Estimated delivery dates wrong - 2nd class post showing as next day delivery

[barbies*bargains]

Has anybody else noticed that the estimated delivery times are wrong?

[teap0t42]

People would be more shocked if they were correct....

In the last few days I've had an estimated delivery to Australia faster than to the next county. And the domestic one was a day or two short!

[vintagechinashop]

But eBay tell us it's working as it should and have been for months. I'm struggling to keep up with expected dates as many other sellers are. I have one postage policy yet items purchased at the same time can show vastly different estimated delivery dates 

[darth_baggins]

Yes, others have noticed. Sellers have posted 100s if not 1000s of examples of why it's wrong, but all we get from the eBay reps is 'it's working as intended'.

[theelench]

Yes, thousands of posts, dozens of threads over many months have pointed this and even more bizarre EDDs out to ebay.

Same for me,  2 day dispatch, 2nd class post = delivery on day 3 or 4 according to ebay.  So next day delivery or 2 day delivery for me through most of last year, even though RM's service has been getting worse as the months go by.

All anyone gets out of ebay is "it's working as intended", that's if anyone from ebay bothers to answer at all.  One thing you won't get is anything that makes any sense like "What" exactly is it "intended" to do, or "How" sellers are meant to achieve the impossible.

[best-range]

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@barbies*bargains wrote:

Has anybody else noticed that the estimated delivery times are wrong?

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Yes, the EDD's been wrong for very long time & getting worse but no amount of sellers reporting makes any difference.

Next day delivery for 2 class post is what I get now daily or even worse; "same day delivery as dispatch" for 2 class post or even "delivery before dispatch" that you need time machine to accomplish.

Additionally you get 3 different EDD's for the exact same order depending where you look, the pre-sale EDD does not match the post-sale EDD's of which they are 2 with different dates shown to buyers in their Order Details.

It's absolute mess & totally incomprehensible why ebay wont fix it & just keeps denying anything is wrong despite overwhelming evidence provided to the contrary .

If interested check my thread over on the tech boards with many examples, so far 6 different issues that I experienced with EDD's, some very old on going issues & some new that only appeared a few weeks ago :

https://community.ebay.co.uk/t5/Technical-Issues/EDD-s-shows-same-day-delivery-as-dispatch-day-for-2...

[barbies*bargains]

Very disappointing that Ebay is not fixing this. Still the old story of wanting to be 'the big river' all but in name?

[darth_baggins]

One of the eBay reps said recently that it's normal for the estimated delivery date to be the same as the dispatch by date.

If they think that's normal, what's the point in trying to reason with them?

[best-range]

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@darth_baggins wrote:

One of the eBay reps said recently that it's normal for the estimated delivery date to be the same as the dispatch by date.

If they think that's normal, what's the point in trying to reason with them?

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Yes I read that, simply crazy !

The reps visiting the discussion boards come & go & over often a short time disappear only to be replaced with new ones , same goes for eBay management, their contractors & employees.

There is a post about eBay getting rid of 9% or 1000's of their workers ?

One can only hope that amongst them is the entire current IT department & the outsourced CS  ? & they'll hire some more capable & talented people instead ?

Maybe they can't admit it publicly but still are making changes in the background because people keep reporting the issues here  & have an impact ???

I'd like to imagine this is the case but one will never know so can only hope things will get fixed eventually.

[teap0t42]

I happened to look at one of my listings today. It's sent 2nd class as standard, with an estimated delivery of between Monday 29th and Thursday 1st Feb. The earlier date would be possible if the item was shipped today - but I have 4 day despatch on this item! That means even the last date a customer would be given would depend on RM hitting the quicker end of the 2nd class delivery timescale.

It also doesn't take in to account the fact RM are pulling last collection times further and further forward at many post boxes - even one near where I work which is next to a sorting office is being moved to 5pm from next month. It was 7:15pm when I first started using it 3 years ago! At home, it's 20 minute walk to anything that collects after 9am and even that looks like it's being pulled forward to 3pm soon.

What is even more frustrating as a seller is that I offer 1st class, but the delivery estimate being given is the same as for 2nd, so who is going to pay to upgrade? The estimate is realistic, indeed slightly on the long side for 1st class, but way short for 2nd.

[teap0t42]

Just had a return request because an item didn't arrive when the buyer needed it for. Not sure what eBay showed them, but the order details says they were given an estimate of between the 2nd and 6th of Feb.

They bought the item on the 30th in the evening - even if eBay count that as day 1 (which they shouldn't...) I have 4 day despatch, so could have despatched as late as Friday.

They decided not to upgrade to 1st class postage (why not if you need it urgently?) so that estimate is a bit keen anyway for 2nd class.

Some of the things I sent at the same time arrived yesterday, but not all.

So, again, eBay's overly optimistic dates have disappointed a customer and cost me money. Let's see if I get negative feedback as well, most likely for someone who starts a return two days before the estimated delivery date...

[geosacha007]

Indeed.  Ebay always tell my buyers that they will receive the item between 3 days BEFORE my dispatch date to 1 day after.   They tell me to post by the correct date though. But this would only give 1 day for my 5 day courier to deliver. 

I've had to up my dispatch time to 5 days to even have a chance of delivering by the date ebay gives buyers.

[handscartridges]

The delivery estimates have been wrong for years, I hate the way my 48 Courier sometimes is delivered after my Second Class Post so the estimate says.

All I get told by ebay is that it is because of the Delivery Companies Performance which never makes sense as my parcels always delivery when they should and in some instances within 24 hours and I have selected different couriers on the listing and it still shows same estimates.

[teap0t42]

I think the problem is that eBay has so much data but is bad at interpreting it.

In this case they missed one essential aspect - the customer was having the item posted to a business address that was closed at the weekend. Expecting an item bought on Tuesday, on an up to 4 day despatch and second class post to arrive by Friday is optimistic to say the least.

They also don't factor in that many delivery offices are now holding anything that isn't a parcel (I use large letter) and only delivering them every 2-7 days. How your posting day coincides with that delivery day has an impact on how long delivery will take, but is outside your hands. An item posted on Monday may arrive Wednesday, one posted on Tuesday might not arrive until the following Monday.