Estimated delivery dates (yes again)

[darth_baggins]

I know this has been done to death and eBay staff just repeat the 'working as intended' mantra but this simply can't be right.

I bought something from a seller I get supplies from more than a week ago and it's still not arrived. I realise delays are inevitable at this time of year but I thought I'd just check the EDD and I'm gobsmacked by the disparity between his and mine.

Ordered on November 27, seller has a 1 day / same day handling time and posts 1st class, yet the EDD for my order is December 5th - 8th.

I compared one of my listing to his.

Seller - as above - same day dispatch before 3:30pm, sent 1st class. EDD is December 12th to 15th, so basically at least a week to arrive.

My listing - five working days handling time and I send 2nd class. EDD is December 8th to 13th. So eBay as usual are telling buyers they may get the item before I even have to post it.

So a seller with same day dispatch and 1st class post gets longer EDD than a seller with 5 day dispatch and 2nd class post.

I know they're supposed to be 'dynamic' but there's just no way that this can be described as 'working as intended'.

[litp*records]

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@the_book_seekers wrote:

The problem is that the system doesn't recognise a change in posting patterns. I moved to a rural area amost two years ago and it was necessary to change my posting habits, but the EDDs have remained the same. 

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what you need to do is go and bulk edit all your listings and change the dispatch times.  Maybe experiment with 1 listing first.  Change it to 10 days dispatch time and see how that affects the EDD.  If that's too long, change it to 5 days (where mine is at currently).  That will buy you some time, so to speak.  

[theelench]

Exactly.  Back at the start of the thread I said more or less the same thing.  The calculation is supposed to be based on 5 factors, which are dynamically taken into consideration.  So doesn't it follow that if one or more change the calculation should give different results?

All this year 4 of the 5 have remained the same for me, but the reliability of RMs service has deteriorated and parcels have not always been delivered in the 2-3 days they hope to achieve.  That's been a national problem, mentioned again and again in various contexts on various threads.

Yet ebay still tells my buyers that parcels will arrive in 3-4 days, so is not taking RMs slower deliveries into account at all.   From other replies where the other 4 factors have changed, but FDDs remain the same, I'd say it isn't "Dynamically" taking anything into account.  Ebay makes one calculation for a seller and is stuck with it, whatever they change.

[best-range]

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@litp*records wrote:

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@best-range wrote:

Ebay is now promising SUNDAYS ! deliveries for economy 2 class post, RM48.

Please eBay, Royal Mail dont delivers 2 class economy post on SUNDAYS ! 

This is on top of the already reported promises of same day deliveries as dispatch day for 2 class post !

Nowhere on that page it states that those are wrong "estimates",  it's says "running behind" instead.

 "working as intended" indeed......

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So as soon as you've sold something, you're immediately running behind..great isn't it!

I suggest bulk editing your dispatch time, change it to something like 10 days that will reset the EDD algorithm.

Why would I want to change my dispatch to 10 days? none would buy from me if I do that.

I post same day, using RM48 until 3PM but occasionally have to take a day or two off so I remove that day(s) from my posting weekdays & set dispatch to 2-3 days just in case, thus looking the 10% off TRS bonus. 

Unfortunately doing that does not changes the EDD's, all it does it extends the "sent by date" by 1-2 days & then gives you EDD 1-2 days before dispatch like "post by 12th, EDD's shown to buyer 10th -12th. that's it,

This system is seriously broken & not "dynamic at all" as it does not responds to changes or emergency days off or cut off dispatch time for the same day or weekends sales. 

For same day dispatch it does not matter what cut off time I set, being 5AM or 5PM as it will always show the same EDD's until midnight regardless.  People who buy on Fridays after the cut off time will be shown EDD's as Monday for 2 class post, yet Monday is the first Dispatch day.

I experimented a lot trying to "re-set EDD's" but it simply makes no difference as it goes back to exactly the same EDD's as before.

[best-range]

Fresh EDD's bug today showing 2 differenet EDD's for same transaction.

Service Royal Mail 2 class post economy (RM48) that takes 2-3 days for delivery.

If you look in the Order Details it shows you as 17th-18th as the "estimated delivery date shown to buyer"  that is correct :

but if the buyer clicks on the tracking number in their Purchases, they'll see a different EDD's , promissing delivery in only 1-2 days ( wrong!)  stating  "Arrives 16th -17th Jan" , so 1 day earlier then in their Order Deatils EDD's for the same transaction:

So which EDD's shown to buyer is correct for this order ? the 17th-18th or the 16th-17th ???

They cannot both be correct  as there is 1 day EDD's difference for same transaction.

"working as intended" ....  

[ducatimondo]

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@best-range wrote:

"working as intended" ....  

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I refer to my other comments in this or maybe was a different thread; if it is working as intended, yet does not work, it must be intended to not work.
It is as simple as that.

[best-range]

mark@ebay,

Not sure if I should start another thread about this new bug I only noticed, pls. advise,

Just looked up the EDD's for my weekend's sales I only just posted today, all show "ARRIVES TODAY" !!!

& all apparently dispatched at 1.13 AM !!! yet I only added tracking & dispatched them today around 1PM ( not 1am, when I was deep asleep),  using 2 class post of 2-3 delivery days ?!

How can ebay promise my customers that orders POSTED TODAY will ARRIVE TODAY !?

eBay is now promising faster then light delivery of 2 class post ?, how much more ridiculous this can get ?

anyone else noticed this?

[ducatimondo]

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@best-range wrote:

mark@ebay,

marco@ebay 

Just tagging Marco, as I am not sure how you have tagged Mark or if he is even on the team?

HTH

Russ

[best-range]

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@ducatimondo wrote:

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@best-range wrote:

mark@ebay,

marco@ebay 

Just tagging Marco, as I am not sure how you have tagged Mark or if he is even on the team?

HTH

Russ

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thanks, missed the "o" in Marco !

I started new thread in case he has abandoned this one, hope he sees it, as there is also the problem with time showing incorrectly when adding tracking number.marking as dispatched,  as if from a different time zone elsewhere in the world but not the UK ;

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

[santlache_sales]

I don't think any of this delivery nonsense is being helped by Royal Mail who are totally taking the p*ss.

We have not had any post delivered here since last Tuesday, six days ago !

Their terms of operation are to deliver Monday to Saturday, yet this is simply NOT happening.

Massive inflation busting price increases TWICE last year, but with a massive drop in service.

[best-range]

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@santlache_sales wrote:

I don't think any of this delivery nonsense is being helped by Royal Mail who are totally taking the p*ss.

We have not had any post delivered here since last Tuesday, six days ago !

Their terms of operation are to deliver Monday to Saturday, yet this is simply NOT happening.

Massive inflation busting price increases TWICE last year, but with a massive drop in service.

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Sure, I checked my last week deliveries & many were delivered in 3-5 working days, some in 7 days due to the severe weather still affecting some parts of the UK, but that's a totally different subject matter to do with RM/weather & not about ebay's EDD's glitches & new ones appearing daily.

The 3 new glitches I reported yesterday are still going on & no response from marco@ebay, dave@ebay or anyone@ebay ??? - this is so frustrating that none@ebay is responding to this.

Are any other sellers seeing this when you click on the tracking numbers  in the Order Details - this is what your customers see.

Again,  economy 2 class service (RM48) is still being shown to buyers as an EXPRESS SAME /NEXT DAY DELIVERY, this is sooo wrong!  there is no such Royal Mail service that delivers items SAME DAY in the UK  !

& to top it all up, there are still 2 sets of different EED's shown to buyers ; one in Order Details & a different one in the "Track package"  page - when you click on the tracking number  - they don't match, in the same Order Details page.

[ducatimondo]

We have today seen the same issue, but worse than normal estimated dates.

Buyer placed an order at 7.46pm on Thursday 11th January, so obviously past our same day shipping.

Item was packed and posted with their chosen free delivery option of RM48 (2 class post) and sent Friday 12th January.

The estimated delivery shown to buyer was between Saturday 13th - Monday 15th January.

The buyer has opened a case Tuesday 16th January claiming the item did not arrive on 13th January, as promised.

This was order number 23-11031-18913 on our other account.

So according to eBay, Royal Mail 48 (2nd class post) is now a next day service including Saturday delivery... 

Royal Mail are useless and not even close to achieving their delivery targets in many parts of the country.

eBay are completely disregarding this.

All of the blame is always and only attributed to the seller, which can lead to higher fees for the aforementioned seller; creating a commercial advantage for eBay from their own failure.

This leads to increased buyer dissatisfaction

This leads to increased seller dismay
This also leads to a loss in revenue for eBay and eBay's shareholders, as why would anyone in their right mind pay extra for faster shipping, if the free economy delivery is arriving next day anyway?

This all leads to less buyers using the platform due to being annoyed that stuff takes longer to arrive than eBay have "estimated"

This also all leads to a terrific amount of wasted time and effort from many hard working sellers, that are stuck in a Groundhog Day of opened cases and where's my stuff emails.

eBay say it is working as planned, that is only true if you planned it to be WRONG!!

marco@ebay 
dave@ebay 
anita@ebay 

[best-range]

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@ducatimondo wrote:

We have today seen the same issue, but worse than normal estimated dates.

Buyer placed an order at 7.46pm on Thursday 11th January, so obviously past our same day shipping.

Item was packed and posted with their chosen free delivery option of RM48 (2 class post) and sent Friday 12th January.

The estimated delivery shown to buyer was between Saturday 13th - Monday 15th January.

The buyer has opened a case Tuesday 16th January claiming the item did not arrive on 13th January, as promised.

This was order number 23-11031-18913 on our other account.

So according to eBay, Royal Mail 48 (2nd class post) is now a next day service including Saturday delivery... 

Royal Mail are useless and not even close to achieving their delivery targets in many parts of the country.

eBay are completely disregarding this.

All of the blame is always and only attributed to the seller, which can lead to higher fees for the aforementioned seller; creating a commercial advantage for eBay from their own failure.

This leads to increased buyer dissatisfaction

This leads to increased seller dismay
This also leads to a loss in revenue for eBay and eBay's shareholders, as why would anyone in their right mind pay extra for faster shipping, if the free economy delivery is arriving next day anyway?

This all leads to less buyers using the platform due to being annoyed that stuff takes longer to arrive than eBay have "estimated"

This also all leads to a terrific amount of wasted time and effort from many hard working sellers, that are stuck in a Groundhog Day of opened cases and where's my stuff emails.

eBay say it is working as planned, that is only true if you planned it to be WRONG!!

marco@ebay 
dave@ebay 
anita@ebay 

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Since a few days ago, ebay EDD's for 2 class economy post is either same day or next day express delivery instead of 2-3 working days, something is terribly wrong & yet this is not remedied.

It's causing me so much stress as anytime a buyer could open a case for non-delivery of their item they expected to get the same day they bought it via 2 class economy service, all because of ebay's wrong EDD's .

Have a look at this new thread on the tech board, where I reported 3 different issues now & marco@ebay replied, so maybe add your experience there as well so he can add your account, although I don't believe it's only few individual accounts that are affected I think all who use RM click & drop are effected :

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

[palison_123]

This has been going on for more than a year .

In my case I send by 48 RM postage  (click and drop business) but EBAY have told customers that they will get the the NEXT DAY or within two days .

We all know KNOW that RM can``t deliver 1st class postage the next day,so how can a a 2nd class item get there on the same day as 1st class?

The two  reason why EBAY are doing this in my opinion is that :

1: They want people to buy,in the believe they will get them the next days.Even though we all know that won`t happen.

2.They will have a huge amount of people opening cases and therefore Ebay t will be able to charge them an extra 4 %

Ebay ,you don`t know what your doing on this issue ,Its been 12 months of failure on your part .

The only solution is to let sellers offer their own delivery dates and side messages to avoid this mess.

[best-range]

Some of those issues to do with pre-purchase EDD's have been going on longer then a year but there are much worse issues that only started to appear since the roll out of the new Track Packages page about 2-3 weeks ago ?.

So far I identified about 6 separate issues now affecting the post-purchase delivery dates showing buyers 2 separate sets of different dates for delivery in the same Order Details, or promising delivery same day as dispatch for 2 class post , or even delivery 1 day before dispatch for same economy post, also promising Sunday's delivery for 2 class post that does not exist. etc.

I described all the new issues in details in my thread above in the tech section, with many examples, have a read if interested & check if you're affected as well, would be good to know.

I don't believe eBay is doing this on purpose, there is some serious tech programming bug going on none wants to admit to or fix it.

[palison_123]

@best range 

I will take care from today to look at my delivery dates and share if they are unrealistic.

As you say ,"Its been going on for a year or more" they have programmers doing all sorts of unnecessary nonsense so it`s either deliberate or at best mis-management .

If as you suggest ..they are just burying their head in the sand ...whats the difference.?

The  only way to get this sorted out is for us sellers to have control over our business.

[palison_123]

@ ducatimondo

Did they answer you ????????????

Did they answer you ?

[darth_baggins]

This was once again brought up on the weekly chat. Here's part of Dave's response.

This can sometimes lead to the earliest EDD showing the same date as the dispatch date

If eBay staff can say this and think it's working as intended, then it's obviously never going to be fixed because they continually deny that there's anything wrong with it.

[palison_123]

It`s a total mess .

As a buyer how does this work out??????????????????????????????????

I`ve paid an extra £1.99 for possibly later delivery !

[ducatimondo]

 Have another good one here...

Order from this account, order number 14-11062-93768

Order placed on 17th January at 7.03pm choosing the free economy delivery, that would equate to 3-5 day service no matter who we use from Evri, Yodel or RM48 (as that is 3-5 days, not 2 days)

Order details page shows:

Dispatched on 18 Jan

You successfully dispatched your order.

Estimated delivery date shown to buyer: 19 Jan 2024 - 20 Jan 2024

Tracking shows:
Running behind, original estimate was Thu 18 Jan - Fri 19 Jan

How is the item supposed to arrive from the same day we send it.

Would like anita@ebay dave@ebay katie@ebay marco@ebay to explain how this is working as planned.

The buyer has sent a message saying they want to return it when it arrives, as they needed it for Saturday.
If eBay mislead buyers, then blame sellers, then sellers have to cover the cost of this mess, it soon stops being funny!!

Thanks
Russ

[ducatimondo]

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@ducatimondo wrote:

 Have another good one here...

Order from this account, order number 14-11062-93768

Order placed on 17th January at 7.03pm choosing the free economy delivery, that would equate to 3-5 day service no matter who we use from Evri, Yodel or RM48 (as that is 3-5 days, not 2 days)

Order details page shows:

Dispatched on 18 Jan

You successfully dispatched your order.

Estimated delivery date shown to buyer: 19 Jan 2024 - 20 Jan 2024

Tracking shows:
Running behind, original estimate was Thu 18 Jan - Fri 19 Jan

How is the item supposed to arrive from the same day we send it.

Would like anita@ebay dave@ebay katie@ebay marco@ebay to explain how this is working as planned.

The buyer has sent a message saying they want to return it when it arrives, as they needed it for Saturday.
If eBay mislead buyers, then blame sellers, then sellers have to cover the cost of this mess, it soon stops being funny!!

Thanks
Russ

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I have just asked marco@ebay about this exact order in the weely chat and got this reply:

"Hi ducatimondo,

Thank you for this. I've just reviewed this one, and it seems to be working ok. 

Marco"

If you ask an order to be reviewed by the weekly chat team and they say it seems to be working okay; to show delivery to be due on the day you are shipping or the next day with an economy service...

The verdict is in, we are all wasting our time.