How about a "Sick Day Button"?

[movieman630]

I was sick recently and it came on so sudden that when my shipping day came around I had several orders that needed to be shipped.  I had no time to think about "Time Away" functions. 

If ebay wanted to help sellers what would really be helpful (Especially in the age of covid-19) would be an "Emergency Delay Function".   Something where if a SUDDEN onset emergency hits a seller can suspend sales and also automatically notify buyers that their items "shipping will be delayed but that if they wish to cancel the transaction and get a full refund they are welcome to do so." 

This would allow the seller an easy way out of worrying about ebay punishing them for not shipping on time while also protecting the buyer from having to wait for something.  If the buyer doesn't like waiting they can get a refund no questions asked and the seller doesn't have to deal with buyer abuse. 

A function like this is long overdue.  There's no reason why we can't have something like this when emergencies hit all the time for any and all reasons. 

Just a suggestion for ebay of a function that would ACTUALLY HELP SELLERS!  How about something like that for an update instead of just telling us how we're going to pay more fees?

[iart]

People working for paychecks often get a set number of days per year to call in sick, or otherwise 'personal days'.

We're in for one-day shipping and sometimes it's a struggle. But we don't want to degrade the account because of illness 4 or 5 days a year.

Good idea.

[rosszonebricks]

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@movieman630 wrote:

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@rosszonebricks wrote:

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However, "Prior planning prevents poor performance."   Plan ahead for these things and you won't need some magical new feature from eBay.

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Ok so enlighten me.  How does one (who works alone) "plan ahead" for an emergency situation?

The same way you plan ahead for ANY emergency?

I run my business alone, so I'm right there with you.  However, I have planned ahead and made arrangements with several others to handle the business in an emergency.    In my case, I have two fully planned ahead options. 

1. I have trained one full backup that could do even packaging and shipping if needed.
2. I have another backup that can not ship for me but could do 'manually' what you want from this Sick Day button, which would message any buyers with orders that have not been shipped letting them know of the emergency and ask if they would like to cancel, and then process the cancellations.

And both of the above know how to then put the store in Away mode blocking further orders until other decisions can be made.

Do I even have a 'what to do with my eBay store if I suddenly die'?  Yes, yes I have that emergency also 'planned ahead' for.

[movieman630]

Ok but your "plan" still allows your account to suffer from "dings" by ebay for cancelling orders, etc.  And you have the added stress of having to worry about someone else handling things for you.  You're not making a good argument AGAINST my idea.

If you really think about it, what about my idea wouldn't help your "plan"?  What is the downside?

[maxine*j]

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@iart wrote:

People working for paychecks often get a set number of days per year to call in sick, or otherwise 'personal days'.

We're in for one-day shipping and sometimes it's a struggle. But we don't want to degrade the account because of illness 4 or 5 days a year.

Good idea.

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The thing is, though, that as a customer of the business, an employee taking a sick day doesn't mean that what I've already bought and paid for won't arrive when it was supposed to arrive and when i counted on it to arrive.   When someone in shipping is off sick, someone covers for him.

An order arriving late can be  can be anything from a mild inconvenience to a major hassle for me as a buyer.   Ditto a cancelled order, no matter who cancels it.

And, frankly, I think OP's "Sick Day Button" would be abused left and right, just based on reading posts to this forum for the past few years from so many uncommitted, unprofessional, often downright flippant, sellers.   

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[movieman630]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

Sellers should have a plan in case an emergency does come up.

I remember my last hospital stay.

I was being transported to Tulsa by ambulance and they were trying to pump enough blood in me to keep from dying before I reached Tulsa.

On the ride to Tulsa, I was on my phone telling my daughter what needed done because I knew I would be there a little while.

Once I got back home, I decided I needed to make a plan so my daughter would know what to do if needed again.

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Ok but what is the problem with having a function set up by ebay to make your life easier in this scenario?  I can't tell if you're for or against my idea but if you're against it, explain why?  Why is it a bad idea?  Ebay's IT people are constantly "re-inventing the wheel" with functions that already exist.  They changed "Vacation Mode" to "Time Away" some years ago. 

What is the problem with a feature that allows sellers to be protected in time of emergency?

[iart]

I agree that prior commitments should be taken care of. I assumed we were talking about a day or two off that would either put sales on hold or provide a note saying delayed shipping on the item page.

And, again, only for a set number of days per year. 5 to 10, which is pretty much a corporate standard.

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@maxine*j wrote:

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@iart wrote:

People working for paychecks often get a set number of days per year to call in sick, or otherwise 'personal days'.

We're in for one-day shipping and sometimes it's a struggle. But we don't want to degrade the account because of illness 4 or 5 days a year.

Good idea.

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The thing is, though, that as a customer of the business, an employee taking a sick day doesn't mean that what I've already bought and paid for won't arrive when it was supposed to arrive and when i counted on it to arrive.   When someone in shipping is off sick, someone covers for him.

An order arriving late can be  can be anything from a mild inconvenience to a major hassle for me as a buyer.   Ditto a cancelled order, no matter who cancels it.

And, frankly, I think OP's "Sick Day Button" would be abused left and right, just based on reading posts to this forum for the past few years from so many uncommitted, unprofessional, often downright flippant, sellers.   

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[movieman630]

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@maxine*j wrote:

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@iart wrote:

People working for paychecks often get a set number of days per year to call in sick, or otherwise 'personal days'.

We're in for one-day shipping and sometimes it's a struggle. But we don't want to degrade the account because of illness 4 or 5 days a year.

Good idea.

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The thing is, though, that as a customer of the business, an employee taking a sick day doesn't mean that what I've already bought and paid for won't arrive when it was supposed to arrive and when i counted on it to arrive.   When someone in shipping is off sick, someone covers for him.

An order arriving late can be  can be anything from a mild inconvenience to a major hassle for me as a buyer.   Ditto a cancelled order, no matter who cancels it.

And, frankly, I think OP's "Sick Day Button" would be abused left and right, just based on reading posts to this forum for the past few years from so many uncommitted, unprofessional, often downright flippant, sellers.   

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So we limit ourselves to the worst case scenario?  We allow the worst users to dictate how we operate?  And as I said, those who abuse, won't make money because their account is shut off from sales during this period and any "pending" sales can be automatically refunded at the buyers request.  If I ordered something I "need right away" and it's readily available from many sellers.  I can cancel the order and buy from someone else.

Your "Major Hassle" of having to re-order from another seller doesn't hold weight against a seller's "hassle of being hospitalized or in dire straits."  Sorry but it doesn't. 

The point IS a GOOD seller's reputation and account shouldn't have to suffer for having an unforeseen Emergency of any kind. 

And the "Employee sick day business must go on" response is great if you're Amazon.  But for those of us who are a one man operation.  There is NO EMPLOYEE TO TAKE OVER FOR US! 

Some of these rationalizations to counter an idea with very little downside is amazing.  There are a lot of people out there who just like to be contrarian for the sake of doing so.

[harafkac0]

Perhaps ebay can give this "emergency" button a function limit of once per year, ten times lifetime.

[movieman630]

I think limiting it is counter productive.   You can't say someone won't have a car accident in Janurary and get Covid in November.

They can not make money while they are using it.  It's just another way of using "time away" but in an "emergency setting". 

I really don't see a lot of sellers wanting to give refunds for pending orders just because they're lazy or want to "game the system". 

Abuse of a function like this is kinda like "cutting off your nose to spite your face."  It's not beneficial to you unless you're legitimately unavailable.

[harafkac0]

Then again as a seller this issue is first and foremost on my mind anytime there is a delay.
It's like this, if I'm having a heart attack there is a really good chance I am deciding whether I should run by the house to shut off my ebay first... I'm not joking, ebay wants stellar service and I provide that, the bonus is my prices reflect this level of dedication.

[dhbookds]

Sellers need a back up........as pointed out by many..........that's their responsibility to set up......

If one worries about possible problems, has conditions that can crop up........use an 3 day/more handling time.......which would give the back up plan to kick in. 

I agree that the button suggestion would be abused and would equate, at least to some sellers, as a "get out of jail free" card........

[luckythewinner]

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@movieman630 wrote:

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Again,  You're all missing the counter point.  Your buyers can all cancel and get refunded during that "emergency period" if they want.  So if you abuse it, your opening yourself up to cancelled transactions and refunds.

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No, you are missing our point.

The buyer wants his item as you originally promised. The sick Day button offers the buyer two options (cancel or delay) that were NOT what they were promised and that tends to erode buyer confidence in the venue.

Our point is simple - suck it up and live up to what you promised your buyer, even if that means a little extra work on your part to set up a backup plan.

[luckythewinner]

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Ok so you have a car accident and end up in the hospital.  Does that not count as an "emergency"? 

Yes, that is an emergency.

Should you suffer "dings" on your selling account because of this? 

Yes, if you failed to have a backup plan in place.

Why are there so many users who just dismiss ideas?  It's kinda annoying.

Because we are responsible and have taken the time to establish an emergency plan.

eBay is not going to give you this "get out of jail free" button that you want. So one idea would be to take the time you are using to argue here, and use it instead to recruit a family member, friend or neighbor to fill in for you in case of an emergency.

[kensgiftshop]

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@movieman630 wrote:

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

Sellers should have a plan in case an emergency does come up.

I remember my last hospital stay.

I was being transported to Tulsa by ambulance and they were trying to pump enough blood in me to keep from dying before I reached Tulsa.

On the ride to Tulsa, I was on my phone telling my daughter what needed done because I knew I would be there a little while.

Once I got back home, I decided I needed to make a plan so my daughter would know what to do if needed again.

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Ok but what is the problem with having a function set up by ebay to make your life easier in this scenario?  I can't tell if you're for or against my idea but if you're against it, explain why?  Why is it a bad idea?  Ebay's IT people are constantly "re-inventing the wheel" with functions that already exist.  They changed "Vacation Mode" to "Time Away" some years ago. 

What is the problem with a feature that allows sellers to be protected in time of emergency?

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There's nothing wrong with the idea, but we don't work for Ebay and I don't think they are to worried about them protecting our accounts.

When there's bad weather, some sellers expect Ebay to help with their account.

When your internet goes out for a few days, they expect Ebay to help with defects.

When someone ends up in the hospital a few days and can't ship, some expect Ebay to fix the defects.

Last I checked, we work for ourselves and we shouldn't depend on Ebay to have a way to fix our problems.

[rosszonebricks]

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@movieman630 wrote:

Ok but your "plan" still allows your account to suffer from "dings" by ebay for cancelling orders, etc.  And you have the added stress of having to worry about someone else handling things for you.  You're not making a good argument AGAINST my idea.

If you really think about it, what about my idea wouldn't help your "plan"?  What is the downside?

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Cancellations with "Buyer Requested Cancellation" do NOT give you a ding.  So if my backup messages a buyer with "We are sorry, there has been an emergency and we cannot ship your package for a few days(weeks whatever).  Would you like to cancel?  You will receive a full refund and a coupon for 25% off your next order when we are able to resume business...." or whatever.   The buyers always say "Yes" and you can then cancel without fear of any dings on your account.

What is the downside of your idea?  Others keep saying it over and over again in two different forms. 

• It's just not really even necessary. 
• It would be massively abused.  No, not just 1 or two 'bad sellers'.  But nearly the majority of users of this 'feature'.