eBay App Showed Wrong Collection Location

[richard301162]

Hi,

I listed a large/heavy item for collection only. A buyer made me an offer which I accepted. When they paid I sent my full adress.

So then they say that they thought I was in Wrexham (North Wales). I live in a town in Wiltshire so very bizarre! They said that from the iPhone eBay app when they click through the location link it shows an address near Wrexham.

We agreed to cancel the deal, and when it was relisted I checked things out.

• My listed location is fine, as are all my addresses in My Account
• Clicking through the location link on a laptop took me to Google Maps which showed my hometown correctly
• Clicking through the eBay App on an iPhone uses Apple Maps which shows the location as being near Wrexham

So the integration with Apple Maps seems to be broken. has anyone else seen this at all?

Thanks

[ccla3379]

Yes, you are quite right.   Checking item 266956607302 from the web page, and on Android using Google Maps the preferred Corsham is the (real) one in Wiltshire ... but if I use an iPad which seems hardwired to use cr-Apple-maps then it goes for a fake one near Wrexham.

Using the app directly it does appear in the middle of the list of possible places (pic) ...

... quite why eBay goes for an entry so low on the match set I do not know.

I think the white-pins on red blobs are custom marks added to maps - so it could be large quantities of data-vandalism .. but from remember Apple Maps in the past they were quite capable of getting it wrong on their own.

That said, the eBay app on iOS is picking the wrong place - seemingly using the address text rather than the first part of the postcode to locate the item (roughly) - hopefully the developers can get a handle on this and rollout a fix.

As this may not be a quick thing you could try updating your item locations to another nearby village which doesn't have tainted apple pins  - you already have the info in the description which is good, maybe add a note in the status and title to say pickup from [first part of your postcode].

Not sure what more to suggest.

Hi anita@ebay - please can you check / pass this onto the developers and find out why they are using the white/red pin locations in Apple Maps (which are giving misleading results)  rather than the main gazetteer matches.  

[newsgood1]

I think the problem as ever is eBay. If you are offering collection eBay  say the main Town in an address, which is stupid as, it could be many miles from where you actually are.  This is just thoughtless compter programming.

[m25jet]

Given that eBay's site programmers are totally incapable of resolving glitches such as this, if you decide to list any other items as Collection In Person Only perhaps you should include a line in the item description saying something along the lines of "The item is located in Corsham, Wiltshire" or whatever other town may be the most accurate match to the area in which you live, so that when potential buyers read the item description they can get a proper idea as to where the item is actually located and work out whether or not the total distance from their home to yours is a viable option or not for them.  That way it should help to minimise the chances of buyers asking to cancel because they got the wrong idea as to where you actually live.

[newsgood2]

EBay's programmers need, like eBay's management, to develop common sense. The member's postcode is in their details. 
EBay like a lot of businesses focus on greed over doing something properly and thought through. There is no excuse for poor design and poor detail in administration. It's lack of care and consideration by feckless managment.

[papso22]

I wonder what happens if you use the 'distance from' feature to narrow down collection only items, when using the app?  I have never used it myself (the app), but I use the distance setting on a PC and go for 10miles.  It then presumably compares my post code to the seller's to get the distance.  That should remove confusion over town names and locations.

[newsgood2]

I just expect eBay to sort it,  rather than use their members as free labour. All companies that have forums are basically telling you that they do not give a damn!