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'.

[fatbobfan]

Many threads on EDD's just putting todays expereince out there, 

Changed my inventory this morning from one working day to two working days, so any orders will now be shipped, Wednesday 27th (correct me if i'm wrong) 

The system is telling customers 1st and 2nd RM will be received from 27th to 30th December, it can arrive on the day Im posting? Makes for unhappy customers and looks like your misleading them when you only ship on the day it might arrive. 

[messier44000]

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@bluechargedirect wrote:

"Are they being instructed to talk this absolute twaddle or do they acttuall believe it? "

For those who can remember it, the chat team and custard support sound more like Comical Ali everyday. Different subject, but same reading from the script

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[best-range]

anita@ebay

The ebay link you posted advertises the correct posting dates so why then ebay applied a totally wrong EDD's that neither correspond or reflect the dates that they advertised themselves  & then deny anything is wrong ?

You can very clearly see from the link you posted what the last Xmass posting dates were & therefore ebay's EDD's are & where totally wrong since the weekend - please follow the many threads of frustrated sellers who been pointing this out daily since.

According to that ebay's link, today it's the last day for Special Next Day delivery so why ebay's EDD's showed the Special Express Delivery dates as 30 Dec & now the 28th or 29th Dec, depending which listing you look at.

do you see there is something terribly wrong with this ???

[bluechargedirect]

This is the real problem here. It is obvious, it is absolutey clear for anyone to see that it isn't working right. This week it has been absolutely black and white smack you in the face clear as day that the edd's do not make sense and any algorithm producing these results isn't working as intended but here we are 6 days later  (since I first picked up the phone) and after several phone calls eBay reps still preferring to think this long standing high volume seller doesn't know what the last posting dates are, has a hideous record for sending things late, must live in the outer Hebrides and is simply too thick to understand what a huge favour they are doing us by killing our Christmas sales - rather than simply taking a breath, having a quick look on site and asking themselves does this look right?

[best-range]

Just checked the EDD's & they have changed again, the Special Delivery is now showing the 23th Dec, so bit more realistic then the EDD shown earlier today.

So from this morning until now the advertised EDD's for RM Express have changed 3 times so far, advertising delivery in 9 days to 6 days to 2 days now. 

I wonder if by this evening the EDD's will start showing delivery as tomorrow at this race.

So if someone paid for next day delivery this morning they would expect it on the 30 Dec, but if they bought it a couple of hours later they would expect it on the 27th - 28th Dec.,  but if they bought it now they should expect it in 2 days on the 23th. Dec.

So the later they leave it the faster they'll get it according to ebay's EDD's.

It demonstrates that eBay's EDD's are most "dynamic" , true, but not sure whom this feature benefits, as from a buyer or seller perspective it simply creates a total chaos.

Men's wallets EDD's :

different from Ladies Purses EDD's :

Still half of my items show different EDD's then the other half if posted to same location using same services.

If you buy Ladies Purse, you'll see that both 1 & 2 class have same EDD but  if you buy Mens Wallet then the 2 class post EDD shown will be faster then 1st class EDD.  

I wonder what EDD anyone will sees if combing 1 Lady Purse & 1 Men's Wallet & going to same address ???

[pg_kicks]

Hi Anita,

Thanks for the update, I'm not sure if you saw the message and question I tagged you in as you didnt reply, its in this thread. If you didnt I can ask again.

With regards to this update, all it does is prove that the EED isnt working, or that you (eBay) dont believe Royal Mail as the 2 sets of dates are different, are you saying Royal Mail are lying about the last days for Christmas Delivery or that eBays EDD is wrong? If a customer purchased something from me last Friday eBays all working EDD was saying delivery would be next year, the link you provided from the eBay announcement which copies Royal Mail was saying any item shipped on Monday would have got to them before Christmas, sorry if I'm being a total idiot here but what you have told me in the weekly chat, what eBay are telling my customers, and the official line from the actual courier dont add up at all, I'm pretty sure I know which is broken.

So is it Royal Mail lying or eBays system broken? Both cant be correct, are you able to tell us the information that eBay uses to come up with these working dates, just I checked my deliveries last year, they all were delivered within Royal Mails time frame, my local depot are saying they are not delayed and as you have just posted Royal Mail were still using their normal delivery times, yet eBay were adding in a full 7 days? Seriously what else needs to be added in? I have my dispatch set as same day, the EDD is broken.

[darth_baggins]

Anita, not sure your link to last posting dates is relevant to the discussion, but thanks.

Can you explain this please? Items sold on Sunday last week were showing a longer EDD than items sold on Saturday. Given that the earliest chance to post items sold on Saturday evening and any time on Sunday is Monday, how can they possibly have different EDDs?

At one point it was pretty clear that the 23rd and 24th were not being count as delivery days. Did eBay simply copy last year's data, forgetting that last year, Royal Mail were on strike on those days?

[anita@ebay]

Hello all,

Thanks for addressing your concerns.

As I want to ensure everything is working as it should, I flagged this to the team, so they can check examples provided here, and they confirmed this is working as intended.

Some of you flagged long estimated delivery dates after Christmas, which is why I shared the post about the last posting dates for Christmas deliveries. Those dates are recommended by couriers. However, please note that dates are subject to change, and we may adjust the EDDs accordingly and extend them when needed to meet buyers’ expectations. On our side, we also take into consideration multiple different factors when calculating EDDs. Please also note that Estimated delivery dates are estimates. As for the express showing longer EDD, it may have happened due to extension, however we are reviewing extensions that are in place, and it shouldn't be happening any longer.

Thank you,

Anita

[bluechargedirect]

Have I entered the twilight zone?? Why do we bother.... with any of it. Oh my word.

If this is working as intended then the intentions of the creator are warped and downright destructive to all our livelihoods. Someone needs to wake up and admit this system is garbage and must be completely overhauled for all our sakes! 

[darth_baggins]

If anything, the link you posted effectively proved that EDDs are not working correctly.

On Friday my EDDs were changed to 27th - 29th December. Your link shows that RM 2nd class should get there before Christmas if posted on Monday, not after Christmas.

Also if they're estimates (and I agree that they are) why do eBay say 'you should get it by....' when a sale is completed? As if it's a given that they will, not an estimate.

[best-range]

anita@ebay

What a complete & utter waste of time reporting all those errors & glitches.

I don't believe any sane person would respond by saying "all works as intended" after reading this thread.

Obviously they did not read it & just ignored you by copying & pasting the same old response they always do when EDD's are questioned & never address a single issue raised.

If their intention is to force as many frustrated sellers as possible to abandon ebay, then it is def. "working as intended" !

[theelench]

"...and extend them when needed to meet buyers' expectations."

That bit made me Laugh Out Loud for sure.

What "buyer expectations" other than the total fantasy ones THAT EBAY has been giving them?

If ebay had told the truth and not over-promised all through the year, there wouldn't be any need to extend them now and by doing so create another wave of confusion.

[swat090346]

I ordered something on the 16 Dec which had an estimated delivery date of 30 December with second class post  The item had to be made and the seller posted on the 18th On the 20th December I got a note from Ebay asking if my order had gone well.

If I was happy,- could I leave feedback

If I Didn't receive- it ask the seller to track it down or open a request

Or Not what I expected -then start a return request

The EDD was 10 days to go 30 Dec, second class postage so should have arrived by 21st.  It did. and I was very happy

Why send this type of email encouraging customers to open a case when the item according to these stupid EDD's is not due to arrive for another 10 days

[rigged_out]

The EDD is still broken despite this insistence on working as intended. It's not as bad as last weekend but it's still wrong. The EDD still thinks Tracked 48 is quicker than Tracked 24 when that is simply not the case. The EDD also thinks it can get a Parcel via Tracked 48 to the GSP depot by the 28th to 30th but deliver that parcel to Germany or France by the 29th (which is as quick as delivering a Tracked 24 to UK).

It is clearly broken. It's rather disappointing to be told that everything is fine when sellers are lining up to inform you that it isn't.

(Royal Mail Tracked 48) Estimated between Thu, 28 Dec and Sat, 30 Dec to PL12 4FA
(Evri Next Day) Estimated on or before Fri, 29 Dec to PL12 4FA
(Royal Mail Tracked 24) Estimated between Fri, 29 Dec and Tue, 2 Jan to PL12 4FA
(Royal Mail Special Delivery (TM) 1:00 pm) Estimated on or before Thu, 28 Dec to PL12 4FA

Germany Expedited Delivery (International Priority Shipping) Estimated between Fri, 29 Dec and Thu, 4 Jan to PL12 4FA

[rigged_out]

I say it's better than last weekend because last Saturday it was also 28th to 30th to deliver to UK but to deliver to Germany it said 22nd

[darth_baggins]

Back to being silly again now. My items are showing a delivery estimate of December 29th if bought on Christmas day.

Or in other words, they're showing the same delivery estimate as they did on December 15th. How can eBay continue to defend this?

[pg_kicks]

Hi,

Thanks for the update.

If this is working as intended, can you tell me what you take into consideration, but please check my account, multiple years selling, over 500 positive feedbacks and hundreds of listings so basically copying and pasting isnt going to work.

Royal Mail give the last dates for posting, I spoke to my local depot who were not having issues and my dispatch was set to same day so I got a friend to check when my item would be shown for EDD for them, this item would go to my local depot, and then onto them so nothing else and they were getting nearly 2 weeks, so basically its broken, I'd love for you to tell me the truth on what you take into consideration and I will then cross reference this with Royal Mail and see if it is eBay who have the broken system or Royal Mail. Please also remember I have also mentioned that last year and last month my parcels were on time too so past history should still be having them as 2 days. Your update about Royal Mail last delivery dates smacks in the face of what you just wrote, if it wasnt effecting my business the replies would be comical.

Ps hope you've had a great festive period.

[bluechargedirect]

Not even a hint of consistency across our listings this morning. Different EDD's depending on what type

of cable you're buying. Royal Mail 24 faster on some products. Royal Mail 48 faster on others. All working as intended. Very smart system, even knows Royal Mail will treat an audio cable differently to a USB cable. It's pretty incredible stuff really!

[bluechargedirect]

4 listings for items in the same category. Different ranges of the same type of cable. With same day postage only one shows free 3 day shipping (the other 3 don't). Change it to 1 day handling and those 3 that didn't have become faster and get free 3 day shipping and only the one that had free 3 day shipping becomes slower.

So although it's not a hard and fast rule for us it seems in most part our orders will get delivered faster if we ship tomorrow.. might as well have another day off then!

[goingfishinguk]

I can't believe a company (who claim to action our feedback on numerous occasions) are so arrogant and in denial that no matter how many times problems with this function are reported with evidence to PROVE it they still report it's 'working as designed.'

How about informing us what this design is rather than insult us time after time?  Remember we are YOUR customers, who pay your wages/bills.  We are being forced to lie to OUR customers who in turn ruin our accounts because YOU tell them to open cases.  

Serious THINK about that for one moment and realise all you are doing is sending customers AWAY from eBay... are you CRAZY???