eBay's false estimated delivery dates, now several messages from buyers not happy.

[lincolnshiremarine]

I have been going on about this issue like a broken record.  I have reported it several times and even been on the community chat several times.  Ebay claim the EDD's are working fine.  They are not.

Ebay are giving buyers delivery dates as same day deliveries, next day deliveries.  Even when buyers have  have selected the free, three day delivery, they are including non working days as delivery dates being Saturday and Sundays.

I know that other sellers are being affected by this too, and have reported it too.

However, I am now spending hours replying to buyers whom think their parcel is late based on ebays estimated delivery dates. 

This leaves my business open for negative feedback and the issue of asking ebay to remove it.

The messages I am getting from buyers are:

" Hi not to pleased due to the fact I ordered this part from your company because of the delivery time and it’s not happened! Hopefully this item will turn up soon"

"parcel not arrived yet ??"

Both of those cases where when they purchased over a weekend, and they were dropped of at the parcel shop for collection the same day of purchase. However, this was over the weekend.  Ebay tracking has said to expect the delivery on Monday, which is wrong, as they included weekends as the courier collection and delivery days.

When you look on the couriers webiste the delivery dates are correct and ebays are incorrect.

We have had the same issue with Royal Mail tracked on ebay too.

How many more sellers are now getting messages like this on a daily basis, and what are you telling the buyers.?

I have been selling on ebay for 16 years and we dispatch the items on time, but, this ebay EDD are on another level now.

We look like we are fabricating delivery dates just to obtain a sale, and although we have tried tweaking the postage days etc, it does not help.

marco@ebay

Katie@ebay

Dave@ebay

[ukhealthhouse]

The topic seems to be being ignored. Our cut off is 10am, people buying after this on the 24th were still getting EDD of 25th, or 26th, with second class.. dave@ebay It would be nice to take a look at this, look at how many sellers it's effecting. 

[vintagechinashop]

I've just had an email to tell me that my item not received rates are very high   
my rate is 3.58% and apparently my peers are running at 0.2%   There's been lots of discussions since these ridiculous service metrics were introduced as we clearly have no proof of our peers results and never will have. Out of those inr cases the vast majority arrived and the cases closed without a refund. Quite honestly I ignore these emails now because the information contained within is mostly fantasy and in these days of eBay's estimated delivery shenanigans it's virtually impossible to achieve a perfect score. Being a top rated seller these days means nothing anymore so as long as I continue to yo yo between top rated and above standard I'm happy.   I've actually been top rated most of my time on eBay. Short of hand delivering every item I sell I think you cannot possibly hope to achieve a perfect score 

if there are any sellers out there who have a very low inr score I'd love to know just out of interest 

[theelench]

I suspect that's the real story behind  FDDs, once 'late' deliveries wreck a sellers Service Metrics, up go ebays fees ?

And that's why the Team, when they bother to comment at all, trot out the "Working as designed" line yet again.  For ebay they are 'working perfectly'  by increasing their fee take although the site and many sellers are selling less.

[typo_lee]

Then extend your handling time like I have done. Simples. I was getting to many INR cases due to shoddy Royal Mail deliveries and eBay's wrong est delivery dates 

[lincolnshiremarine]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, we have tried this, and it does not work, as soon as we print off the postage label the delivery date changes to next day delivery.

 It is nothing to do with the handling time,  it is when the postage labels are generated.  This is what alters the estimated delivery dates. 

We are looking into getting a business account for postage rather than the packlink postage. However, couriers want to collect the parcels from our business premises and not allow us to drop off at collection points.

Best wishes 

[lincolnshiremarine]

Hi

We have tried changing our handling cut of times, it make no difference.

As soon as the postage label is generated, ebay then tell the buyers it will arrive the next day, some are even the same day. 

We have pointed out to the ebay team that the time given when the postage label was generated is BEFORE the time the buyer brought the item too,  and odd times like 1am in the morning, when we are still asleep and not in the office to print the postage label.

This means we are losing one day of posting allowance from this error.  This happens on every label we print off. 

We are looking at our own postage accounts with couriers, but, many want you to send a certain amount each week, or have one collection time rather than allow to drop off the parcels yourself at a collection point locally.

Best wishes

[ian_w42]

Being affected by this too, thankfully no buyer complaints yet but I am noticing that 'Estimated' delivery dates being given are 1 day (!) after I print the postage label which is usally in the evening... so by the time the parcel is collected (always Tracked 48) service the buyer is being told it should arrive today and of course since Tracked 48 usually means 2-3 day service every parcel is "running behind".

I post things very promptly and stick to a 1 day handling promise, parcels are always collected on time but these estimated delivery dates make no sense.

[lincolnshiremarine]

Hi

Like you we post things very promply.

When buyers send us a message,  we kindly let them know that ebays delivery dates are not correct, and they selected the three, free day delivery services. 

We also tell them this has been reported to ebay, and guide them to the couriers website and it gives the correct dates. 

The delivery dates ebay gives the buyers are correct right up to the point of printing off the postage label. Once this has been generated, it gives the buyer the delivery date of next day or some cases this week, the same day.  We have tried changing the cut of postage times and makes no difference.  

Have you noticed the postage label time generated is BEFORE the time the buyer brought the item too?  and odd times like 1am in the morning, when we are still asleep and not in the office to print the postage label.

This strange time results in us losing a day of delivery .

Best wishes 

marco@ebay

dave@ebay

[chilloutgames]

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@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

Have you noticed the postage label time generated is BEFORE the time the buyer brought the item too?  and odd times like 1am in the morning, when we are still asleep and not in the office to print the postage label.

This strange time results in us losing a day of delivery .

The time the tracking EDD label is generated is timestamped 8hrs early e.g. Pacific Standard Time instead of British Summer Time but I don't think that is the issue. The tracking EDD (seperate to the order EDD) consistently shows a date range one day earlier than the order EDD.  This is part B of my bug issue, part A is the cutoff time ignored so orders after cutoff show the same EDD as orders before cutoff - compounded by Friday night orders including saturday as a posting day when we don't post on Saturday. 

[lincolnshiremarine]

Hi

Yes you are right, some have suggested changing our cut off shipping time, however, as you have said it makes no difference and is ignored.

Best wishes 

[theelench]

It's not only printing a postage label that changes the delivery date.  I don't print labels, I go to the post office and buy over the counter postage labels, I have 2 day handling + 2-3 delivery with RM 2nd class small parcels = 5 days before a delivery becomes "late".

I've just checked one of my ads..  If bought today ebay says to expect delivery "Between Tuesday 30th April and Thursday 2nd of May".  It can't be posted until Monday, so ebay is already shaving 2 days off my 5 days.

I enter the reference number to the transaction as soon as I get back from the P.O to prove that I dispatched on time and for the past year or more that results in the "Delivery Date shown to buyer" on the Order Details being changed to Tuesday or Wednesday.

As I've said (often) before next day delivery using 2nd class is (always) impossible.  Wednesday is possible, Thursday much more likely. 

Also it doesn't seem to matter what day an item sells on or where weekends enter the calculation the buyer is always led to believe that delivery WILL happen either the day after posting or the next day.  Delivery is only "estimated" until the item is posted, then it becomes definite which, given RM's problems is ludicrous.  Especially when RM's past performance is supposed to be one of the factors taken into account by ebay's calculation of the DD.

[ian_w42]

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@lincolnshiremarine wrote:

Hi

Like you we post things very promply.

When buyers send us a message,  we kindly let them know that ebays delivery dates are not correct, and they selected the three, free day delivery services. 

We also tell them this has been reported to ebay, and guide them to the couriers website and it gives the correct dates. 

The delivery dates ebay gives the buyers are correct right up to the point of printing off the postage label. Once this has been generated, it gives the buyer the delivery date of next day or some cases this week, the same day.  We have tried changing the cut of postage times and makes no difference.  

Have you noticed the postage label time generated is BEFORE the time the buyer brought the item too?  and odd times like 1am in the morning, when we are still asleep and not in the office to print the postage label.

This strange time results in us losing a day of delivery .

Best wishes 

marco@ebay

dave@ebay

---

"Have you noticed the postage label time generated is BEFORE the time the buyer brought the item too? and odd times like 1am in the morning, when we are still asleep and not in the office to print the postage label."

Yes I have noticed that, very strange times in the Royal Mail tracking.

[typo_lee]

This policy is whacking up sellers INR rates so does that mean eBay makes more money as they increase fees for very high INRs. We are currently classed as very high for INRs but quite frankly we cannot do nothing about it considering royal mails bad service and delays and eBay's crazy est delivery dates

[dch2112011]

As a buyer I am shocked that you are getting so many problems with delivery estimates from Ebay, more and more sellers are sending messages as soon as an order is placed regarding delivery estimates - this appears to be a problem a lot of sellers are experiancing.

With regards to estimated delivery I am guided by the estimate on the listing advert which is pretty accurate most of the time.

As for the changing dates I can understand the confusion nearly all purchases seem to have constant changing delivery dates they not only become earlier but also go much further away on occasion - it is not uncommon to receive three or four different delivery dates - often two different dates on different parts of the ebay system !

So this is why I am guided by the sellers listing  rather than the confusion of different dates after the order is placed.

Quite often the item shows as delayed but turns up on or before the listing estimated date, I always leave feedback and always mark items as delivered on time  based on the listing estimate - even if they arrive a day later. 

I hope sellers are not being penalised because the ebay system decides an or is delayed ?

I have also noticed that on some delayed items when leaving feedback - the only option available for rating delivery is  ' did the seller POST the item on time'  

[vintageserendipity]

I work for a charity and we are getting the same. It's ridiculous..  I believe ebay never used to count Saturday and Sunday as a working day and that has now changed. But yes we are experiencing the same. Like someone can buy it an item on the 5th and it says will be delivered on the 6th... Very annoying 

[best-range]

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@vintageserendipity wrote:

I work for a charity and we are getting the same. It's ridiculous..  I believe ebay never used to count Saturday and Sunday as a working day and that has now changed. But yes we are experiencing the same. Like someone can buy it an item on the 5th and it says will be delivered on the 6th... Very annoying 

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They do now & it gets worse if someone buys an item Friday night as ebay shows EDD of Saturday/Sunday  for 2 class post & if you buy your tracking postage label on Friday before midnight it will shorten the EDD  again showing in the Tracking to expect delivery "today" - Friday.

Example: if you buy the postage at 23.55 PM on Friday, ebay gives you 5 minutes to deliver your item before midnight as only after midnight the Dispatch time changes & not at the time you have set up.

...yet the next posting day is Monday after the weekend, so you're totally bleeped.... as the  the only messages the buyer gets is "running late, estimated delivery was Friday/ Saturday/ Sunday"

Extending dispatch does not work, all it does it looses you the 10% Top Rated Seller fee discount , if you're one & it puts off potential buyers as who wants to wait 3-5  days before the seller dispatches your item, so you'll loose sales if you extend dispatch days.

The seller dispatch setting is totally ignored anyway as the EDD will still shows the same/next day EDD once you buy the label & add tracking, or if the tracking is added automatically through buying label on ebay, so no escape.

If you buy postage label outside of ebay you can only save 1 day in EDD by not adding the tracking to the order details preventing the EDD shortening, but....if you dont add the tracking within 24 hours you'll get a defect for "late dispatch" & wont have any proof of "dispatching on time" if there is a case open.

You loose whatever trick you try, I tried them all & now just ignore the whole thing & only respond if the buyer contacts me & explain the problem with ebay's EDD, so far hankfully had really nice customers who understood the ridiculousness of this situation.

I also direct them to the numerous EDD's threads on the boards if they need more convincing.

[vintagechinashop]

Entending handling time like others have said makes no difference. I mark items as despatched as soon as I print the label or sometimes the next day once my postie has collected. Once you have done that eBay change the edd to arriving as per Royal Mail estimates which for second class is two days. That gives absolutely no leeway. I have a 5 day handling but I believe buyers are only shown the postage estimate not allowing for handling time. 
I seem to remember when these service metrics came in we were told by eBay that as long as it was posted on time we have nothing to worry about. Simply not true because it's late delivery that affects the metrics. I use Royal Mail and add the tracking number once collected. In a large percentage of times the tracking from the Royal Mail website is not updated on eBay. I've actually lost an appeal for late delivery even though Royal Mail clearly show the delivery date but eBay didn't. I argued till I was blue in the face but eBay refused to remove the late delivery mark.  EBay are judge and jury in these cases and that makes me mad 

[chilloutgames]

Thanks to Hiten in customer support getting back to me and the EDD issue did get a bit better a couple of weeks ago.

Also, thanks to Dave on the weekly chat for putting me in touch with the IT team last week - they are genuinely concerned and looking to fix it.

[best-range]

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@chilloutgames wrote:

Thanks to Hiten in customer support getting back to me and the EDD issue did get a bit better a couple of weeks ago.

Also, thanks to Dave on the weekly chat for putting me in touch with the IT team last week - they are genuinely concerned and looking to fix it.

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How did it get better for you??

Unfortunately nothing changed since I reported the various EDD issues  in January for me.

Latest example, buyer from Northern Ireland bought an item late at night on the 23th, I posted it next day  RM48 tracked, so you'd think everything is perfect in ebay's land, unfortunately not.

Once the tracking was added ebay produced a message that the item is "running late, original estimate was  24th-25th April " !? - only it wasn't, the original EDD was 27th -30th the first time I looked but then it changed/ shrank after adding tracking no.

So according to ebay delivery to Northern Ireland should arrive same day as dispatch or the next day !!!??? yet on average it takes 5 working days for RM48 to reach NI.

So nothing has changed.

I was contacted by the "shipping team" to "have a chat" & responded that I need them first to read & understand my thread in the Tech board started in January now burried:

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

& once they read it I'll be happy to discuss the 7 issues I pointed out that are wrong with EDD, I'm still wating for their responce.... I know it was a lenghty thread, it takes time to read it....obviously the 4 past months wasn't enough time as I was reasured all the info I posted at the time was passed on to the "shipping team".

Sorry for feeling cynical...

[qualitycardsandgifts]

Yet again, orders placed yesterday are showing delivery Tuesday / Wednesday, so Sunday is being classed as a working day.    Orders placed today are showing an EDD of Wednesday / Thursday.