This year I've been selling on eBay a lot again. As in times before, one thing always baffled me. What happens to lost mail?
Where do all the thousands of mislaid parcels go? They must go somewhere? To neighbours or dare I say couriers themselves? Where?
I imagine a vast hill of packages somewhere between continents, the address labels slowly greening over and desperate gulls ripping them open. Occasionally a tin robot or wind-up spaceship will spill out and attempt an ascent, the gulls pecking at their bent antennae and flashing lights as they stagger towards the sun.
My reverie over, a more serious sub-genre of lost property is the relatively new and quite baffling phenomenon of tracked but mislaid.
Tracked but mislaid? Surely this is an oxymoron, like wet fire or bright dark: things that can't exist. Or so we thought. Tracked but mislaid is the latest insult to eBay sellers totally reliant on couriers of one kind or another, whether national or private.
I have refunded five buyers this year already for lost mail. None were tracked, which I aim now to change, but it appears that that also offers no guarantee of delivery.
The biggest implication for the seller of lost eBay goods is the refund, sometimes substantial, leaving them out of pocket and without the goods.
For the buyer, well, they've got absolutely nothing either.
Have you experience of this readers?
Yes as a buyer
ReplyDeleteIve had 3 parcels dissapear into
A black hole,all from evri!It took a lot of work to get them to aknowledge this
And apologise with no satisfactory
Explanation as to what happened.As a seller on ebay i alwatlys used royal mail signed for and in 3 years only one buyer claimed not to have received despite proof of posting. The postie doesnt always get a signature and im sure this buyer took advantage of that.I had to claim a refund from the royal mail for a lost parcel.It was never returned to me despite having a return
Address. Very
Frustating sometimes.
It sure is Tony. Maybe inevitable given the numbers of parcels sent, Like Yorkshire Water and their leaks. Sometimes I have to use Evri as Royal Mail is simply too dear but I have now switched all sales to the new Post Office Tracked 48 service, which RM used to offer online only [I don't have a printer]. My test shot were two parcels last week and both were delivered, with the word Delivered even showing up on Ebay. for a few pence more as listed in my listings Tracked 48 is good value at £3.90 [I think thats it], as long as the items arrive. That's the key. C'mon Postie!
DeleteI had RM tracking on a parcel which went awol. The tracking insisted it was 'still in transit' and hadn't had an attempted delivery. The buyer opened a case after haranguing me constantly on eBay and as I couldn't provide proof of delivery, eBay refunded the buyer. I had no control or say in the matter and RM still haven't acknowledged my claim for a lost parcel, almost a month later. I've also had comments left about parcels being left in the garden or in bins - I have no control over how the postman delivers stuff, so why should this be reflected in my feedback as a seller? I've put a hold on selling now till after xmas, as I can't trust Postman Pat anymore! Bill
ReplyDeleteand you were on a roll Bill. Don't let it out you off. Punters want what's in your attic! Feedback has always been an issue. In a previous life I fought and won a case to remove negative feedback, which had reduced my 100% rating to 99% and this losing my Power Seller status [important at the time]. I just hope the stuff I'm selling now gets there during the Christmas period, that's if anyone bids!
DeleteWe are at the mercy of an inconsistent service.
ReplyDeleteYep.
DeleteLost, mislaid and stolen packages are a feature of this new world of ours, I'm afraid. Selling on eBay has become downright treacherous, in my opinion. Even with tracking, if it disappears into the vapor, that's that. And where do those packages go, indeed? SFZ
ReplyDeleteI sympathise SF, I feel your pain.
DeleteAs a buyer on Ebay I've only had one thing not delivered to me. I doubt it was even posted (either the seller was ill, or worse).
ReplyDeleteFor myself, I much prefer to receive RM fully tracked, even if it does cost a little more than Hermes/Evri/dpd/whatever, mainly because the sellers who use RM seem to be able to use decent packaging!
All I ask is a cardbboard box capable of withstanding the rigours of mail delivery, the contents in newspaper/poly peanuts/beads/tissue etc to stop them being damaged.
The rubbish packaging some people seem to think is fine for posting drives me nuts.
Yep, packaging is common sense really and the new Royal Mail Tracked 48 service could be a winner for them as long as they keep the price down.
DeleteI once had an aurora invaders
ReplyDeleteUfo kit just wrapped in brown paper.....
Miraculously the box was unharmed.
Spooky that Tony!
DeleteI got a super rare Spacex 2 Lunar Orbiter delivered in a crushed Jiffy bag. It looked like the delivery driver had sat on it and then tried to open it with his teeth. One antenna was lost en route and the body was broken. Equally, I bought 3 hot wheels cars last month, which arrived with the box open, bubble wrap hanging out, one car literally in pieces and missing a set of wheels. Seller insisted it had all been wrapped properly, but there was no tape at all on one end of the box. Luckily they were only cheap modern toys. Bill
ReplyDeleteUnbelievable! What is going on!
DeleteRight then i once
ReplyDeleteReceived a boxed major Matt mason wrapped in a mars bar wrapper and a couple of opal
Fruit wrappers.
It had a third class stamp on
And had been thrown into the river thames in order to get to me...thankfully
It arrived in one
Piece,and you tell
That to the youth
Of today and they
Wont believe you.
ha ha, that made me chuckle! I've been told you can send anything safe ion the post just by sticking a stamp on, like a banana!
DeleteYeah, Tracking is no guarantee. I've have several recent orders vanish once they're in Australia and that's not the Seller's fault. Can you get insurance on the Refund?
ReplyDeleteCrazy. Dunno Looey, good question.
DeleteIt's amazing how postal services can cock up the most straightforward delivery. I've had photos sent me to prove an item has been delivered - only it isn't my house. One I managed to track down using Google Street Maps to identify the house. Then there were items addressed to the wrong house number, which turned out to be a block of flats. Never recovered that one. At the moment I'm expecting a parcel, and the seller has told me he's sent the wrong item, so could I please forward it to the correct buyer, who will hopefully forward my item to me...!
ReplyDeleteWhat a palaver! Please let us know if you ever get your correct item! Blimey!
Delete