No ref number global shipping

[tickswift88]

Sold 2 lot today with global shipping program. When I go to post it give the Lichfield address but were ref number should be it saying  ref.  NULL So can not post ?  Just amazing how can you send items with out the ref number so they can identify the packet. 

[technthread]

It was first reported last night:

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Postage/GSP-with-no-reference-number/m-p/7608337#M54449

You would think eBay would have blocked sales from going through by now, this error will be costing them a fortune in lost fees as people start to cancel the sales. 

[the-almighty-inquisitor]

Exactly the same issue i'm having with my seller ac from an order I just got at 15:20pm 4/5/24, no GSP reference number, just null.  This is really bad form from ebay, as the silence is deafening.  I spoke to a human chat assistant, who said she would pass this on to a technical team and i'll get an update in 24/48 hours,  well, we will see.

In the meantime i've turned OFF GSP to avoid further issues until I know this is resolved.

[196alan]

I had the same, spoke to customer service who said don't post hopefully it can be resolved by Monday if not I may have to cancel the sale. Disappointing 

[vinylmad2023]

Exactly the same issue here, it's not great. Trying to explain to international buyers when English is not always their first language. Why isn't ebay advising buyers and sellers of this issue so buyers can understand there's an issue out of our control....

[rflo6541]

Same.

So far today I have 3 sales with 'Ref# Null' by them.

I called eBay, the guy looked into it, he said the issue had already been raised.

Disappointing, as the only way I can see out of it, is to cancel the orders and try to explain to the international buyers, why I did so.

[eastern-lights]

---

@the-almighty-inquisitor wrote:

Exactly the same issue i'm having with my seller ac from an order I just got at 15:20pm 4/5/24, no GSP reference number, just null.  This is really bad form from ebay, as the silence is deafening.  I spoke to a human chat assistant, who said she would pass this on to a technical team and i'll get an update in 24/48 hours,  well, we will see.

In the meantime i've turned OFF GSP to avoid further issues until I know this is resolved.

---

If you simply turn off GSP, doesn't that leave you still offering shipping to lots of different countries but doing the shipping yourself? Are you OK with that, or have you altered your list of countries you ship to?

[eastern-lights]

This sounds like another "Do the updates on Friday and go home for the weekend. Come in Monday (or maybe Tuesday in this case) and see what the unpaid testers have found."

[squimps]

My Austrian buyer hopes that if I tag their home address on the parcel for Lichfield, then the clowns there will see it and direct accordingly.

Or is this wishful thinking ?

Conversely, if by mistake the seller inadvertently omits the unique REF field, do Lichfield have a policy of "return to sender"?

Either way, would like to see the comments of you astute ebayers! So much better than ebay "help" screens!!

Peter Brighouse in Greater Manchester, where the Metrolink will soon be expanded.

[thesmokingrunner]

I think that is very much wishful thinking, squimps.

The entire GSP is computerised: parcel received at Lichfield, parcel scanned, parcel dispatched. If there is no reference number shown on the label it's fair to assume that there's no reference number on the database, and if there's no reference number on the database then it cannot be dispatched from Lichfield.

I have no idea if Lichfield have a Return To Sender policy. They may not actually have one: up until now GPS Ref Nos have been working so there's been no need to return anything to a sender.

Until the issue is resolved the only crumb of comfort is that if the item is sent to Lichfield by a tracked shipping method but is then neither sent on to the buyer or returned to the seller, then the seller is covered by eBay's Seller Guarantee once the item reaches Lichfield and eBay will cover the cost if it goes missing. Not much comfort, I know, but better than nothing.

[vintagewatchpart]

This is a joke, wasted nearly an hour of my time this morning with this on my business and private account.

On the business they said they'd get back to me with a reference via email to send out, on personal they told me to cancel the transaction saying there was an issue with the buyers address.

Sorry, this is not happening, its Ebays issue to resolve and I will not be out of pocket and let down a customer due to their technical issue.

It shouldn't be hard to somehow link the tracking number of the package to the transaction that has the buyer details on. Just get the staff to work a little harder to clear the backlog or Ebay will be losing a lot of money trying to resolve this.

[nevillestyke]

Yup. I reported this to ebay two days ago and they said that GSP would be in touch with me by email....... and we all know how prompt GSP are at contacting members direct; nothing yet.

[collegefreaks2000]

I've cancelled an order but the buyer was new to eBay with zero feedback. I sent a few messages before I cancelled it and had no reply.

My fear is now that I might get negative FB due to an eBay fault, what's the likelihood if that happens ebay will remove it?

I am also now pausing sales until midday Tuesday (or if someone on here say's it's fixed) as I can't simply switch off intl postage as I have many different postage policies for different items.

Pretty *bleep* off.

[squimps]

Referring to my earlier posting, my Austrian buyer has perfect English, understands the global situation and is happy for me to cancel in favour of an individual specific listing just for them and with Royal Mail International Signed For. My buyer will then handle Austrian EU import taxes as they arrive.

Good luck folks!

[the-almighty-inquisitor]

It does appear, that the issue has been resolved.  my order with 'null' as the reference now has the  full GSP ref number.  It just appeared from nowhere when I checked order details and is on the packing note ready to post now.

I haven't received any update from ebay about it though, so I hope they contact affected sellers to alert them to the situation.

[squimps]

It has worked for me too.

After 41 years as a programmer (or whatever I was called), before retiring to chase moonbeams on eBay, I always thought that a simple query would have drawn up a list of all sellers with Null in the REF field. Then easily concoct a message of apology plus the instruction "you are good to go" or a similar Americanisation!

I live in HOPE; a small Derbyshire hill town just through EDALE!

Sorry, just a very northern English old joke; found in the abandoned scrolls when an earlier Ark was marooned on Kinder Scout!

[thesmokingrunner]

Oh squimps, you and your programmer's logic...

It would have been so much less trouble if whatever change which was made had been tested before being released, then it would have been patently obvious that the Ref field was not being populated at all. Still, that's what happens when the live database is used for testing.

ps. You beat me by 20 years in programming. Congratulations in sticking it out that long : )

[eastern-lights]

I wonder what is was they were changing, to be working in that area?

[marco@ebay]

Hi all,

This was an issue from our end. However, it is now resolved. If you're still experiencing this issue with new orders, please let me know and I will be happy to assist you further.

Thank you,

Marco

[vintagewatchpart]

So glad I didn't listed to the advice from ebay to cancel my transactions and refund the buyers, wonder how many did this costing £££ and customer service issues.

Better communication is required to resolve issues like this and not different messages depending on who you speak to.