eBay

billkoss · ‎08-08-2017

Never use eBay shipping. If your item is damaged in shipping you can kiss it goodbye because your insurance is a joke. I had a buyer claim her item was damaged in shipment. First I called FedEx. They denied any responsibility and said I had to file a claim through the Post Office. I called the Post Office and they denied any responsibility and told me to call FedEx. I called FedEx back and this time they said SmartPost claims have to originiate with eBay. I called eBay and they said they had no idea what I was talking about, but finally helped me open a claim, but I guess eBay just threw my claim form in the trash because I never heard back from them on it and this was weeks ago.

eBay is a ripoff company. FedEx is an o.k. company except for the fact that they do not honor their insurance. And the Post Office generally does a pretty good job, but aren't into customer seervice.

So eBay forced me to print a return shipping label. So I lost money on the item, the fees, the shipping, and the return shipping. eBay, FedEx and the post office all made money. I was the only one who lost money.

lja440 · ‎08-08-2017

It is very common for SmartPost claims to be handled that way.

I'm a mail carrier. We get SmartPost in daily. It comes in shrink wrapped on a pallet. We have to scan one large barcode for the whole shipment, warts and all. It's not uncommon to find packages that are not for our office or on the bill of lading. Find items on the bill that are not on the pallet, items that are not even SmartPost, and find items with clear damage. FedEx will accept no blame for any of the above.

While I prefer getting SmartPost over regular FedEx, I will never ship anything using any FedEx service.

icedancer1 · ‎09-08-2017

I'm having a similar problem, except that the estimated shipping was <$40 and I am now being billed for >$100. It states on my Invoice that the weight was 71 pounds and there is no way it was even close to that, only <20 pounds. It was supposed to be trackable and was not at all after it switched from FedEx to USPS. It was supposed to arrive 2-5 biz days and took about 2-3 weeks. It arrived damaged. The buyer was willing to pay for expedited shipping, but we chose this option to save money...had I known this would be the outcome, we should have done it that way instead. I filed a complaint with FedEx who promised to respond in 24 hours and didn't ever. I tried to call the USPS number and was on hold for 45 minutes and then the call cut out. I called eBay Customer Service to complain, but nothing has changed yet. I don't know what else to do. I refuse to pay $100 for such poor and inaccurate service!

berserkerplanet · ‎09-09-2017

I'm having a similar problem, except that the estimated shipping was <$40 and I am now being billed for >$100. It states on my Invoice that the weight was 71 pounds and there is no way it was even close to that, only <20 pounds. It was supposed to be trackable and was not at all after it switched from FedEx to USPS. It was supposed to arrive 2-5 biz days and took about 2-3 weeks. It arrived damaged.

If you provide details of the Smartpost shipment we'll try to see what went wrong with the billing:

Actual package Weight
Actual accurate package Dimensions
Origin zip code
Destination zip code
Destination commercial or residential?
Date of the shipment? (to select correct fuel surcharge)
~~Service used (Ground/Home Delivery/~~SmartPost)
Amounts of any other addons like ~~Signature Reqd, insurance~~, handling fee, etc
Anything non-standard about the package? Not boxed, is a long cylinder, in a crate, etc.
Dropped off at FedEx location or scheduled pickup?
What was EXACT estimated shipping amount at label creation time?
What was the exact charge and the charged weight and dimensions on the eBay invoice?
Were there "additional charges" on the eBay invoice? If so, what and how much?

phcd1 · ‎09-09-2017

Smartpost is a 3rd tier service. Although it has insurance, you will never collect. Me, personally, love Smartpost. I ate one item with Smartpost but never had a problem ever since. Once you know and accept you can't collect on insurance, you can move forward.

I never ship anything fragile, expensive or needs to arrive in a timely manner and both the buyer and I are happy.

I give EVERY buyer a choice, and they almost ALWAYS (99% of the time) choose Smartpost.

I have no problem self insuring at their price point.

Just so you understand how Smartpost works, FedEx delivers the item from the seller to approximately the last mile delivery, which goes to USPS. Those packages are delivered to the USPS on a pallet. The USPS have no idea that there are damaged goods that are shrink wrapped on that pallet, and so the story goes.

BTW, the main problem is that the seller is not the shipper, eBay is, so you are on that back burrner as eBay could care less about your money.

phcd1 · ‎09-09-2017

@icedancer1 wrote:
I'm having a similar problem, except that the estimated shipping was <$40 and I am now being billed for >$100. It states on my Invoice that the weight was 71 pounds and there is no way it was even close to that, only <20 pounds....

You should really start your own thread, but you most likely ran into dimensional weight. That is what burns most sellers. You really can't refuse to pay it as you agreed to it.

http://shippingeasy.com/dimensional-weight-calculator/

icedancer1 · ‎09-25-2017

Sorry, was too busy to deal with this again until now. This is for one piece of empty almost new luggage. Answers to your questions are next.

Original package Weight: 10 pounds empty (and is about what it felt like).

Original package dimensions: 30" x 20" x 11"

Origin Zip Code: 90631 (CA)

Destination Zip Code: 33131 (FL)

Destination: residential

Date of Shipment: 7/28/17

Shipped from:

The Mail Depot FedEx Authorized ShipCenter

401 S Harbor Blvd

La Habra, CA, 90631

They put the empty luggage in a shipping box with no extra space inside it.

Estimated shipping on FedEx SmartPost label was: $38.93

Later charged $100.37 [$96.28 Freight Amt. + $4.09 Fuel Amt.]

It states the Bill Wt = 71 pounds (which is impossible)

No other documentation of special handling or additional charges. It said it was estimated to arrive 2-5 business days later (after 7/28/17) and the Buyer acknowledged receipt on 8/16/17 (much later). I requested he send me the delivery info and the he did not respond. He also stated it was damaged, but did not provide photos.

I hope you can help me out!

tarpedge · ‎09-25-2017

For example, let’s say you have a box that measures 12” x 12” x 6”. Multiplying those dimensions together gives you 864 cubic inches. To determine the dimensional weight for FedEx, you simply divide the total cubic dimensions by 139. So, in this case, the dimensional weight is 864 / 139 = 6.2 lbs.

icedancer1 · ‎09-25-2017

So, even if I use that method, it is under 50 pounds, so how did they put it up to 71 pounds then?

Honestly, if it was either around 50 or 70 pounds, my 85-year old mother and myself would have had trouble lifting the empty luggage to prepare it for sale, and we didn't at all. There is no way it was nearly that heavy!

tomuchstuff5 · ‎09-25-2017

I was told no insurance available on smart post. I self insure for the savings. Only 1 damage out of over 100 so far. Same problems on inaccurate billing though. Would prefer USPS Priority any day of the week if I could get the price even somewhere in the ballpark.

tarpedge · ‎09-26-2017

@icedancer1 wrote:
So, even if I use that method, it is under 50 pounds, so how did they put it up to 71 pounds then?

You would if the box was a standard 3 feet by 2 feet, instead of the abnormal 30 inches by 20 inches.

berserkerplanet · ‎09-26-2017

Saw you reply last night but away from desktop. @icedancer1

Looking at the numbers now, but some critical further questions:

What do you mean by "original package dimensions"? The exact measured size (or rounded up to the next inch) size of the suitcase, or the overall size of the final boxed package?
I don't understand the involvement of the Mail Depot ShipCenter. Are you saying that you guessed at weight and final dimensions, printed a FedEx SmartPost label using those estimated numbers through eBay labels, took the suitcase and label to the shipcenter, paid them separately with a credit card or cash for the box and boxing labor, and shipped it with that label you had printed?
Are the $100.37 and other dollar amounts and the 71# weight from your ebay invoice? If so, what was the discount amount listed along with that data? (helps adjust my manual estimate below)
What was the tracking number? The info on the tracking provides further info including the weight and dimensions FedEx measured during transit. (this may provide a real clue)

Was it an eBay sale? I looked and can't find it on your icedancer1 id. If it was, did you list it with free shipping and entered no dimensions? (the item is too big for you to have listed it with the correct dimensions for Smartpost - it wouldn't have been allowed.)

As an aside:

I did see your current listing for the Hartmann Carry-On and you have FedEx Express Saver shipping listed for that. That is going to kill you on cost - that is an express service, and that bag is going to ship at a dimensional weight of 30# and be a minimum of about $77 to the East Coast.

As far as the 71 pound billed weight being impossible - it is not impossible. tarpedge already mentioned the concept of dimensional weight. Large items ship at the GREATER of their actual weight, or the computed dimensional weight (for FedEx either LxWxH/139 or LxWxH/166).

However, you are indicating that this was a Smartpost shipment, and dimensional weight does not apply to Smartpost - only to FedEx Express and Ground Services.

What would have applied would be a balloon surcharge which causes it to ship at the greater of the actual weight or 20 pounds because Length+Girth = 30" + (20" + 20" + 11" + 11") = 92" > 84"

It also would have incurred a $2.75 non-machinable surcharge because the second side is > 17"

So, based on the weight and dimensions you gave:

Base rate for 20 pounds to zone 8 = $35.84 plus the $2.75 NMSC = $38.59

Toss on a 4.25% Fuel surcharge and we get $40.23

That is a rough* undiscounted amount. (*the fuel surcharge is wrong since I haven't been able to figure out what Fuel Surcharge rate eBay actually uses for Smartpost as their numbers are all over the place and appear random and too low - but is mostly negligible). Since I don't know what eBay discount would apply (since it varies on amount, zone, and ? and ranges from a couple of percent up to 50+%), we can't get an exact final number, but it is an upper limit and close enough.

Based on what appears to be incomplete information it looks like IF this was a Smartpost shipment, and if those dimension were correct, then the $38.93 label estimate was correct, and the $100.37 amount is completely whacked and wrong.

Please try to provide some more of the further info I requested and then we'll see what's what, and maybe call in the cavalry.

mkarabus · ‎08-19-2019

eBay offers this service and absolutely does not support it. After waiting since July 4th I am on the phone with eBay customer service who have no idea about the status of my claim. They advise not to contact FedEx, and hide behind excuse that they are not responsible for the claim but FedEx is. Someone should take them to court for offering this fraudulent service.

kh-ornesh · ‎08-19-2019

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread HERE.

Thanks.