No tracking given to buyers?

[4_bathrooms]

I'm posting this in the "business seller" board as although I'm enquiring as a buyer I'd like to know if this is something that applies to all sellers, particularly business sellers.

I purchased some ethernet cables on Thursday and paid extra for Royal Mail Tracked 24 as I need them as soon as possible. I need cables longer than 1 metre I so I can't just pop to a local shop to buy them, around these parts 1 metre is all anyone holds in stock. The seller is registered as a business seller, 100K+ positive feedback, by all accounts a perfectly reputable seller. About an hour after purchase I received notification from eBay the item had been despatched via RM T24; all as expected.

However, as of today (Monday) they haven't yet turned up; I really want to know when they are coming so I can schedule the work I have intended. I will point out that I'm not blaming the seller, Royal Mail are simply providing their usual dismal service. I also have absolutely no intention of opening an INR case against the seller at this point but what I really want is to see Royal Mail's tracking so I can see where the package is (Tracked has end-to-end tracking and not just a delivery confirmation). The thing is...there is no tracking that I can find. The seller has provided the tracking to eBay as it shows the carrier and service employed in the "Tracking details" section on the order details page but there is no actual link to track the delivery and there is no Royal Mail reference number in either the order confirmation email nor in the order update email from eBay. 

I'm curious to know why eBay have made it so difficult to obtain the tracking information the seller provided them with as I now have no choice but to contact the seller to request it. Does this only happen if postage/shipping is purchased via eBay? Does anybody know?

[susapric-68 · Accepted solution]

Looks like they have just marked it as dispatched. I get that when ever I buy something that is not tracked/signed for. I Have an online account for postage and that uploads tracking without me having to do anything. All you can do is contact seller to see if they have the tracking number

[4_bathrooms]

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@susapric-68 wrote:

Looks like they have just marked it as dispatched. 

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That was my first thought but I'm fairly sure the "Tracking details" section only displays "--" when a seller marks an order as despatched. Due to eBay's daft policy of interpreting the first scan found as being an acceptance scan I don't provide tracking with orders for palletised items else I automatically receive "Item despatched late" defects. This is what the "Tracking details" show in an order I marked as despatched:

Anyway, before I had a chance to message the seller the postie arrived with the package. Annoyingly, the (VAT registered) seller has forgotten to send or email a VAT invoice so I still need to contact them!

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@susapric-68 wrote:

 All you can do is contact seller to see if they have the tracking number

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If eBay are hiding the tracking information from buyers I imagine quite a few sellers who do upload tracking will quickly get fed up with the constant "Do you have the tracking?" messages they will receive; especially if they believe they have already provided it.   

[ojewellery]

My last purchase, middle of last week, tracking uploaded at same time as dispatch.  I send RM24 tracked as standard and haven't been getting any buyer questions.  I'm currently seeing very high next day delivery and 99% within two days including weekends.   I know royal mail are problematic with some services, 2nd class is obismal.  But tracked 24 has been consistently reliable this year.  Mothers day weekend I sent, from memory, 14 parcels RM24 tracked midday Saturday all arrived mothers day.

[4_bathrooms]

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@susapric-68 wrote:

Looks like they have just marked it as dispatched.

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I think you were correct all along. The "tracking" in the eBay order details page has not updated to show the item having been delivered. Also, after checking the tracking number on the package I received the seller actually sent the item on Friday and not on Thursday. eBay must automatically prepopulate some of the "Tracking" fields if the seller has specified a named carrier.