Topic: Ebay shipping cockup

[Kai-san]

On my way home today I picked up a parcel sent to me by the ebay shipping operation. I thought the box was rather large, but I believed it to be a Jobo tank I had ordered from Germany. When I came home and looked at the shipping papers it said that the contents were a pair of Hasselblad 70mm film cartridges which I had ordered from the UK. Those are no bigger than I can fit them into one hand, and this box was huge in comparison. So I opened it up and to my surprise it contained 9 smaller parcels all addressed to different recipients throughout the UK. And my Hasselblad cartridges were nowhere to be found!
Not knowing quite what to do I phoned ebay UK whose number was on the shipping documents. Here is what they told me: 'There is nothing we can do about this, we're just shipping the stuff. You can do what you like with the parcel, keep it or chuck it away. You have to report your item missing to the seller on ebay.'
So if you've lost things you've purchased on ebay, now you know what happens to it. I've read on other forums about bad experience with the ebay shipping, I believe a company named Pitney-Bowes is handling it for them. Anyway; if you're selling stuff on ebay, don't use this good-for-nothing operation.
And now I'm left with 9 parcels meant for other people. I have not opened any of them yet, just wondering what to do. I could send them to the correct recipients although that would cost me a pretty penny. But since this is export and I do not know the contents of these parcels I could end up in trouble. What would YOU do???

[Bryan]

Is there any way you can contact the seller or purchaser of the items based on the information on the packages?  Maybe an item number or sellers name.  If not you could open the package and see if there is a packing slip that has that information.  That way you can contact the seller and find out what they want to do about it.  They could send you payment for postage or just write it off.  You should not be burdened with any cost but I think making an effort is the right thing to do. 

I had something similar happen to me with Amazon.  My wife ordered something but what we got was not even close to what we ordered, it was a rechargeable USB power pack.  The item we got was much more expensive than what we ordered.  I contacted Amazon and they said keep it, then refunded us for the item we ordered. 

[Kai-san]

I like your suggestion Bryan, but I just rechecked the address labels. They all have different names, but the address is exactly the same. And guess what; it's the address which my parcel originated from. Yes, it's the lot that told me to keep it or chuck it. That does not leave me with much of a choice.
From the reference codes I could make out where these were meant to go, it's Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Australia and the U.S. And then there are two marked ITH or TH, maybe Thailand?

[Francois]

I find it really odd that they all have hand written labels.
When I sell on eBay, I get printed labels with the postage barcode affixed.

If the box is from a dealer you did business with, they probably will be very happy to pay to get their stuff back. Lets not forget the eBay is a satisfaction based system. Unhappy customers+financial loss don't equal good things for the company sending the stuff.

[ManuelL]

I recently had a similar experience with Amazon. Instead of the light table and lens tool I had ordered, I received a singing Panda savings box. On the box there were 2 shipping labels. I returned the item to Amazon and got re-imbursed (took me 3 calls with the people from the help desk, as I was returning only 1 item, but wanted to have return payment for 2).

About 2 weeks after I got the money back form Amazon, another parcel with my initial order arrived on my doorstep. Took me another 2 calls with Amazon to receive another invoice for the now correct shipment and have it paid.

[Bryan]

I like your suggestion Bryan, but I just rechecked the address labels. They all have different names, but the address is exactly the same. And guess what; it's the address which my parcel originated from. Yes, it's the lot that told me to keep it or chuck it. That does not leave me with much of a choice.
From the reference codes I could make out where these were meant to go, it's Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Estonia, Australia and the U.S. And then there are two marked ITH or TH, maybe Thailand?

eBay has an international shipping service.  When I sell something to a buyer outside the US I ship it to their shipping center in Kansas and they handle the international shipping.  There are also private companies that do the same think.  Since you have several packages in one box I suspect That’s what you are dealing with.  One seller probably sent a box of items to someone who was going to distribute them internationally.  I think this is done to reduce shipping costs from certain countries. 

[Kai-san]

They seem to originate from two different sellers, none of them is the one I purchased from. I have reported the incident to Ebay customer service, I will await a reply from them. The most irritating is the fact that my item is probably lost, and they are hard to find anywhere.

[Francois]

Then again maybe they aren't. If it's from two different sellers from two different regions, chances are good that you'll get your stuff.

[chris667]

Ah, the joys of the eBay Global Shipping Program. What a bunch of schiesters to tell you that other people's property is now yours because their agent screwed up.

I have had this exact thing happen to me. What I did was open each package, because eBay rules state all items should have a packing slip. Then, I had to find them all on Facebook, and send them personal messages, because eBay didn't let me contact them directly. I got eBay support to admit on the phone that the mistake was entirely theirs, and that neither I nor the buyer should lose out financially because of their mistake. A call is better than the online chat nonsense they offer, BTW.

I am getting a bit fed up with the "convenience" of online shopping. Maybe it's just the places I go, but I never have so much trouble when dealing with real businesses. I think eBay's new policies with regard to payment by cash on collection and sharing outside contact details are going to be the end of my dealing with them. There is no way I'll pay for something I wanted to collect in person before I see it, and if it comes to selling I won't accept the level of risk that I am placed under, or the number of hoops that I would need to adhere to in order to be a successful seller. I would make far more money if I just went to work, and gave my old stuff away.

Contrast this with the pair of boots I ordered yesterday; I went direct to the factory, they took my phone number, a cash deposit, and told me they'd call when they were ready in April. A brilliant experience, and actually far cheaper than the nearest equivalent available through eBay which would probably have been far Eastern made shite anyway (Dr Martens, I am looking at you!). The boots are made by William Lennon & Co, if you're interested!

[Pete_R]

I'd inform ebay in writing giving them a fixed time to respond and make it clear, if they don't, that you'll dispose of the items. Also make it clear they are responsible for collection of the items at your convenience. Chances are they won't respond or just tell you to dispose of the items. At that point, open the boxes and see what you've just gained. Maybe resell them on ebay to compensate you for your inconvenience. I imagine this is a case of swapped address labels so you got this and someone else got what you wanted.

[Kai-san]

Still no reply from ebay, won't hear anything before tomorrow I guess. One of the small parcels had a document inside a plastic envelope, but there was only the name of the recipient + the reference, no address. I have the phone number of one of the sellers, I will call them tomorrow. Since the parcels from these two sellers came in the same box there might be some sort of cooperation between them.
Ebay Global Shipping keep sending me emails with the progress of my item, now it has arrived at this global shipping centre in Lichfield, that's where they messed up the box I received. I wonder whose address label they are going to slap on my parcel?

[Francois]

Hopefully mine 

[Kai-san]

I'm afraid your luck ran out today Francois, my item arrived.  I have been in touch with one of the sellers, and they were very pleased to be contacted. They offered to pay for shipping back to their shop just to make sure their customers got the items. And then Ebay Customer Services woke up and promised to sort out the mess they've made. It could look like a happy ending for the buyers. I also learned that the Ebay sellers down in Devon are really smart, they have teamed up to ship their items jointly to the shipping centre to save on shipping and handling cost.

[Francois]

Well, at least there are good news with that mess