USPS in INDIANAPOLIS HAS SHUT DOWN? ARE THERE MASSIVE PROTESTS OR WHAT?

[honestab]

We have like 50 packages out and about and most seem to be hung up in Indianapolis and NOTHING is getting delivered.  New eBay requirements in 2020 is the least of my worries at the moment.  About a point where I am going to have to start refunding folks 100% and tell them if and when they get their stuff pay us.  

Not aware of any BLM, Antifa or Postal Worker Union strikes in Indianapolis or other, but NOTHING is moving.  Most seems to be bottlenecked around Indy.  

We may just shut everything down today.  Have no choice as around 50 small packages out and NOTHING getting delivered.  So much for a great hobby.

[lja440]

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@honestab wrote:

I have a two day priority sitting in Indy right now.  One two day priority took over two weeks.  My buyers are furious with me.  My profits are razor thin, eBay and the USPS make more than I do.  I shut down all my selling except what I can ship FedEx or deliver in person.

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It is normal for me to stop on-line sales during the holidays.  I do have a B&M and it is doing great. Mind it is huge, a old converted bowling alley. We have over 50 venders now and the place is plenty large enough for social distancing. I sell mainly records but also refinish furniture.  Currently I have been doing epoxy art on top of old school desks that have been selling well. Currently this is working much better than they would on-line though the shop owner developed a following during our shut down doing facebook live walk throughs with curbside pick-ups.

I found that what sells best on here hardly moves in the shop and visa versa. I sell a lot of clothing here, and books. Neither will sell at the B&M. 

[mudshark61369]

@honestab, @bob-t-bird 

I have a package shipped from the Detroit area Priority 2 day, 11/29 that was supposed to be delivered on 12/2 outside of Indy, that is still marked in route to next destination.  There is another shipped the day before that hasn't updated since 11/29.  Both are Non machineable, large packages that can't be run through the sorting machines. 

Given the number of postal workers out with Covid, being replaced with temps or subs,  and the facility closures for cleaning, not to mention a record year for online buying, I'm not surprised at all that there are delays.  All my package status reports say is  In Transit, Arriving late.

  The info given when you click on ebay's,  Pitney Bowes based second hand tracking system say even less.  

[moparfan2010]

You only have one life...everything you said is true...it seems a shame all the time we now have to devote to ebay fixing THEIR MESSES!!!!  It sounds cliche I know, but I dropped ebay selling and I'm a lot less stressed and I have time for family, hobbies, friends, pets...living!!!

But of course there are those that need to stay on here because it is your business and how you make your living, so please know I continue to support sellers here, just won't fall into ebay's "sellers" trap myself.

Thanks for listening.

[tdrake]

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@goldguy22k wrote:

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@honestab wrote:

eBay better wake up and step in to help us or they are going to lose a lot of seller.

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@honestab 

Good news is that eBay has already stepped in with a fix!

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Announcements/Helping-buyers-understand-shipping-delays-and-what-you-n...

Bad news is that apparently you missed this announcement!  lol 😎😱😋😁✌️

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eBay has the email address of every single user - buyers, sellers, both.  What they should do but never will is put out a bulletin to all explaining that there are massive delays in packages being delivered and they should sit tight. This will never happen, though, because it would stop some buyers from buying.

This is not an eBay only problem, this is a nationwide shipping problem for all platforms. 

[normanandwilma]

I did that on 2 of my items proactively, only for USPS to close them with a standard message that COVID and the holidays are causing backups. They won't even bother researching.

[normanandwilma]

I hope the new administration can iron this out. It's certainly not helping our economy, at least my household one.

[normanandwilma]

I hope the next administration will either straighten him up or find a capable, qualified PG that can help get us back to where we were. I had very few problems with USPS, my mail carriers over the years or my station.

It seems that my larger packages (larger than my hand) appear to be stuck. I have 3 of those that supposedly left my state and are in limbo. They are not expensive but added up together the refund would put a dent. 

[ezduzit53]

Same here; although I only have one.  But the value is high at 975.00!  Mailed November 30th.  Shows accepted at my post office In Indianapolis and nothing.  I'm beyond frustrated.   I hear the same answers/excuses, COVID, Manpower and Christmas.    My buyer is being patient, but soon I'll have to refund and it will probably show up a week after or something. 

So I mailed another item Priority Express where delivery is guaranteed. Paid $38.00 for shipping. Was supposed to be delivered in Georgia yesterday by 3:00, last tracking shows it's now in Miami!?

[jrkirk]

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@normanandwilma wrote:

I did that on 2 of my items proactively, only for USPS to close them with a standard message that COVID and the holidays are causing backups. They won't even bother researching.

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IMHO, eBay has not yet understood the scope of the problem, and by the time they get it, the season will be likely be ruined. Every response from a rep I've seen here, links the same canned response.

[lja440]

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@honestab wrote:

I even wrote my US Senator today to complain about the USPS being incompetent.  Sorry, not buying all the covid **bleep**.  Not as messed up as they are.  Ridiculous.

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Buy it or not Covid is real. We buried my Sister-in-laws mother last month after she contracted it. My co-workers wife (a school teacher) contracted it and the whole family was quarantined and now he has tested possitive too.

I worry about my Father-in-law who 'taxi's' Amish and lives in Stark county. The Amish are getting hit hard because they have taken little in the way of compiling with social distancing and mask wearing. 

5 purple counties, 78 red counties in Ohio’s latest coronavirus advisory map | NBC4 WCMH-TV (nbc4i.c...

There is no way your Senator can really do anything. tRumps toady sabataged  our sorting centers in an attempt to get tRump re-elected. He will need to be removed before this can hope to be fixed. IMO he should have to pay to replace those machines but it will probably be done with increased postage. 

Yesterday I had to leave 24 packages for our only sub to run, there simply just was not room for them in my Jeep. We were finishing up sorting when a SECOND Amazon truck pulled in and dumped 3 more pallets of packages on us. So we are not just not doing our jobs  we are slammed and short handed. There comes a point when you actually have done all you can, you can't fit anything more in a plane or a truck or a Jeep. 

[lja440]

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@angwjea wrote:

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Actually pretty common. Those LLV's have had issues for years. One of our carriers had hers start to smoke. She shut it down and ripped the mail out onto the side of the road then called the Postmaster. Unfortunately there isn't always time to do anything other than stop and bail out.

[tatesnalex]

Thank you for mentioning the amazon truck. Right now there are obvious issues in many cities, I have packages sitting in 6 states for weeks and not moving but amazon is an ongoing only getting worse issue.  I live in a growing large but landlocked city and as every month goes on, amazon is squeezing out the space for everyone's else's packages. My husband is a repairman. For years he would get 4 large packages a week of parts and a few small packages if a customer needed a hard to find part. The last 18 months, his parts suppliers which are are pretty small companies (a few here on ebay), just can't get their packages through at the same speed. Several have been forced to sell the parts on amazon and charge more just to get the parts to customers fast. It got so bad that my husband drives 600 miles to just pick up parts at the closest supplier.  If my husband needs an emergency part the supplier charge about 30% more via amazon (they say it is amazon fees for amazon delivering for them)  then if he went to the supplier directly. Both the amazon and supplier ship the same speed from the same city but amazon always comes in 2 days, the supplier maybe 1 out of 20 times gets 2 day service, most times is 5 days or more and a repair emergency can't wait.  The average person in our city that thinks amazon is so great does not realize how much they are paying extra for things like parts that used to be shipped by the little guys and now amazon found a way to get the little guy to have to ship through them. It adds up, In my husband's business complex, he was talking to the other people who do various service and repairs and they all are having issues with shipping and feel forced to leave the little seller and buy off amazon because customers need repairs fast, it is everything from car parts, to parts for doors, plumbing , A/C units etc.   

My husband feels bad, there were a few ebay sellers that he used for years and they were in areas with hard hit COVID economies but he had to stop buying because of shipping delays.  I also stopped buying this year for personal gifts because so many packages from Nov are not moving, they are stuck mostly in IL, but a few in NJ, GA, IL , OH, and WI. The only state that has shipped fast and on time to us is Iowa. I am in Utah and Iowa to Utah via USPS or UPS is 2 days everytime over the past 3 months. the states around Iowa packages just sit forever? I wish I could find more sellers in Iowa with what I need

[mattashine]

Not shut down. No protests at all. It is a combination of cuts in overtime and staff beginning this past summer and a rash of Thanksgiving COVID infections causing large amounts of employees to call in sick. The entire metro Indianapolis postal area is a mess right now.  The major processing hubs have lines of tractor trailers full of cargo waiting to get in and unload. There simply is not enough people there to get the job done.

Louisville is supposed to be worse than Indy. A few days ago someone off record said in an interview they were a month behind, and the peak shipping day has yet to come.

[thejo-52]

Me too 4 cases opened after shipping out of Indy many more are way late taking all my time replying to customers.  Now a neg feedback for a broken item and they will not reply to show me what broke 🙄  I mean its one thing if you cant figure out how to take a pic but just no relpy.  Also one defect so far for a refunded item that was late and refunded🤕

[sextons-sweet-deals]

My packages seem to be moving better, delivered, or out for delivery, but I do have two packages that went out east rather than to MO and MI. Both shipping on Dec. 1st

That bothers me because they are just now  moving the right direction, but still days away from delivery.