Nightmare with postage labels

[cooltide67]

Total nightmare trying to get any sense out of ebay when trying to navigate their obstructive service. Buyer purchases three lots. Ebay no longer offer any choice of delivery service. They have taken cost of delivery from my payment but they can't provide any service, so I have to buy postage direct & then go back to buyer to ask if they will refund my postage costs when they get a refund in 30 days!
Eventually get a call from ebay where they start by thanking me for my 19 years of using their platform, but she then goes on to say that if I wish to step outside their delivery service I will not receive any of the postage payment they have taken from the buyer.
Then when I refer to their delivery service she tells me quite sharply 'we don't have any delivery service'. So when they refer to their label facility it can be called their delivery service but when a seller refers to it as their delivery service they say 'we don't have a delivery service'
Petty in the extreme & zero help to resolve the issue.
Nineteen years of delivering ebay a 100% record with loads of great feedback from very happy buyers but it sadly seems ebay is now committed to treating all sellers as rogues who are looking to rip off buyers.
Prices increased by buyer protection (due to con sellers)  & now delivery dictated solely by ebay without first providing a system capable of delivering a service equal to that which honest sellers have been providing for decades!

[andyf117]

If you haven't yet bought postage and despatched the items, my suggestion would be to cancel the sales, and issue refunds accordingly. Buyer likely won't be happy, but hopefully explaining to them that eBay have created this problem by failing to provide the so-called 'Simple Delivery' service as advertised will turn their frustration onto them.

Lots of issues are arising over this whole debacle, affecting buyers and sellers alike - some of us are making formal complaints to eBay, and escalating to outside agencies, the CMA being the main 'go to' one.

[cooltide67]

Thanks. Unfortunately have purchased a collection/delivery of the three lots combined, so at present have lost £15.52 and have to ask the buyer if they will reimburse when they get their refund in 30 days.
Of course it also means that as ebay no longer seem to offer the 'Add Tracking' as they used to, I will not get paid the £150 from the sale for 30 days either.
All this because ebay opt to treat all sellers as potential rogues rather than just getting rid of the real crooks.

[andyf117]

Fingers crossed that you have an honest and understanding buyer who will actually reimburse you the postage you've paid upfront...

[cooltide67]

Thanks, yes I'm very lucky. I've have just been in touch with him and he is being really great about it. 
Can't mark the packages sent though because they have removed the option to mark despatched haven't they.
Every single little trick to try and force you into using their service so they can control everything.
Thanks to the great ebay dictatorship, the magazines will be there in a few days but neither buyer or myself will get the money we are owed for 30 days 

[department28]

It is ironic that a system they've called 'Simple', is proving to be the exact opposite. Can only hope eBay will be so overwhelmed with complaints like this, that they will rue the day they ever came up with this awful scheme...

[suema_62]

Was the buyer charged 3 x 75p too?

[cooltide67]

ebay charged the buyer £7.20 x3 but the woman reckons they will be refunded that after 30 days if I don't use the labels they issue for printing.
So as far as ebay are concerned if I don't use their label I have to pay out of my own pocket. They just wait 30 days then send what they have taken from buyer back to him.
But these were 3 very heavy bundles of magazines & with ebay no longer giving you any control or choice over the service selected I could well imagine there being a problem with underpayment if I trusted the label they insisted I use.
Plus I needed collection because I no longer have transport and the box is 12kg.
So now ebay are not marking the three lots despatched because I've not used their labels & in their 'improvements'  they have removed the option for the seller to mark items despatched.

I had this recently when the buyer was delighted, left lovely feed back & compliments on the survive but ebay refused to pay me until 30 days because I hadn't used their label. I said to the person I spoke to that the buyer had sent me a lovely message & left great feedback but she said they have no proof it has been delivered.
I know there are dodgy sellers on here but I think they are going the wrong way about cleaning things up.

[sheiling_123]

total rip off been selling for 17 years 100% feedback always used royal mail pick up and bring label service found out could not do this as had to use ebays label got onto to them usual *bleep* like thank you for being a loyal member told him i have no printer or car  made no difference (A FIB) cost me £2.50 more than if i got it myself when i told him i use the collection service he said you still can go onto RM website put tracking number in and they will still collect yes they will for a 30p charge which is free when you go directly through them really thinking of going elsewhere

[grapecr-30]

eBay ain't going to listen to anyone if people keep on trying to work with or work around this system....

Stop putting yourself through this nightmare.....!

[4_bathrooms]

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@sheiling_123 wrote:

he said you still can go onto RM website put tracking number in and they will still collect yes they will for a 30p charge which is free when you go directly through them

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The 30p collection charge applies even if you buy the label directly from Royal Mail. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@cooltide67 wrote:

ebay charged the buyer £7.20 x3 but the woman reckons they will be refunded that after 30 days if I don't use the labels they issue for printing.

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The only way around this is to select "Seller pays" in the "Simple" Delivery label options. The seller then needs to incorporate the postage/shipping cost into the item price, purchase their own postage/shipping then request a refund for the unused SD label(s) back from eBay (for some reason eBay doesn't automatically refund sellers for unused SD labels; only buyers). The seller can then agree to partially refund their buyer if they wish but the buyer will never have seen any postage/shipping charge; the items will appear to have "free delivery".

As it stands your buyer has no way to reimburse you when they receive their refund for the unused SD labels. You can give them your PayPal details (if you use PayPal) but there is nothing you can do to force the buyer to pay should they refuse.

[jimthing]

The trouble is actually getting the postage refund from Ebay! 

I filled-out the seller refund form, then had to chase it up THREE TIMES over 3 weeks after delivery, before an agent just agreed to manually refund the amount as a "goodwill" type refund – instead of the correct "postage refund" it should have been if the system worked correctly. I had to book/pay separately for my own postage as the item was heavier than Ebay 's system calculated. 

So not only are Ebay making seller's apply for refunds, but they're not paying them out properly, either. 

[4_bathrooms]

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@jimthing wrote:

The trouble is actually getting the postage refund from Ebay! 

I filled-out the seller refund form, then had to chase it up THREE TIMES over 3 weeks after delivery, before an agent just agreed to manually refund the amount as a "goodwill" type refund – instead of the correct "postage refund"

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Don't get me wrong - when I write "Simple" Delivery the quotation marks around the word "Simple" are intended to be disparaging. The page where sellers can request a refund states:

"To process your refund, we'll verify the following:

The label was paid for by you (you offered free shipping to the buyer).
The refund request is created within 14 days from the item's sale.
The label wasn't used within 14 days of the item's sale.
The package was delivered using a different tracking number.

If your request meets all these conditions, you'll receive a refund for the shipping cost. Please note, it may take up to 14 days for the refund to be processed."

So, the earliest the refund can be expected appears to be 28 days following the date of the sale; i.e. 14 days to ensure the label isn't used plus 14 days "processing" time. 

[jimthing]

I know all that. But they're not following their own guidance. That's my very point. 

I repeatedly explained to them I had followed their guidance to the very letter, yet I was still stuck well after their deadline without my own money back.

Furthermore their own staff don't understand the system... provided a claim was submitted, one agent said it takes 14 days for refund after delivery, the other said it takes a whopping 30 days after delivery, yet another said you don't need to do a claim form as you're automatically refunded after 30 days if it's unused.

I rechecked my facts just now, and my item was actually over 30 days since delivery, and they still  hadn't refunded. Chasing, chasing, chasing, just to get refunded is not businesslike behaviour.