Would you block or not?

[teap0t42]

I've got a customer order which RM have mis-routed, so it's gone to a sorting office at the opposite end of the country to where they are. The item was actually sold with the 2nd class postage, but due to the value I upped it to RM48. It's so far 4 days since I posted and it's not arrived.

However, the customer isn't being at all understanding, talking about being out of pocket, etc, etc. I'm generally getting vibes of someone who would harm my seller status.

I'm minded to block as it's not worth the trouble, but what do others think?

FWIW, the estimated delivery date runs until Monday coming, so it's not even late yet.

[tressygirl]

Definitely block😐

[sml192]

Personally, I would focus on resolving the current situation first and then decide whether or not to block them from making further purchases based on the outcome. 

[tressygirl]

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@sml192 wrote:

Personally, I would focus on resolving the current situation first and then decide whether or not to block them from making further purchases based on the outcome. 

True, but from the OP's post describing the buyer as being ' not all understanding',  I took it from that, that messages had gone back and forth trying to redeem and explain the situation, but to no avail.

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[roger_roger_over_and_nowt]

"Would you block or not?"

Makes very little diffence.

Members can have multiple accounts so you won't ever know who buys because when you block someone Ebay don't give the option of blocking any " associated" accounts

[teap0t42]

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@tressygirl wrote:

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True, but from the OP's post describing the buyer as being ' not all understanding',  I took it from that, that messages had gone back and forth trying to redeem and explain the situation, but to no avail.

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Pretty much. Plenty of back and forth, all of it from them pretty much woe is me, this is terrible service etc, etc.

I suspect we see things differently as we know we are at the mercy of Royal Mail, they just see the item not arriving then eBay tells them it should (regardless of our despatch settings) and think we are trying to scam them.

[teap0t42]

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@roger_roger_over_and_nowt wrote:

"Would you block or not?"

Makes very little diffence.

Members can have multiple accounts so you won't ever know who buys because when you block someone Ebay don't give the option of blocking any " associated" accounts

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I've actually had this before. I got caught out by someone claiming INR twice on the same item, blocked them, they got a friend to buy and try and ship to the same address. Luckily CS had my back on that one and I was allowed to cancel without penalty.

[dch2112011]

No I would not block the customer, they are rightly worried that their purchase will not turn up,  the problem is yours to solve to your customer's satisfaction.

All you can do is empathise and offer reassurance that you will support them by refunding in full if the item does not arrive by Wednesday next week - 2 days after estimated date for delivery.

When we have these situations we take the lead by keeping the customer informed and reassured daily - often the customer is reassured and changes to wanting to assist you and  if you have given them a date that you will refund and it has not been delivered simply refund - asking them to let you know if it arrives and if it  is a low value item ask them to keep it or dispose of it as they think fit.

Offer them a delivery upgrade on their next purchase - ask them to message you when they buy and you will personally make sure their order is prioritised and the delivery upgraded.

[ile136yz]

The Buyer probably does not realise you sent the item by RM 48 Tracked which he/she can follow on RM delivery record.

Either the item will be delivered to the Buyer or returned to you.  If the item is lost you can claim the loss off the Royal Mail.

Wait until the Buyer opens an eBay case for 'item not arrived' & go from there.

I would not think about Blocking a Buyer until the transaction is completed, so I could fully assess the outcome.

[teap0t42]

The upgrade was mentioned in the back and forth. I was hoping telling him that I'd upgraded from 2nd class to RM48 would help, but if anything it seemed to make things worse.

It looks like it has finally arrived - not sure if I'll get dinged automatically for this as it is still within the estimated delivery window, but that is based on 5 day despatch and 2nd class.

[ile136yz]

Pleased to hear it arrived.

[dch2112011]

An upgrade from 2nd class to business 2nd class is hardly much of an upgrade !  

[teap0t42]

Supposedly guaranteed 48 hour delivery with tracking, as opposed to up to 5 days without? I mean, what do you want, me to take it to his house personally?

[teap0t42]

OK, so I've now taken the decision to block this buyer. I decided to give him another chance, and sure enough he bought another item from me. I've just had an email demanding to know where it is as it's not arrived.

He bought it two days ago.

The item is on 5 day despatch.

It ships second class and it's nearly Christmas so it will be slower.

And most importantly, my shop was on holiday until today, and eBay will have told him of this at the time he ordered.

I can do without buyers like this.

[dch2112011]

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@teap0t42 wrote:

Supposedly guaranteed 48 hour delivery with tracking, as opposed to up to 5 days without? I mean, what do you want, me to take it to his house personally?

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You stated that you upgraded from 2nd class to RM48 

RM48 is not a tracked service but a business 2nd class delivery confirmation service - it is not a guaranteed delivery service nor a 48 hour delivery service.

RM confuse the service by adding 48 into the service name but this is just a way of differentiating between 2nd class and 2nd class business with a delivery confirmation.

Royal mail's delivery aim for RM48 is exactly the same as 2nd class 2 to 3 working days  hence the comment that you did not give much of an upgrade !

You did however give yourself protection under the mbg because the proof of delivery service counts as tracking under the mbg but you did not give your customer much of an improved service.

[teap0t42]

It's literally sold as a tracked product.

There has also been plenty in the press of late that Royal Mail are prioritising services such as this over second class, so there is a much better chance the delivery *AIM* will be met.

RM48 has a 48 hour delivery aim, Second class is 2-3 days. My experience also is that RM48 is almost always 2 days, second class can be anything between 2 to 5 days with the average being 3. That's an improvement.

[dch2112011]

You are confusing RM48 and RM48 tracked which are two different products - RM 48 is a delivery confirmation service without insurance which mirrors 2nd class post except it has a scan at door to prove delivery - RM categoricaly state the delivery aim is 2 to 3 working days - note the word aim not guarantee. This is the bargain basement business postal service.

RM48 tracked is a 2nd class postal product which includes insurance and is scanned at various stages of it's journey as well as at destination. The delivery aim in Royal Mail's words ' Aims to deliver in two to three working days'

To offer an upgrade you would need to move the delivery to 1st class, RM24 or RM 24 TRACKED or above

All this information is published by Royal Mail on their website 

Reality is RM give more priority to business post because it enters the system at a higher level and tracked post prioritises over non tracked post - this is a simplistic overview but goes someway to explaining what you are experiancing

[teap0t42]

Is RM48 even available to non-business customers? The only option eBay offers is RM48 Tracked, and this is what I used. How else would I have been able to find out the parcel was stuck in Preston when it was supposed to be heading in the opposite direction?

And I think you are playing semantics here, from the buyer point of view, a tracked service is better than non-tracked, therefore it's an upgrade. And as you admit, tracked post is prioritised so again an upgrade over bog-standard 2nd class.

I wouldn't consider 1st an upgrade over RM48. The delivery aim is 1 day quicker, granted, but having tracking and it being prioritised over non-tracked post puts them at best equal.

Oh, and as we are talking large letter <100g here, the price hike even to RM48 tracked is taking a big chunk out of any profit I might be making on the sale.

[dch2112011]

I was merely taking your upgrade to RM48 at face value -  I was not checking what your status was or whether you meant RM48 tracked. 

I therefore pointed out that 2nd class and RM48 are pretty much the same service and therefore not an upgrade of any note.

The way RM work is that Amazon get priority over tracked because of the value to RM - Tracked post is given priority over  RM24 /48 and RM 24/48 is given priority over Ist and 2nd class. There are guaranteed delivery services which take priority over all services.

Business post tends to take priority over 1st and 2nd class with RM24 and RM48  faring well because it enters the system one step ahead of 1st and 2nd class again business tracked also fares well for the same reason.

At the end of the day it is all down to value to RM - as to how they treat your deliveries - certainly RM48 tracked is a vast improvement consistantly but not guaranteed - RM 'aims' are one thing, actual delivery time is dependant on market conditions, weather and peak functionability of RM depots.

 You did the right thing to upgrade to a tracked service and the delivery in December was pretty good - the strange thing is a customer not following the tracking information on RM track and trace which is pretty informative.

However your actions earnt you another order from the buyer who is once again questioning delivery but you know them now and I am sure can handle this customer's quirks - 

If they were really peed off with you they would not have placed a second order - well done for your service and approach it is earning you sales - even if  it needs a little hand holding for your customer who seems to send a message 2 days after placing every order - it's their thing !