I've been selling for 4 years and have recently had several late dispatch defects that are from orders placed at the weekend. My policies and all listing information clearly shows that orders placed at the weekend will be dispatched on Monday. This is what has happened for the past 4 years. On Monday 28th July I dispatched 28 orders via RM 2nd class large letter, all on the same POP. Two of these orders have been marked as late dispatch. I appealed online and had them denied, with ebay stating they were posted late and delivered late. Following an online chat one of the defects has been removed ‘as a courtesy’, but the other one still stands.
The rep. stated ‘that the reason that it was recorded as a late delivery defect is because the item was shipped untracked, that is why we did not get the update on when the item was scanned at the courier, because as per the tracking, it only has the delivery date mentioned on the tracking and not when the item was dispatched’.
How can it matter whether the order was dispatch with a tracked service or not, as long as it is recorded as dispatched when given to the post office. As per the POP. This is a completely unreasonable and inexplicable argument. It has the dispatch on the POP.
The rep also stated:
Also, it was shipped on the Monday and the handling time (0) that is why the defect was imposed as we consider the handling time in days and not in business days.’
So now it seems that after 4 years of selling, ebay has now decided to grade any orders via RM Large letter that are placed on the weekend as late if they are dispatched on Monday. As everyone knows, except ebay, the post office closes at 1pm on Saturday and doesn’t open again until Monday. It is not possible to post these orders at the weekend. Again, ebay is inventing and applying policy that is unreasonable and inexplicable. It benefits non one. Not the seller, not the buyer, not ebay.
The rep then advised that I change my dispatch time to allow for the two day weekend!!! Just think about that for a moment. If I change dispatch time that impacts all orders placed during the week. Ebay does not allow sellers to differentiate between dispatch on weekdays and the weekends. It’s all of nothing. Again, a completely unreasonable and inexplicable argument.
I’ll repeat that I have been selling on ebay for 4 years and have never had weekend orders classed as late because it’s ebay policy to ‘consider the handling time in days and not in business days’!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The consequence of applying this policy for orders at the weekend is that I will continue to be given defects for late dispatch when they are NOT late dispatch, and my seller level will be reduced to ‘below standard’ and my sales will disappear. And the same applies to every seller who sells at the weekend and dispatches on Monday. So we’re all going to lose our sales and ebay will lose its commission. Who benefits. No one. It’s just mindless policy application.
