Who else is expecting bad feedback due to royal mail losses

Myyrrddyn

Hi there everyone, I like many experience a large amount of sales over the Xmas period. But this year it went ballistic. As has all the people saying where is my item. I have proof of postings but have to wait the 15 working days and with some items that takes me well into next year to claim. Unfortunately customers want better than that and want either a replacement or a full refund. And of course this will affect peoples feedback and DSR's to me.
Any one else in the same boat?
And is eBay gonna do anything about this?

soolin

Myyrrddyn wrote: »

Hi there everyone, I like many experience a large amount of sales over the Xmas period. But this year it went ballistic. As has all the people saying where is my item. I have proof of postings but have to wait the 15 working days and with some items that takes me well into next year to claim. Unfortunately customers want better than that and want either a replacement or a full refund. And of course this will affect peoples feedback and DSR's to me.
Any one else in the same boat?
And is eBay gonna do anything about this?

What can ebay do, they are not responsible for RM.

If you are experiencing an abnormal level of losses then there has to be an issue and it may pay you to spend a little time working out what has gone wrong. Maybe change your packaging or your address styling for instance. If you are talking about a significant percentage then maybe talk to RM especially if it is all one sort of item that is going astray.

Several Christmasses ago I lost a lot of items, all the same thing - Afghan coats. I got in touch with RM and they were very helpful, we tried varying how i packed them, they added numbers to my parcels so I could tell them where they were posted and at what time and when they arrived. It took a few days of 6am phone calls every day from a great RM guy in Glasgow and they eventually said they had an issue with a certain sorting office local to me in London. They paid out for all my losses and gave me additional compensation for my co operation.

I have had one loss so far this Christmas. I paid out early as I was going on holiday and have already received positive feedback . There is never any need if you handle it ell to risk a neg, I didn't even get a single neutral with my afghan coat fiasco.

grunnie

I got a negative and very bad feedback and also bad follow up feedback from a buyer as she had to go to the delivery offfice to collect her item as she wasn't in when it arrived. :rotfl:Along with 17 emails from her which got worse and worse as I didn't reply to them . She has now reported me to ebay. ( for what I am not sure).All this on Xmas eve.

Crowqueen

You need to handle buyers politely and considerately. The only cases in which I have left negative or neutral feedback is when communication has been poor.

If you are making your customers wait, particularly over Christmas, then don't bother. Refund them and claim. It's not your fault, nor is it even eBay's, but people have been jumpy because they want the money to buy presents. If you communicate properly, and refund when appropriate, you won't end up with half the number of negs you will get if you stonewall people and refuse to refund until you've claimed from RM - which could take a long time even when you can submit the claim.

chancesare_2

I concur with Soolin. I send all my mail tracked (not recorded) and I have about a dozen parcels still being processed at Plymouth. They have been there since 6, 7 and 13th.

I have only had to refund one, as the buyer was going away. I have offered a couple of £5 off vouchers for future purchases, for people who genuinely needed their item before Xmas. So far, have had glowing feedback, even from those still waiting. Probably because I am updating them regularly, and letting them know that they will not lose out.

It's down to how you handle a situation rather than how someone else does. It's not Ebay's fault. It's not Royal Mail's fault. It's a situation, but one that can be resolved.

Crowqueen

It's not Royal Mail's fault.

RM haven't exactly covered themselves in glory though.

pseudopensioner

I'm neither a huge seller nor a huge buyer and to date have only experienced one problem for buying and one for selling.

Buying, I gave it over ten days and following non receipt I phoned them, they had 'forgotten' my order! Following profuse apologies, they then despatched the item immediately. Their feedback from others indicated that this was indeed an exeptional error and I felt no need to give negative feedback. We are all human and lapses do happen.

As a seller I have had one buyer claim non receipt after 4 working days (2nd class post) if I remember correctly. Their communication indicated that they were not prepared to wait and I refunded them within 7 days of payment and despatch.They left positive feedback and I claimed from RM for the 'lost' item.

Ebay and PayPal may appear to favour the buyer in disputes, but providing the seller has adhered to all required elements, then they can claim funds or returned goods back by following RM/Courier procedures re trackable sources.

Appropriate postage/despatch method (depending upon value of item) and obtaining/retaining proof of same seems to be the safest and most sensible way to proceed with sales.

Just as a buyer cannot guarantee the honesty or reliability of the seller, the same applies to sellers and buyers.

martindow

Crowqueen wrote: »

It's not Royal Mail's fault.

RM haven't exactly covered themselves in glory though.

I would say RM handled it far better than some carriers who completely abandoned deliveries to Scotland. Of course there were delays but what would you expect?

I think Christmas is always a difficult time - people are far less reasonable when they have a deadline for delivery (regardless of how late they chose to order).

Myyrrddyn

I have sent several emails out to customers asking them to contact me if they had a problem, this was done after the 1st spate of bad weather.
On the second one I added emails to everyone saying there may be a delay due to bad weather and Xmas postal rush.
I also sent emails telling customers from the 18th Dec onwards that I have upgraded everyone's post from second class to 1st class, and 1st class to 1st class signed for.
Over Xmas people where emailing me to ask where there item was. I have replied to these saying if not there by Todays post please let me know.
Then you get the idiots who give negative feedback and also say bad comunication, they only ordered on the 23rd, and I posted out on the 24th early in the morning.
I think I have kept my customers uptodate. Everything i send I have a proof of postage etc.
I think contacting Royal Mail may be my next port of call.

Strapped

chancesare wrote: »

I concur with Soolin. I send all my mail tracked (not recorded) and I have about a dozen parcels still being processed at Plymouth. They have been there since 6, 7 and 13th.

I have only had to refund one, as the buyer was going away. I have offered a couple of £5 off vouchers for future purchases, for people who genuinely needed their item before Xmas. So far, have had glowing feedback, even from those still waiting. Probably because I am updating them regularly, and letting them know that they will not lose out.

It's down to how you handle a situation rather than how someone else does. It's not Ebay's fault. It's not Royal Mail's fault. It's a situation, but one that can be resolved.

Slightly O/T - but if you mean the Plympton office, I can confirm that the offending backlog was sorted on the 24th...:D

soolin

martindow wrote: »

I would say RM handled it far better than some carriers who completely abandoned deliveries to Scotland. Of course there were delays but what would you expect?

I think Christmas is always a difficult time - people are far less reasonable when they have a deadline for delivery (regardless of how late they chose to order).

I agree I have had no issues at all with my RM post here and apart from one loss that I refunded on day 5 have had no other enquries. Contrast that to the courier company 4 miles away who would not deliver my item due to snow (even though we had none) and when I tried to go and collect it I was told I couldn't as it needed to have an attempt at delivery before I could collect.

I cannot praise RM enough here.