after initial parcel pickup..parcel not received. Ebay purchase was approx $12 USD, shipping $42 + US GST, then conversion to AUD ended up costing me $95. Seller couldn't give me answers why no delivery so I looked deeper on line, parcel at Glendale IL and notes saying the parcel contained "dangerous goods" and seller could get it back or it would be destroyed!! Seriously??..lipstick is a dangerous substance? Where do I go from here to be reimbursed?
participatrophy
·1 year agoThere's a process to follow, but everything being automated systems now means you have to follow it correctly. Don't do anything just yet except for starting a new thread with your question. This one is likely to get locked by the mods because of how old it is.
participatrophy
·1 year agoOh and @paugeb73 , include the estimated delivery date, the shipping service that was on the listing, and whether you completed the purchase on ebay.com or on ebay.com.au in your thread. People here are all pretty friendly and helpful and stuff so don't worry, it'll get sorted 😉
paugeb73
·1 year agoThank you, I'll do my best..I'm 74 and not great with technology , fingers crossed
wastingtime101
·1 year agoCosmetics are often flagged as Hazmat @paugeb73 and Hazmat is not permitted through eBay International Shipping which is why it got stopped at the hub. Your next steps are to file an item not received claim after the estimated delivery date passes.
paugeb73
·1 year agoThank you so much for your help, it's helped me understand and how to start the refund process. Very grateful, huge thanks
grand-and-glorious-purpose
·1 year agoThose are ebay's obstacles not yours.
nicjeanp29
·1 year agoI do understand your frustration
ms.rodriguez*
·3 years agoEbay is supposed to refund the purchase. You did your part. Now I don't know where you tell the buyer to go to get his refund. Perhaps someone can say. For now, tell the buyer that Ebay will be the one refunding since they guaranteed sellers would keep their funds. Tell him that you will find out how he gets his refund.
Start a new thread if possible since it might help more sellers and they would not have to read all of that stuff you wrote. Very simple.
How does a buyer in the Ebay International program get a refund?
stainlessenginecovers
·3 years agoWhy does any of this make EIS something to 'Warn' anyone about.
Things are simple here.
EIS buyer buys.
There is no cancelling if you already shipped.
Done.
Therefore, EIS works FANTASTIC and there is NO REASON to Warn anyone about anything.
tim-ack
·3 years agoFor those of you with good or bad EIS experiences, could you help with my strange EIS situation?
The package arrived to the Ebay hub in Glendale on May 17, but it is still there. Shipping from the US to Europe... but not yet, it seems!
Not cheap price but still OK for the EIS limit, so that is not a problem.
As I say, no more updates in the last 15 days! So it seems the package is still there for some reason.
Yes, the delivery date is June 6, BUT we are getting too close AND packages leave the hub in 2 or 3 days after they get them, so what is going on?
The package was sent to the Hub with UPS and was delivered there. That is the only tracking number I had. The new one should be given to me by Ebay once they ship to me, here in Europe...
Thanks!
janet9988
·3 years agoDon't use FedEx unless you have your own FedEx account to avoid ebays account.
You do not accept returns on your listing.
Stop shipments are not guaranteed.
The buyer can pay for return shipping for their mistake (if you wish to override your no return policy) OR encourage them to sell it to recover from their mistake.
lakefor94
·3 years ago"You do not accept returns on your listing."
I dont think it matters what the seller's return policy is with a EIS transaction. EBay's EIS return policy overrides it.
janet9988
·3 years agoYes but the Seller is not responsible either way.