You are correct , there have been many complaints from peeps here, just pop over to the Discussion Boards read some of the vigorous exchanges there !
There are some who are happy with Simple Delivery! If an item is lost in the post or damaged in transit, eBay pick up the bill for this, and refund the buyer, and the seller gets to keep the original payout for that item.
There are constant changes. In the past few weeks eBay announced those with a good standing account can be paid within 24 hours after the buyer pays.
Yep, there are still many things to ' fix', it's not perfect.
Was it better before? In my humble opinion yes, but SD is here to stay.
@jonh877