I ordered a cable for my ebike from eBay, and I chose the specific seller that I did because the listing said that their stock was in Los Angeles. I thought that it would arrive much faster than if it were shipped from China, where everyone else was shipping from.
I initially got suspicious about the shipping location because, although the tracking information provided to USPS from CNE Express said that the item was picked up by CNE Express in Los Angeles, all of the tracking tags were timestamped 16 hours into the future from the time they were actually posted, which is exactly how far ahead China Standard Time is from Pacific Time. So, I emailed CNE Express, to ask if they offered shipping services from within the USA to customers also in the USA. The response I received stated that they only offer shipping services from China.
Somehow, either the seller, or (more likely) CNE Express on behalf of the seller is spoofing the location of the tracking tags that they send to USPS. They do this to fool buyers who expect to receive faster shipping from within the USA. Lying about the location of items on eBay is old news, but a major shipping company faking the tracking information is new.
I have tried to report this scam to eBay, including screenshots showing my emails with CNE Express, the tracking information provided by CNE Express to USPS, and the original item listing, but eBay's new AI system found nothing wrong. As a customer, it is getting harder and harder to trust eBay Inc.
