Numerous online retailers are in bed with U.S.P.S. (United States Postal Service) who have proven to be incompetent. 10 years ago, everybody had the freedom to choose which delivery method and from which company to deliver it. All we had to do was pay for the shipping charge. Unfortunately that is no longer possible.
Some sellers (independent sellers that use ebay and amazon) kind enough to provide delivery by UPS or FedEx but this is very hard to find. If the item is expensive, large, or heavy, be prepared to have it "delivered" by U.S.P.S. There are problems with U.S.P.S. delivery.
All ebay cares about is what the tracking information says. Which is very inaccurate information.
They will always decide in favor of these back alley or back woods sellers and when calling appeals, they will say "We will issue a courtesy refund this one time but don't let it happen again."
It should not be necessary to message a seller asking if they will deliver it with UPS or FedEx. (and most back woods sellers will scoff and say no)
The recent issue is from "autosaversvarieties" who even admits that they are incompetent.
"I pledged that i will give it my utmost best, i will not always get it right but i will learn from my mistakes for i am fully committed to succeed in my goals and all that i ask is that you help me help you, thank you and may god bless us all"
Actually this seller's mistakes are not resolved. They are accepted, tolerated, and embraced by ebay.
I browsed their items that I needed and I was delighted to see that UPS was an option! Technically it is UPS Two Day Air. I selected UPS and obviously I expected delivery from UPS.
I PAID FOR UPS!!
But the seller took my shipping money and used the most basic of shipping, which is U.S.P.S. Literally IGNORING my instructions (but not ignoring the extra money I paid) to deliver it with UPS.
The seller, who appears to be a drop shipper, hid behind the usual excuse saying "just because it says two days does not guarantee two days" sounding EXACTLY like Amazon Prime's excuse. AND they are COMPLETELY ignoring the three letters U.P.S.!! The option CLEARLY said U.P.S. 2 Day Air. The fast delivery is actually not required, but if it says it will be delivered with U.P.S., then I MUST have it delivered by U.P.S.
I called ebay and they said they are aware of the complaints about U.S.P.S. but another person said that "as long as the tracking says delivered". implying that U.S.P.S. NEVER gets anything wrong. (Lol. Also, U.S.P.S. customer support is non existent. you have to shout over and over again for almost an hour to get the automated system to send you to a live agent.)
I was issued a "courtesy" refund, but protecting back woods sellers is unacceptable. If they are responsible, THEN THEY MUST BE HELD RESPONSIBILE.
I am writing this report to inform everybody of the problems with delivery from ebay. It appears that NO MATTER WHAT OPTION YOU SELECT, the seller can do whatever they feel like doing, and then they think they can keep your money at the same time.
I have yet to leave feedback because this is a "Power Seller", (this only applies to Neutral Feedback and Negative Feedback but not positive feedback.) but I must alert everybody that ebay also has a policy for EDITING AND DELETING HONEST FEEDBACK BECAUSE IT DOES NOT IMPROVE THE SELLER'S REPUTATION.
My desired outcome will prevent these issues from happening to anybody ever again, and are as follows:
1. If you are going to force buyers to wait to leave neutral feedback or negative feedback for "Power Sellers", you should also make the buyers wait before leaving postive feedback, or remove the waiting period entirely. You should also give treat "Power Sellers" biased treatment of any kind.
2. Do not edit or remove feedback, especially honest feedback, for any reason. Especially if the feedback is honest. I do not care one bit about the upholding the repuation of a "Power Seller".
3. If a buyer chooses delivery from a specific carrier, HONOR THAT CHOICE AND DELIVER WITH THAT SPECIFIC CARRIER.
4. Do NOT rely on tracking information from U.S.P.S. And DO NOT decide in the favor of the seller because the item was recorded as delivered. Your information is wrong and I selected AND PAID FOR a delivery from UPS.
5. If a seller made a mistake, hold the seller accountable for making a mistake. Do not ignore the problem. Do not reward the seller. And certainly do not pat the seller on the back.
6. Do not threaten buyers with a "one time courtesy refund". I do not care about your stupid policies that you are hiding behind. You WILL revise this policy to hold the sellers accountable for mistakes that they have CLEARLY MADE AND HAVE PROVEN TO HAVE MADE. If you do not do as I say, then these problems with other buyers being ripped off will continue. I am certainly not going to be nearly as nice as I was on the telephone if this happens to me again.
#2Author of original report
Fri, October 07, 2016
Ebay must not give "Power Sellers" biased treatment of any kind.