Sellers need to blame themselves for issues encountered from USPS shipping delays!

[powell-memorabilia]

My heart goes out to sellers significantly impacted by USPS shipping delays.  I’ve had my share of worry about lack of scans at the post office, items stuck in limbo, potential INR’s, etc..  However, It is time for sellers to stop whining about the USPS and delivery delays.  We’ve all had the opportunity and vent, but now is the time to act like functioning adults, take responsibility for our mistakes, and move on. 

Let’s not pretend that sellers shipping mid-November and onwards didn’t understand that there might be issues with shipping delays.  Come on – the first COVID lockdowns weren’t that long ago, and we all knew that B&M retail was taking a huge hit this year, and that the USPS/FedEx/UPS would be slammed.  Me, I got a bit greedy – shipped media mail when I should have upgraded to priority, used the prepaid drop box instead of waiting in line for an actual scan, and waited a few days longer than I should have to put my store on vacation mode.  Those mistakes are on me, not on my buyers, not on eBay, not on the USPS (no, I don’t want to join your sure-to-never-launch class action suit).

The same sellers that are adamant that they “own” their selling, and outraged that eBay would dictate MP, are now crying that eBay is siding with buyers on items that have been “lost” for several weeks and didn’t make it in time for Christmas? If you own it, own it.  If not, take whatever comes your way, and stop complaining.  Life happens - deal with it.

eBay is the facilitator – but we own our performance.  We choose the carrier, we decide when to sell, we control pricing.  If you can’t deal with it, absolutely, shut it down until the situation is accommodating to your selling constraints.  Come on – let’s grow up, learn from our mistakes, and come back better than before.   

[va-8501]

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

So do you think keeping the subsequence OTD off the books factors into annual bonus's for key personnel?

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I don't know how or even if key USPS personnel get a bonus.  The way they keep track of OTD certainly makes their performance look better than it really is from the customer's perspective. 

USPS counts a 1 day late delivery the same as a 24 day late delivery.  I doubt that the latter customer feels the same as the former about USPS' service.

[stephenmorgan]

Do you remember two years ago when the story broke "Hundreds of veterans died waiting for care at Phoenix VA hospital, watchdog report finds"  Patients Appointments were intentionally being kept off the Book's in order to show the Hospital meeting Performance Standards.  It was a wide spread practice across the VA that absolutely affected bonuses of key personnel.

In all walks of life, books will be tweaked if there is something to gain or loose.

But good news is that the postage rates are going up around 24 January. 

[stephenmorgan]

Most Federal Government Senior Positions have bonuses.

Here is a little something off USPS website.  

[calntom]

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

Do you remember two years ago when the story broke "Hundreds of veterans died waiting for care at Phoenix VA hospital, watchdog report finds"  Patients Appointments were intentionally being kept off the Book's in order to show the Hospital meeting Performance Standards.  It was a wide spread practice across the VA that absolutely affected bonuses of key personnel.

In all walks of life, books will be tweaked if there is something to gain or loose.

But good news is that the postage rates are going up around 24 January. 

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And they will still be the least expensive and most used of all carriers.

[va-8501]

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@calntom wrote:

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@stephenmorgan wrote:

Do you remember two years ago when the story broke "Hundreds of veterans died waiting for care at Phoenix VA hospital, watchdog report finds"  Patients Appointments were intentionally being kept off the Book's in order to show the Hospital meeting Performance Standards.  It was a wide spread practice across the VA that absolutely affected bonuses of key personnel.

In all walks of life, books will be tweaked if there is something to gain or loose.

But good news is that the postage rates are going up around 24 January. 

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And they will still be the least expensive and most used of all carriers.

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Probably so, but I'm looking into FedEx based on another sellers recommendation here.  If you sign up for a free account you get 30% discount on FedEx Express, 15% discount on Ground.  

Next I have to figure out how that compares to what I'm paying for USPS labels through ebay.  I know we get a Priority Mail discount through ebay, but it's not a set percentage.  In fact depending on the package weight, dimensions and distance shipped the discounts defy logic and vary up to 20%  It won't hurt to offer another option, the only minor inconvenience is printing labels from the FedEx platform if the discount is better there, then upload tracking to ebay.

[outdatedrecreated]

While I think you make some valid points, I must say that you sound like one of those totally unhelpful eBay employees at the same time. That takes talent. 

[outdatedrecreated]

The bulk of the frustration from my point of view is really with eBay. I had one item seem to disappear after USPS had it. I refunded the buyer before it became a problem. Other than that, no issues at all. But I also avoided shipping anything USPS. I paid more to ship small items with the other carriers because I didn;t want to deal with USPS or eBay. 

What I think made this whole fiasco 1000% worse was eBay's handling od the whole thing. They are never clear and decisive about anything. They let the whole building burn down before hooking up the fire hose. Then they swoop in with a poorly executed solution. Add to it that customer support is non existent and has been for 10 months (wasnt much to write home about before that either), and BOOOM! This is the result. In the end, it will only end up hurting eBay and sellers who have all their eggs in the eBay basket. My sympathy is very short for those who say, "I'm not waiting in line for an hour for a receipt during a pandemic!" But those who are burned even after doing the right thing and then get no understanding from eBay have every right to complain as long and as loud as they want. You don't have to listen to them. Just because you're annoyed doesn't make them wrong. 

[brandenlove1234]

Your point of view here and opinion is completely ridiculous. would be no different then to say, Ebay new what was going on and ALLOWED sells to continue with the knowledge that shipments may be severely impacted. 

Buyers KNEW what was going on yet took the risk that what they are buying might and could be delayed based on out side forces. 

Amazon knows what's going on, HOW DARE they continue to sell items knowing they might be late.

pointing the finger at ANYONE is idiotic. 

Ebay knows what's going on and have updated their policies to reflect that. 

Yes, at the end of the day, the buyers will and should get their money back if an item is lost and the selling is going to get the short end of it having to file a claim with USPS or whoever. but your finger pointing just makes you look like a fool. 

[powell-memorabilia]

Perhaps you missed it i your glee to throw out a couple of personal insults, but I pointed the finger at myself.  I got greedy - and the penalty for that greed goes to me.  We’re all responsible for our own performance - that isn’t pointing fingers - just being an accountable seller.

[kasual_kasper]

Let's be honest, as a buyer I do sympathize with sellers and shipping delays. However, this type of stuff had been happening waaay before COVID. It went from Sellers uploading a tracking# just to satisfy the eBay metric when they actually haven't even shipped the package and don't do so until a couple days or more later. eBay had to change that policy to actually getting an acceptance scan by the carrier within the stated ship times. Most buyers don't have the option to choose what carrier they want on eBay, it's usually USPS only.

It is not the buyers' fault when they can't track a package because the seller didn't get them scanned or used a Bulk scan sheet and USPS just let the items sit in "Acceptance Pending" for a week or 2 when the priority mail should have been delivered to them in the next state over in about 3 days.

Buyers have a right to be frustrated, upset and anxious when their purchase is 1 -2 weeks late and still no tracking updates. Then I've seen where the sellers are putting their stores in vacation mode to get around responding to upset buyers due to shipping delays.

The worst thing you can do is not communicate with your Buyers and watch your dashboard and see that their is a problem with the shipment to the buyer but do nothing.

Some sellers don't even take the time to file claims/complaints with their local shipping company. The USPS offers multiple options online for this. None of this is the fault of the buyers, who paid their money and aren't getting their packages as have been estimated. To be blaming the Buyers for requesting refunds/replacements and/or leaving negative shipping feedback is bad business.

Most Buyers are usually fine, if the Sellers actually get proactive and reach out to them when they see shipping problems. File requests/complaints with the shipper, Communicate that to the buyers. Let us know your doing something. Don't just blame COVID and or put your stores in "vacation" mode to avoid the customer issues. Stop just giving the generic reply of "Be patient Because COVID and/or shipping delays" when they've been waiting at least a week or more before proceeding with claims. Especially when Buyers have made purchases and have gotten deliveries from further origin states than the one they're having delays with and that package was ordered days later. We have to get the ball rolling and processing claims as Sellers should be with their shipping carriers. As the Buyer, I had a Seller just give the generic COVID response and do nothing so, I filed a "Lost Package Claim" with USPS and then followed up again, and all of a sudden the package somehow got knocked loose in the system and was delivered the next day! Something the Seller SHOULD have done seeing as they have more shipping info about the package and are the actually person who shipped it!!

As a Buyer at the end of the day it all comes down to what I was promised when I made my purchase. If those metrics have not been met 1 -2 weeks beyond what was promised, especially with no tracking updates occurring, blaming the Buyers and asking them to constantly be patient when you aren't doing ANYTHING to help them is UNACCEPTABLE in my opinion.

[kasual_kasper]

Let's be honest, as a buyer I do sympathize with sellers and shipping delays. However, this type of stuff had been happening waaay before COVID. It went from Sellers uploading a tracking# just to satisfy the eBay metric when they actually haven't even shipped the package and don't do so until a couple days or more later. eBay had to change that policy to actually getting an acceptance scan by the carrier within the stated ship times. Most buyers don't have the option to choose what carrier they want on eBay, it's usually USPS only.

It is not the buyers' fault when they can't track a package because the seller didn't get them scanned or used a Bulk scan sheet and USPS just let the items sit in "Acceptance Pending" for a week or 2 when the priority mail should have been delivered to them in the next state over in about 3 days.

Buyers have a right to be frustrated, upset and anxious when their purchase is 1 -2 weeks late and still no tracking updates. Then I've seen where the sellers are putting their stores in vacation mode to get around responding to upset buyers due to shipping delays.

The worst thing you can do is not communicate with your Buyers and watch your dashboard and see that their is a problem with the shipment to the buyer but do nothing.

Some sellers don't even take the time to file claims/complaints with their local shipping company. The USPS offers multiple options online for this. None of this is the fault of the buyers, who paid their money and aren't getting their packages as have been estimated. To be blaming the Buyers for requesting refunds/replacements and/or leaving negative shipping feedback is bad business.

Most Buyers are usually fine, if the Sellers actually get proactive and reach out to them when they see shipping problems. File requests/complaints with the shipper, Communicate that to the buyers. Let us know your doing something. Don't just blame COVID and or put your stores in "vacation" mode to avoid the customer issues. Stop just giving the generic reply of "Be patient Because COVID and/or shipping delays" when they've been waiting at least a week or more before proceeding with claims. Especially when Buyers have made purchases and have gotten deliveries from further origin states than the one they're having delays with and that package was ordered days later. We have to get the ball rolling and processing claims as Sellers should be with their shipping carriers. As the Buyer, I had a Seller just give the generic COVID response and do nothing so, I filed a "Lost Package Claim" with USPS and then followed up again, and all of a sudden the package somehow got knocked loose in the system and was delivered the next day! Something the Seller SHOULD have done seeing as they have more shipping info about the package and are the actual person who shipped it!!

As a Buyer at the end of the day it all comes down to what I was promised when I made my purchase. If those metrics have not been met 1 -2 weeks beyond what was promised, especially with no tracking updates occurring, blaming the Buyers and asking them to constantly be patient when you aren't doing ANYTHING to help them is UNACCEPTABLE in my opinion.

[kasual_kasper]

Let's be honest, as a buyer I do sympathize with sellers and shipping delays. However, this type of stuff had been happening waaay before COVID. It went from Sellers uploading a tracking# just to satisfy the eBay metric when they actually haven't even shipped the package and don't do so until a couple days or more later. eBay had to change that policy to actually getting an acceptance scan by the carrier within the stated ship times. Most buyers don't have the option to choose what carrier they want on eBay, it's usually USPS only.

It is not the buyers' fault when they can't track a package because the seller didn't get them scanned or used a Bulk scan sheet and USPS just let the items sit in "Acceptance Pending" for a week or 2 when the priority mail should have been delivered to them in the next state over in about 3 days.

Buyers have a right to be frustrated, upset and anxious when their purchase is 1 -2 weeks late and still no tracking updates. Then I've seen where the sellers are putting their stores in vacation mode to get around responding to upset buyers due to shipping delays.

The worst thing you can do is not communicate with your Buyers and watch your dashboard and see that their is a problem with the shipment to the buyer but do nothing.

Some sellers don't even take the time to file claims/complaints with their local shipping company. The USPS offers multiple options online for this. None of this is the fault of the buyers, who paid their money and aren't getting their packages as have been estimated. To be blaming the Buyers for requesting refunds/replacements and/or leaving negative shipping feedback is bad business.

Most Buyers are usually fine, if the Sellers actually get proactive and reach out to them when they see shipping problems. File requests/complaints with the shipper, Communicate that to the buyers. Let us know your doing something. Don't just blame COVID and or put your stores in "vacation" mode to avoid the customer issues. Stop just giving the generic reply of "Be patient Because COVID and/or shipping delays" when they've been waiting at least a week or more before proceeding with claims. Especially when Buyers have made purchases and have gotten deliveries from further origin states than the one they're having delays with and that package was ordered days later. We have to get the ball rolling and processing claims as Sellers should be with their shipping carriers. As the Buyer, I had a Seller just give the generic COVID response and do nothing so, I filed a "Lost Package Claim" with USPS and then followed up again, and all of a sudden the package somehow got knocked loose in the system and was delivered the next day! Something the Seller SHOULD have done seeing as they have more shipping info about the package and are the actual person who shipped it!!

As a Buyer at the end of the day it all comes down to what I was promised when I made my purchase. If those metrics have not been met 1 -2 weeks beyond what was promised, especially with no tracking updates occurring, blaming the Buyers and asking them to constantly be patient when you aren't doing ANYTHING to help them is UNACCEPTABLE in my opinion.

[kasual_kasper]

How is that the Buyers' fault when they don't receive their packages on time or at all? and How can you help them with that?

[kasual_kasper]

So, prolong the Buyers' frustration and lack of product that they paid for? As a Buyer that is not good customer service.

[kasual_kasper]

Of Course the buyers are going to request a refund since they haven't received the product they ordered. The OP didn't say you had any control over the USPS but neither does your buyers. They just want the item they paid for but all they got is frustration and waiting. But you do have control of using a different shipping company. UPS, FedEx and Amazon are not having ANY of these issues the USPS is consistently having. And the main problem with eBay sellers who use USPS is that they don't verify the acceptance scans and get a receipt or they use a bulk scan sheet or drop off with no scan. This signals to the USPS employees that they can cheat the priority guarantee by skipping the scans until they are ready to deliver. Once this is done those packages end of being at minimum 2 weeks before they start tracking. This leavers your buyers in the tracking dark with no way to see what's happening with their shipment. How do you think buyers must feel when they're items are 2 weeks are more in limbo and they've paid their money?

[kasual_kasper]

Well, that's not all that subjective when it's clarified. As a Buyer I will absolutely not wait a month for an item that should have been delivered in 3-5 business days Especially is i'm 1 state over from the item location. I would certainly start the refund request INR process.

Now if it's an international shipment with ETA of at or close to a month then I have no problem with that as long as the tracking is consistent.