I'm not the post office.

[bargainsandbaubles]

Sometimes things get stuck in the system.

But why do buyers think I personally work for USPS, FedEx or UPS?

I shipped something on the 1st of May, and it did the classic cross country tour.

But tracking HAS been updating, it's not stuck or sitting somewhere. It's only 2 days past the expected delivery date.

Buyer doesn't even message me, just opens an Item Not Received case.

Really annoys me, what do they expect me to do? Call Louis DeJoy? Personally drive to the sorting facility and give them a stern talking to?

[caldreamer]

You would think customers would be more understanding.   With all this horrible weather going on...customers are lucky if they get their mail at all.

Hang in there...

[simba6]

Buyers want their merchandise, they want it yesterday.  They don't understand delays or weather.   Where is my package, the battle cry of the day.   I say delivery by flying drones can't come soon enough.

[bennotbill]

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@simba6 wrote:

I say delivery by flying drones can't come soon enough.

---

Only if I get the option to press the drop button as the item is soaring over the buyers head.

[bargainsandbaubles]

Funny thing is, their account is well seasoned and is 16 years old. So you'd think they would be more understanding. It's usually the low feedback 2 month old accounts who think this is Amazon who pull this stuff.

[steady2304]

@bargainsandbaubles 

This is all on eBay. If they wouldn't underestimate their overly optimistic delivery times and tell buyers to file an INR claim if it is 1 day past their "estimated" delivery date things would be better. There really should be a 5-day grace period from last "estimated" delivery date to when a buyer can file an INR claim. Most packages arrive within that time frame, especially now with all the problems the Post Office seems to have created with their consolidation plan and all the weather-related problems currently. It would drastically cut down on unjustified INR claims for sellers and still allow buyers enough time to use the MBG if it somehow never arrives.

[toysaver]

You can make the buyer feel better about the situation by showing you care.  Tell them the exact time you mailed the package.  Let them know the most common scans your packages get and if this package has them- you know the first hub gets to and when.  Let them know you are watching the tracking.  Let them know if the package has been recently scanned.  Let them know you if you have or will open a find my missing mail case if appropriate.  Emphasis how every USPS facility has a help wanted sign hanging on the door.  There are things you can do as a seller.  Buyers don't know all the shipping intricacies you do.  

[worldcoinauctions]

Honestly this is why I have 2 business day shipping though I usually ship the next or even the same day.

[silverstatetreasureboxes]

@bargainsandbaubles 

Agree, I am totally patient when it comes to getting my packages but I also keep the line of communication open. I have one order that has been lost since April 21 as it shows out for delivery in another state. I have since been refunded but I wonder what happened to it.

    The USPS has some serious problems internally,  I no longer send out colorful greeting cards, and if I send large checks to my boys they are sent registered mail with tracking. I was briefly reading where a hub just discovered something like 80k pieces of undeliverable mail in the Midwest. You can't even use those outdoor blue boxes because of theft.

[broto_64]

Actually...

So buyers want their items when it stated they would have them, it is past that time so they are wondering where it is, how is that so out of line?

It only took a few trips to the post office before I had had enough of that. Today I can do just about anything they can do at the actual Post Office, in fact I prefer things this way because most post office employees are not that well trained (or maybe I just know my own stuff best, whichever the case may be but it's usually cheaper and faster to do it myself).

Also I would just as soon the buyer open an INR case and skip the palaver, ultimately if they message me I am going to tell them to open the INR so we can get on with it; I need documentation anyway and all that talking is just wasting time. 

[jbbowers12012]

Hi,  You likely already know this.  But, I think that if you insert the tracking number into the case you will be ok.  Agreed that buyers should wait a bit before filing an INR case - Or at least message their seller before they file.  Good Luck With This.  (J.B.)   - You have some nice listings, By the way. - 

[steady2304]

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@toysaver wrote:

You can make the buyer feel better about the situation by showing you care.  Tell them the exact time you mailed the package.  Let them know the most common scans your packages get and if this package has them- you know the first hub gets to and when.  Let them know you are watching the tracking.  Let them know if the package has been recently scanned.  Let them know you if you have or will open a find my missing mail case if appropriate.  Emphasis how every USPS facility has a help wanted sign hanging on the door.  There are things you can do as a seller.  Buyers don't know all the shipping intricacies you do.  

---

@toysaver 

While all that is good it doesn't do a seller much good if the buyer just drops the INR on you out of nowhere. eBay has conditioned buyers to file 1 day after the "estimated" delivery date. What harm would there be in having a 5-day grace period before an INR can be filed. 

Most sellers don't have the time to constantly update a buyer on where their package is, that is what a tracking number is for. Buyers need to show a little patience and not just jump straight to the INR. Buyers should have to at least contact the seller first, before filing an INR, to give the seller time to see if there is anything the seller can do on their end, which unfortunately is not much usually.

[reallynicestamps]

@toysaver and @jbbowers12012  are both right.

If there is a Claim open, insert the tracking number.

Not only have you responded to the claim, but sometimes that seems to give a little respite since the bots can see that you did in fact mail the package.

And Message the buyer separately with the tracking number and the transit information. Separately, because this is not something the customer may know how to do, and because responding to the customer is very very different in effect from responding to the Claim.

There already is a grace period built into the estimated delivery time. The delivery is not a single day , but a period of a few days, sometimes as much as a month.

[toysaver]

It takes a few seconds to assist a buyer, if you don't have that much time you shouldn't even be a seller.  I routinely look at shipped and awaiting feedback, at least once a day.  I'll leave feedback and take note of what hasn't been delivered.  If anything is close to past due I'll email the buyer with the information I have.  That can nip any INR in the bud, as I said it takes seconds, not minutes.  

[lakefor94]

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@bargainsandbaubles wrote:

Sometimes things get stuck in the system.

But why do buyers think I personally work for USPS, FedEx or UPS?

I shipped something on the 1st of May, and it did the classic cross country tour.

But tracking HAS been updating, it's not stuck or sitting somewhere. It's only 2 days past the expected delivery date.

Buyer doesn't even message me, just opens an Item Not Received case.

Really annoys me, what do they expect me to do? Call Louis DeJoy? Personally drive to the sorting facility and give them a stern talking to?

---

The only thing a buyer expects is their delivery. The buyer is unconcerned with what a seller has to do to accomplish the delivery. The buyer paid and they want their merchandise. 

I don't understand why so many sellers have issues with deliveries. Been since the holiday season of 2020 since I have had a buyer ask, "where is my item"? That is several thousand shipments total across venues. I guess shipping out of DFW has an advantage, somehow. Who knows?