Post Office and Simple Delivery

[deanem72]

HI All

Another post about the dreaded SD.

Just come back from my local Post Offices  (yes 2 as I had business in both places), and thought I would just post on here that both have now instructed their staff to refuse eBay parcels if they are labelled incorrectly.

As SD is automated, it guesstimates size and weight based on other items in category, many parcels will now be 'mislabelled'.

In the CC earlier it was mentioned that these parcels have to be taken, yet eBay fail to realise that RM and Post Office are 2 separate companies, further compounded by many Post Offices being contracted out to small shops where a dedicated Post Office has closed (as in the case of my local). 

I asked a question of the clerk at one PO why this was happening and they stated, that due to audits on packages sent, any wrongly labelled packages can result in failure of said audit, multiple failures can lead to financial losses and could also have implications on whether or not the service is continued (as in PO will pull contract from the shop).  They didn't divulge the levels that are set for audit.

As I have already stated  am not keen on the idea of being dictated as to how I send an item, however this information I have gathered now puts a new perspective on things.  Not only are eBay forcing me to do things their way, but they are potentially placing the livelihood of others at risk, people that have nothing to do with eBay or the dilemmas SD is causing

[thetrackz]

Not surprising and can't blame the Post Offices for this.

Ebay trusted their sloppy AI to get weights and sizes correct and it hasn't delivered.

[*vyolla*]

Yep, just checked with my local Post Office this afternoon and they said the same.

Marco@ebay what would be the way forward here? There's a generated label with a tracking number that cannot be used, and the seller is on timer to get the item out to the buyer.

Do they buy a label from the PO and send the item out and then contact eBay CS when they get home to cancel that label and get a refund and manually add the new tracking number to the dispatch details?

[akemp1]

Good the Post Office have an important role in rejecting parcels incorrectly estimated by ebay's guff AI as although it will inconvenience sellers it's better than the buyer having to go to their local Royal Mail sorting office to pay a fine and will raise awareness of the awful things going wrong at ebay.

Sadly they will be seeing less ebay parcels as a result of Stupid Delivery shifting work to Evri.

[warmyn-81]

This is just another example of an ill concieved idea from ebay and also ebay cs staff just repeating the same old script. 'if the post office refuse to accept it please let us know so we can report them' Complete insanity from ebay. 

The only people who 100% know what size package and what weight and service to apply are the sellers of the items, its what we do so why can't ebay just leave us to it?

Also they said in their blurb that prices could be 20% cheaper with 'simple delivery', ho checked this because I for one can tell you that they are charging a lot more for using simple delivery and also there are price differences depending on who pays for postage, buyer gets it cheaper than the seller does evidently.

In my eyes it's just another money grab from ebay, pure unadulterated greed on their behalf.

My sales have tanked since Feb 4th. I have made 2 sales in the last week. 

If they want rid of private sellers, then just say so! They must have an idea that when you remove the foundations the walls will fall down soon after. 

No doubt that next week after 100's more complain about their packages being refused ebay will tell us it is 'WORKING AS DESIGNED'

[bojangled]

@deanem72 Just to back your post office information re the audit, having worked in a PO for a short time we had regular performance reviews (as any business does these days) were pulled up on any incorrectly labelled parcels (each Horizon terminal has its own traceable user info). So this system could have repercussions on counter staff. 

A few years ago we were advised not to accept the many prepaid labels that had a 1g weight as was strictly incorrect, even if the price paid was correct. Not sure if that’s still the rule, but that was how insistent it the system was. 

Jo

[papso22]

In my eyes it's just another money grab from ebay, pure unadulterated greed on their behalf.

They have admitted to investors that it is a revenue generator, it's just us members that they want to fool into thinking it's good for sellers and buyers.

[wintersdawn1]

From chat today:

[bojangled]

@wintersdawn1 

My response to that was that it doesn’t help anyone send the item, receive their item, get paid or receive feedback.

Obviously got deleted.

Jo

[deanem72]

I saw that as well, but who are they going to report to??

If RM, they will say PO is a different business

If PO?

If contracted out PO service?

[wintersdawn1]

Marco didn't elaborate on who they would report the disobeying post office too.

[deanem72]

I am just waiting for the time, when at the PO someone has a parcel and they refuse it and they start saying eBay insists you take it or you will be reported.

If I was a PO clerk I know that I would just laugh at them and say eBay have nothing to do with me 

[lucy_farmer]

'If I was a PO clerk I know that I would just laugh at them and say eBay have nothing to do with me '

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Indeed.

 I'd be far more worried about Post Office in-house Auditing (which happens fairly frequently) which will pick up the parcel weight and price not matching......... That could cause serious trouble with your employment.

Telling ebay 'wrong labels' to do one, is not as scary as losing your job!

[deanem72]

I seriously doubt that the PO head office has agreed to all this especially since the last scandal involving them, they need to be whiter that white nowadays

[department28]

Looks like eBay are going to be swamped with these complaints... then what? Presumably they'll have to refund for labels rejected by the PO? Parcels will be delayed, buyers will complain... fun for all the family!

[akemp1]

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@deanem72 wrote:

I seriously doubt that the PO head office has agreed to all this especially since the last scandal involving them, they need to be whiter that white nowadays

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Yeah I'm sure Royal Mail would have over many years put a lot of pressure on Post Office to ensure their branches are checking the size/weight of items entering the RM network.

I can't see Royal Mail suddenly saying to Post Office that because RM have done a deal with Ebay (which is entirely to Royal Mail's disadvantage and Evri's advantage) the Post Office should now disregard the size/weight on ebay Stupid Delivery items. 

[cbclassicbuyer]

My Sister took 3 packages to her local Post Office today, 1 had postage paid for via click and drop, that was accepted, the other 2 were Simple Delivery and both were refused as the label sent by Ebay did not cover the cost of the size / weight of the packages.

The cashier said they would be refusing all SD items with immediate effect. 

So, you use what Ebay insist on, Post Office won't accept it. What a bloody shambles. 

[akemp1]

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@cbclassicbuyer wrote:

So, you use what Ebay insist on, Post Office won't accept it. What a bloody shambles. 

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Maybe creating chaos at Post Office branches is part of Ebay's evil plan to get us to start using Evri?

[deanem72]

and evri couriers are known for their dedication and always make sure that delivery is correct.

I used to be a courier for them and the amount of times I sent back parcels being misbanded was unbelievable.  I am still a member of the group we used on facebook and can see even now the return rate for wrong size/weight is through the roof.  most couriers will only send back twice and then the parcel gets placed into storage unless it can be returned to sender

[buffster1963]

Every time i list something, ebays recommended postage suggestion is Evri, not that i ever used their suggestions. I was selling off some of a comic collection  once and no matter if i was listing a single comic or a bundle weighing 4kg, the suggested postage was large letter.