ebay marking items delivered the second they're shipped?

[neatfreaky]

So I shipped an item at 2:40 PM personally at the post office desk. The buyer immediately gets a notification that the item was delivered at 2:40 PM at my local post office desk. Buyer contacts me wanting to know what's going on. I check the USPS tracking on the USPS website--it says shipment is in transit. Call ebay, they admit it's their mistake, claim they're seeing a lot of this and working on a fix. It's a day later and the package still shows as delivered on ebay's site. Is anyone else seeing this?

[ebooksdiva]

eBay doesn’t mark anything as delivered. They get their information from the USPS. A postal carrier scanning the item may have scanned the tracking number incorrectly. You said it your self “So I shipped an item at 2:40 PM personally at the post office desk. The buyer immediately gets a notification that the item was delivered at 2:40 PM at my local post office desk”
If it is now showing as in transit then the post office corrected their error. It takes awhile more for eBay to catch up with new information. And is often glitching.
The post office is run by humans they make mistakes.

The person you spoke to on the phone probably didn’t really know what you were talking about and just gave you an answer you wanted to hear. 

[neatfreaky]

Come to think of it, I do remember the clerk scanning the barcode, then making a face like something went wrong, pushing a couple of buttons on the screen, and then scanning it again. Maybe the clerk accidentally scanned it as delivered the first time.

[dbfolks166mt]

     Either this was an item USPS sent through the transporter system they are testing or the information flow between the real USPS tracking information and what shows on eBay is out of sync. Probably the later.  I have see this happen a number of times and often wonder why eBay feels it is necessary to transfer the tracking information from the USPS site to their own and duplicate the information. That process is subject to error. 

[dhbookds]

Sounds like a simple case of the clerk not changing the scan tool from deliver to receive......... the package will be scanned later enroute, so will show as "moving" to destination.........

[ebooksdiva]

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@neatfreaky wrote:

Come to think of it, I do remember the clerk scanning the barcode, then making a face like something went wrong, pushing a couple of buttons on the screen, and then scanning it again. Maybe the clerk accidentally scanned it as delivered the first time.

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Yep that can happen. I’ve had a postal carrier pick up packages and scan them wrong. 

[dbfolks166mt]

Sounds like a simple case of the clerk not changing the scan tool from deliver to receive......... the package will be scanned later enroute, so will show as "moving" to destination.........

     Strange that the USPS information shows in transit but is out of sync with what eBay is showing after they imported the data. 

[tsme35]

Just shows how out of touch ebay's reps are. The clerk hit the wrong button, happens time to time, lucky it only happen to one package, try getting 30 packages scanned delivered when picked up. I spend the next 2 days answer emails. Just let your buyer know the mistake and watch the USPS site for updates, ebay will eventually catch up.

[luckythewinner]

It is likely that one of these things happened:

Option 1:

• The clerk accidentally scanned it as delivered
• eBay downloaded the tracking data showing delivered
• The USPS fixed their error
• eBay has not refreshed the tracking data again;
  or
  eBay stops downloading tracking data if they think it is delivered

Option 2:

• The clerk scanned it as accepted
• eBay downloaded the tracking data and there is a bug in their download
• eBay has not refreshed the tracking data again;
  or
  eBay stops downloading tracking data if they think it is delivered

I doubt either the USPS or eBay can tell you exactly. Customer support told you it was a bug and they were "working on it" but I am wary of the accuracy of that.

[redlinear]

Accidentally scanned as delivered instead of accepted.
If it was 40 packages, your next week will be nerve racking to say the least.
Ask me how I know 😂

[worldcoinauctions]

I shipped a bunch of packages right before Christmas, all the ESE's went as usual but the regular packages were all scanned as "Delivered at PO Box" if you went to the USPS site you could see them going through the system normally, but Ebay never updated the information. I asked about it and was told someone was helping scan in packages who didn't normally do it, and they had their scanner set to mark items delivered. Meh, as long as it gets there!

[dbfolks166mt]

Accidentally scanned as delivered instead of accepted.
If it was 40 packages, your next week will be nerve racking to say the least.
Ask me how I know 

     OK I'll bite. How do you know? 

[gurlcat]

Regardless of the 'why,' what matters is the 'what now?'  And you have 2 good things on your side: 
A buyer who trusts you enough to contact you rather than freak out and do who-knows-what.
A tracking number that shows legit scans via the USPS website. 
If you haven't already, direct them to copy/paste the number to the website (or just entering it into google works) if they want to see the real progress of the package's transit, and reassure them that you're watching along with them, and will take action if needed.  

[neatfreaky]

I've done all that. The buyer has the tracking number and knows the package is on its way. Ebay is still showing it as delivered, though. I think that once it's registered as delivered in ebay's system, ebay no longer checks the tracking to update it.

[gurlcat]

Well from the seller's side, what you have is a lot better than the alternative; a package that is delivered according to USPS, but not according to eBAy.  -There've been some horror stories here about that.