so-called 'simple' delivery is the exact opposite for buyers

[kchubb-uk]

I recently bought several things adding a note at time of purchase, begging vendors to please NOT use Evri/Hermes who flatly refuse to deliver to me.  Evri always claim to have attempted when I am in.  Only after three so-called "attempts" can I claim a refund.  It's time consuming and annoying.  If I do as asked by Ebay, and try to contact the buyer, my patience is further requested which is annoying, when repeatedly going a good week past promised delivery dates of the time of purchase.  I would not buy anything based upon empty promises.  What can I do to avoid this annoying situation? 

 i don't want to leave a negative review to buyers but Ebay won't talk to me.  I just get in a loop saying "stay tuned...." or other such bs.  I also keep getting a message of a brand new, unagreed, new delivery due date, farther into the future than when I first alerted them that the delivery date had past, (c/o Evri's bs) and only after that can I ask them to 'step in'.  i.e. empty promises are compounded by ordering me about - extending dates even further.   It can't be legal.   I am getting fed up with it.  e.g. where I live, there is no mobile phone signal.  The landline is crucial.  Last week, it ran out of batteries.  I bought some on ebay and was promised at the time that they'd be here by mid week, this week.  It's lonely here, not getting a call, especially in the evenings.  I wait and wait only to learnon due date that Simple Delivery has been chosen and therefore Evri.  I contact the vendor and say I will need to go to Currys as I can't really be without any means of outward communication by phone. (We have starlink for broadband) I remind that I had expressly asked them NOT to use Evri/Hermes.   Instead of being on my side, the vendor, like Ebay compounds the problem by also asking for more patience on my part.  It is unreasonable.   Please can you advise?  I will need to go back to Amazon I think who at least don't make empty promises even if they doo cost more.  Right now, the aggravation and additional time is costing me more.  Your advice would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you.  Kate.  

[kchubb-uk]

p.s. I am a buyer, not a seller.  Line three has a mistake and should read "seller".  I am the buyer.  Sincere apologies.  

[kchubb-uk]

Sorry, I did not know I could edit messages until it said I had run out of time to do that.  Sorry.  I am pretty useless at I.T.    I am a buyer and my issues is as a buyer.   I think of sellers as vendors which is why I kept muddling the words, buyer/seller.     From what I can gather this week, vendors are being steered to Evri so if they have not read my note - appended to my purchase, I am absolutely stuffed.  I am currently waiting on 4 orders which have all gone past their promised delivery date upon which i made my purchases.   I feel ill-used and short-changed.  Why should I continue being such a good buyer when I am treated like this?    Both Ebay and the vendors are all asking for my forbearance without giving me any option of refusing.  I don't agree.  I don't want to buy anything based upon an empty promise.  I also need Evri to be avoided and need my notes read.  Your advice please would be greatly appreciated.   

[sml192]

With Simple Delivery it is eBay that decides which carrier is to be used.  Sellers are able to opt out of Evri for all listings but not on an individual basis.

You can find out which carrier eBay has selected for a listing being sent with Simple Delivery by clicking on 'Contact seller' and then 'Postage'. 

[kchubb-uk]

Thank you. I will do that then. It may be that I can't use Ebay as much
any more because I am challenged enough when it comes to I.T. Going
through the palaver you advise is not easy for me, although it'd be a
doddle for most. I am really disabled at I.T. My sons keep having to
teach me how to use the T.V. remote control even. I just think there ought
to be a way for buyers to reach out to vendors either before at the same
time of purchase (adding a 'note' e.g.) and assume they won't be ignored.
Otherwise, the relationship between vendors and Ebay is a closed shop to
buyers, which does not feel right. It will certainly send me away, if not
others. I should not have to a), wait until delivery day to learn that not
only has my request not to use Evri been ignored, b), Evri are now chosen
as well as c), being made to wait for three so-called delivery attempts,
(which never occur) and, insult-to-injury, d) endure an assumption by Ebay
and the vendor that I will wait for as long as they dictat. It surely
cannot be right to treat customers like that?

[papso22]

The only response most sellers would make to your request is to cancel your purchase.

Finding out which courier would be used requires two clicks, it's not complicated and you don't actually need to contact the seller, the information comes up on the screen. 

[kchubb-uk]

Yes, I try that and it often defaults to Simple Delivery anyway.   The only thing I am finding which works, but is a bit time-consuming is writing to the vendor ahead and asking them if they can choose to avoid Evri or not?   

[kchubb-uk]

Even I can do what you say, with my bad I.T. skills.   When you click on "contact seller" quite often it does not say what courier they use.   Appending a "note" to one's order often goes unseen or gets ignored or like you say, generates a wish to cancel by the seller.   If "Simple Delivery" is going to override any 'note' perhaps as an option it should not be available to buyers?   

I ended up with several orders all saying Evri was going to be the courier so with most of them Ebay just refunded me because I was getting loads of often quite conflicted messages, incl. from Evri saying they had decided to change my delivery date (without my consent) and/or had decided to scrap one tracking number and add another.  As a buyer with a nice record, I am certainly put off buying now.  I don't want to generate this quantity of admin and i really loathe Evri and/or empty promises.  I would rather pay more than suffer empty promises.   

[kchubb-uk]

Thank you but not all sellers say which courier they are going to use.   

[sml192]

---

@kchubb-uk wrote:

Thank you but not all sellers say which courier they are going to use.   

---

If the item is being sent with Simple Delivery then it is eBay not the seller that is providing the carrier details so they should be there automatically.

[kchubb-uk]

My trouble is that when i buy i might append a 'note' to the order asking
the vendor not to use Evri only to buy and then learn they are using Simple
Delivery, which left me none the wiser. As a buyer, I wasn't fussed who how
they delivered, just that they not use Evri. To my horror, I learnt Simple
Delivery used Evri by default. My 'note' had not even been read. My
advice to ebay would be to remove the capacity for Buyers to append a
'note' to sellers. Two weeks on and massive amounts of admin later, I am
reluctant to use ebay until this problem is fixed. If as a buyer, I am
going to be ignored and penalised for not looking in the right place, I am
better off taking my business elsewhere. After all, someone here said I
should look in 'contact buyer' to see what sort of postage they are using.
I did and even that wasn't fool-proof, saying all sorts of things and only
sometimes saying Evri. Thank you for your thinking cap. It's a shame as I
really can't have Evri. To avoid my rural address which they hate, I
organised my neice's present to go to a collection point. Evri generated
two tracking codes and unilaterally changed my delivery date. It's just
not on, not for that seller or me as a buyer.

[kchubb-uk]

p.s.
I meant - "contact seller". When you go to that part, it's not always
clear what is going on.

[insidethe93]

kchubb-uk wrote: "My advice to ebay would be to remove the capacity for Buyers to append a 'note' to sellers."

I sympathise with your frustrating experiences and I disagree only on this one point, namely the "Add note to seller" at check-out. In some categories (e.g. the large crafting category) the note feature tends to be the standard way to communicate, say, pick 'n' mix choices or seller-allowed custom requests whilst being tied as closely as poss with the order & payment. Often the sheer number of variables means they can't be given in the listing nor as a drop-down menu, or at least not in a _short_ & easy-to-read way.

True examples: to buy one set of flag-waving die-cut mice from one of my regular sellers one chooses any 6 flags from approx 250 available world flags, and can choose more than one of a particular flag (fellow-cardmakers have probably already realised the sentiment could be "have a flagtastic birthday"). Easiest if buyer simply lists their choice in a Note to seller at check-out.  Ditto sets of cats and dogs (dozens of breeds) or people's work garb/uniforms, or scores of vans ("have a van-tastic..."). Of 180 marker pens, which subset, how many fine-tipped or medium-tipped? For drawings/paintings, do you want the crafting seller to customise in  autumn, summer, winter or spring colours, with or without people/animals? Do you want ribbon, faux pearls etc? Adhered or loose to do yourself? etc.

So that Note to seller is a fast and easy way to communicate often vital info. It cuts out the eBay messaging system which involves more clicks to use, and which feels much more separate (and some of us are still struggling with it ever since its unnecessary makeover).

[kchubb-uk]

Dear helpful ebay community person, "insidethe93"

Thank you for this. I really see your point.

Increasingly buyers like me will simply go elsewhere. That's the trouble.
If buyers are treated as if they don't exist because "Simple Delivery" has
over-ridden everything in advance, I just can't be bothered with it all.
Only today, e.g. I went to buy something and noticed, (because now I check
1st!!! ) that Evri is being used as the courier, with no other option.
Rather than get into a email dialogue with the seller, it's easier to just
not bother. It's partly because I don't use my phone to buy on ebay but
have to wait until I get home from work and then use my home laptop. As a
buyer, I want to be able to a), "add a note", assume it will be read and
b), have the option of not having Evri. Evri flatly refuse to deliver.
They claim 3 attempts which isn't true. It's the small vendor/buyer and
the small buyer (moi) who are losing out. Evri even had the cheek to say
they had changed my delivery date. Excuse me, the whole reason i chose a
collection point was because Evri was the only courier. The assumption on
buyer's endless goodwill on the part of Evri and Ebay is staring to tee me
right off. What's the point of a delivery date only for Ebay to then
decide it can be extended to any date they (or couriers) so choose? Empty
promises are par for the course if Evri are the courier. What I am going
to have to do is wait until I have more things to order in one go (more
cost effective on postage) and do it via Amazon. At least they don't make
empty promises, assume customer goodwill when they fail to honour empty
promises and moreover any courier issues are managed by them, no passing it
on to a courier or a customer to resolve.

It is as if Ebay is going the way of big faceless companies which makes the
little guy, (buyers and sellers) lose out.

Thank you for your thoughts.

best wishes,