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'.

[best-range]

To avoid problems over Easter weekend I extended dispatch to 2 days for RM48 economy post hoping it will give me an extra 2 days to cover the weekend & Bank Holidays where there is no collection or deliveries by RM & pre-empty ebay giving erroneous EDD's .

It did not work ! My customers are still being shown delivery same day as dispatch day !

I wonder what they'd show if I did not extend my dispatch to 2 days,  delivery 3 days before dispatch ?

So this is for RM48 that buyer selected, ebay EDD are for same day delivery as dispatch day or next day !!

so where are the 2 days dispatch day I opted in sacrificing my Top Rated fee discount but though it was worth it to avoid all the stress ?

Again extending the dispatch days did not work ! all it did it allowed ebay to grab my Top Rated Seller discount !!! but their faulty system failed to add the extra 2 days to their EDD's as they should.

maybe Anita@ ebay can comment:

Why the system did not adjust for Easter ?

Why ebay keeps promising same day delivery as dispatch day even after adding the extra 2 dispatch days ??? for 2 class economy post ? - it normally does that when I have same day dispatch but with the extra 2 days added it still shows the same erroneous EDD's completely ignoring those extra 2 days.

The correct EDD's should be 5th - 6th April for the above example.

[best-range]

As an experiment I just changed the handling time to 3 days then  2 days then to same day dispatch & it made no difference at all, the EDD's dont change on the listing, it shows same EDD for 3-4th April for all scenarios.

So I sacrificed my top rated discount all for nothing by extending the handling time since Thursday, as ebay system just ignores it but happy to grab the discount back.

[theelench]

Yep, I've been saying the same thing for some time, in my case with RM 2nd Class.

RM deliveries are all over the place.

My buyers are all over the UK.

I extended my Handling Time then, when it changed nothing, shortened it back again.

I usually post same/next day, but sometimes not, due to medical appointments.

Yet, with one solitary exception (a glitch perhaps?), ebays FDDs never change.  They're always buyer should expect delivery the day after my Handling time ends or the day after that.

Whatever I do, or don't do, the FDD is always the same.

How Dynamic is that??

[best-range]

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@theelench wrote:

Yep, I've been saying the same thing for some time, in my case with RM 2nd Class.

RM deliveries are all over the place.

My buyers are all over the UK.

I extended my Handling Time then, when it changed nothing, shortened it back again.

I usually post same/next day, but sometimes not, due to medical appointments.

Yet, with one solitary exception (a glitch perhaps?), ebays FDDs never change.  They're always buyer should expect delivery the day after my Handling time ends or the day after that.

Whatever I do, or don't do, the FDD is always the same.

How Dynamic is that??

---

The only "dynamis" I see everyday is when their EDD's keep shrinking as the order progresses from the pre-sale to post sale status & at each stage getting shortened by 1 day - this can happen as fast as within an hour if you post same day.  

So the original EDD's  ( that most days it's reasonable apart from weekends & bank holidays ) changes 3 times for the same order & each time it shrinks by 1 day resulting in some ridiculous promises such as "delivery before dispatch" or "delivery same day as dispatch",  or "phantom Sunday's deliveries" etc. by the time it reaches the last stage of dispatch & "tracking" added.

I think this must be what they mean by "dynamic EDD's" - a rational person would see this as seriously erroneous coding.

[pg_kicks]

I always thought what you have on your listings doesnt really matter as it goes down on historical evidence (for your account nothing else) so if you usually send within 2 business days thats how eBay make that part up, then they just pick any random figure for the delivery service and then ignore bank holidays and what not.

The thing that really annoys me is the weekly chats when we are just baited with a copy and paste, like we have said numerous times the EDD is working as planned when its obviously either not working as planned or planned to fail. I'm going to the roadshow event in Leicester next month and I will happily bet all my inventory that when I talk to one of the managers (I'll find out the highest placed one) that they will act shocked that both the reporting system is broken and the EDD is broken, nothing gets reported back to people who have any power to change things.

I've gone from having 1 INR case over 3 months to 7 in the last 2 weeks, and I send things on a next day service to ebay who authenticate and then send out on a next day service, there is no excuse for that being wrong.

[wavesales]

Hi Darth,

2 cases opened in 1 day, this is seriously annoying why don't eBay listen, I have a 2nd class packet that the customer opened a case in 2 days we have had a bank holiday on Friday and on Monday so how can this be delivered in 1 day? all this hassle is turning me against eBay as they dont really care about any seller it is just hassle after hassle on here. 

[vintagechinashop]

I sold an item in the early hours of this morning. I have a 3 day despatch time and 3-5 days postage on my items. I got an email this morning to ask if they would be getting their item tomorrow. I wondered if this was an April Fools joke but then realised it's no joke it's eBay 

[theelench]

Yeah, ebay  --  where the joke's always on the seller and ebay laughs all the way to the bank.

[best-range]

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@pg_kicks wrote:

I always thought what you have on your listings doesn't really matter as it goes down on historical evidence (for your account nothing else) so if you usually send within 2 business days that's how eBay make that part up, then they just pick any random figure for the delivery service and then ignore bank holidays and what not.

The thing that really annoys me is the weekly chats when we are just baited with a copy and paste, like we have said numerous times the EDD is working as planned when its obviously either not working as planned or planned to fail. I'm going to the roadshow event in Leicester next month and I will happily bet all my inventory that when I talk to one of the managers (I'll find out the highest placed one) that they will act shocked that both the reporting system is broken and the EDD is broken, nothing gets reported back to people who have any power to change things.

I've gone from having 1 INR case over 3 months to 7 in the last 2 weeks, and I send things on a next day service to ebay who authenticate and then send out on a next day service, there is no excuse for that being wrong.

---

I'm aware of the "historical evidence" spiel but I think it's only another ebay myth, as 'historically" I never had items delivered 1-2 days before posting them, nor were they ever delivered same day as posting, nor one day after posting,  I also never had items delivered on Sundays - using RM48 economy 2 class service.

So not sure where they take their "historical data" from as it's def. not from my account.

As per my earlier post it does not matter if I set my dispatch day as same day or 3 days as all of that is completely ignored by their broken AI that spits out the 3 different sets of fantasy EDD's per order as it progresses from pre-sale to post sale status.

Again in the past I changed my dispatch time a lot to accommodate for family emergencies, short holidays, illness etc, & it worked very well but since they broken it it no longer works that way.

Good luck at the roadshow & please do share what you find out .

[pg_kicks]

Just to add I was certainly not sticking up for eBay there, I just have mine as same day dispatch but if im away for a day ro 2 I never set my account as on holiday but just extend the dispatch but the EDD never changes thats why I always thought they went historically, the whole thing is either broken or working s planned but the plan was to always be wrong.

[vintagechinashop]

You have said it. They are never going to change things resulting in more late delivery defects. More people losing discounts more people going from top rated to above or below standard. It's a mess that they can't or won't sort out. I'm literally packing orders the day I get them but I'm supposed to have 3 days to do this according to my business policy. The nature of my parcels is that each one takes time because I can't just put it in an envelope or a box without wrapping carefully.
I  work full time as eBay does not provide me with an income that would pay my bills. I absolutely loved what I was doing and saw this as a retirement income to top up my pension but I have to be honest I feel it's not sustainable. I've got a lot of stock to sell and it will take time but I'm definitely not buying anything more because I feel being a seller with all the changes is like walking on a tightrope.  I just hope I don't fall off before I sell all my stock 

[theelench]

Just add several other things that ebay says are taken into account by the 'calculation'.

We all know that RM has reduced the reliability and frequency of deliveries, due to loss of staff and low morale of those that are left.

Have my FDDs been lengthened to take into account RM's past / deteriorating performance?  NO.

Last year I had a series of medical appointments that meant that at intervals throughout the year I was unable to post parcels same day or next day (as I usually do).  To add to that I, like many others, lengthened my Handling Time from 2 days to three days.  When this made no difference to my FDDs, I changed it back to 2 days.

Has any of this changed ebays FDDs?  NO, apart from one solitary FDD (a glitch?), they have remained exactly the same  --  delivery the day after my Handling Time ends, or the following day.

Is the calculation taking into account my past performance?  NO.

Is it taking into account my chosen delivery company's past performance?   NO.

The more you look, the less the calculation seems to take into account.

I don't believe its "Dynamic" in any way at all.  It's designed to come up with ebays desired outcome, delivery one or two days after purchase, no matter what the seller puts in their listings or preferences, no matter how well (or not) the delivery company works, or anything else.

Like you, I've never had an RM 2nd Class parcel "... delivered the same day as posting, nor one day after posting,...or on Sundays"  in ten years of using the service.

I've asked The Team several times to tell me which delivery company I should use to achieve ebays fantasy but never received an answer.

Because they can't give an answer, none exists except in ebay-land fantasy world where they can fiddle the figures to get the answer they want.

[outbounce_1290]

Is this...a MIRACLE or an ebay glitch...

posted items today, 2nd class recorded large letter and the ebay EDD is ACCURATE!!!!!!

delivery date to buyer given as 4/5th April..

[outbounce_1290]

oh - looks like it was a glitch 🙄

delivery date to buyer has now been updated to delivery tomorrow.../sigh

[best-range]

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@outbounce_1290 wrote:

oh - looks like it was a glitch 🙄

delivery date to buyer has now been updated to delivery tomorrow.../sigh

---

That is the main problem as the EDD keeps changing once you dispatch your items as the order progresses from pre to post sale status, as per my earlier posts.

If you use tracking/recorded number it will change 3 times by the time you post it & each time the EDD gets shorter by 1 day resulting in "same day/next day or even delivery before posting date & on Sundays for 2 class post.

This is far removed from the original EDD that buyers initially see to begin with on our listing, apparently specific for their particular postcode - just another ebay myth.

The original EDD is often doable if you post by 1 class, even tough you advertise you use 2 class, but even then not achievable because it keeps getting shorter at each step.

At  later stages the initial word "estimated" is dropped & a definitive statement such as "Arriving Today" is used instead - often for items that have not even been posted yet.

The whole system is broken.

[palison_123]

This is the NO1 reason why I would leave Ebay.

The relentless msg asking where there item is and cases opened because Ebay has mis-informed them about delivery dates.The negative feedback when it is clearly out of our control.

It`s depressing to say the least .

The worst thing is that Ebay know 20% will not get their item on time ,let alone telling them they will get it the next day when it`s 2nd class postage .

Customers are clearly getting use to next day delivery because of Amazon .If Ebay are so concerned about it that they feel they have to lie to buyers why don`t Ebay do there own delivery serevice .

[pg_kicks]

Just going off the weekly chat but it seems they have now decided there is an issue, even though we've been told that it was working as planned for months as Dave asked for item numbers as he was having a meeting with the team at some point. As much as I like to hear they are having a meeting but that meeting should have took place months ago when the issue was first raised.

[litp*records]

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@palison_123 wrote:

This is the NO1 reason why I would leave Ebay.

The relentless msg asking where there item is and cases opened because Ebay has mis-informed them about delivery dates.The negative feedback when it is clearly out of our control.

It`s depressing to say the least .

The worst thing is that Ebay know 20% will not get their item on time ,let alone telling them they will get it the next day when it`s 2nd class postage .

Customers are clearly getting use to next day delivery because of Amazon .If Ebay are so concerned about it that they feel they have to lie to buyers why don`t Ebay do there own delivery serevice .

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Because if Ebay is directly involved in the delivery then they'd have to take responsibility for it (in theory). And they don't want that.  

[palison_123]

@ Guide

Yes it is exactly that ,they would be brought into the real world and have to take some responsibility rather then shoving it on to sellers .

There is an option in feedback removal which states that feedback will be removed if it`s outside of the sellers control....How the hell are we in-control of estimated delivery dates and Royal mail service?

Whats more worrying is that the c/s agent told me that on her screen the package was sent late.This is totally untrue and Royal Mail own site and Ebays shows it was sent on the correct date.

[litp*records]

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@palison_123 wrote:

@ Guide

Yes it is exactly that ,they would be brought into the real world and have to take some responsibility rather then shoving it on to sellers .

There is an option in feedback removal which states that feedback will be removed if it`s outside of the sellers control....How the hell are we in-control of estimated delivery dates and Royal mail service?

Whats more worrying is that the c/s agent told me that on her screen the package was sent late.This is totally untrue and Royal Mail own site and Ebays shows it was sent on the correct date.

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I like how the seller assumes all responsibility for everything on the listing page, including:

- fake and unrealistic EDDs,

- the item description being totally hidden

- ebay's generic condition text which is BS (think you have go click to see the actual condition)

- false item specifics which Ebay pulled from the title without your permission (especially bad on the app)

- presumably all the other listings that Ebay has advertised on MY advert

- catalogue information which is often full of errors (seriously, never use barcodes or catalogue info!!)

Sorry I don't take responsibility for any of that, because I have 0 control over it.