How do you deal with buyers on eBay etc. who have unrealistic expectations about postage times?

DisablednProud

Recently have had a few buyers chasing up items, and even opening cases, because their items are a day later than the eBay 'expected delivery' time. I am really not sure what to do here, as it feels like people are too used to Amazon Prime next day delivery and expect me to offer the same speed of service.

I post everything on the same day, and I also offer 1st class postage for a tiny extra fee at checkout (like 20p extra), which nobody ever chooses to buy, but yet still come and complain at me when their 2nd class item is a day or two late. Things are out of my control after posting, and it's really frustrating when people bug me about items being 1 day past the expected delivery time, like what if your purpose of messaging me, I've obviously posted it, what am I expected to do here, and what is the message/case supposed to achieve, beyond wasting everyone's time?

I'm wondering if I should intentionally wait 5 days before marking items as dispatched so that eBay doesn't give buyers such unrealistic expectations. Royal Mail 2nd class definitely does not take '2-3 days' anymore, it takes closer to a week on average, from my experience.

jeffuk

You can extend your Dispatch Time by a couple of days to give yourself a bit of breathing space.

TripleH

When I have had a buyer query about an item not delivered, I tell them unfortunately I have to wait x days (sorry can't remember the correct date) before it is classed as lost by the courier.

I then say if they haven't received their item by whatever date that is, to come back to me and I will refund it straight away and claim as lost.

Even for the rare times an item gas gone lost, the buyer has never come back and argued or complained about that.

I am friendly, polite and apologetic about their inconvenience because that's all you can be.

I had an item get mislaid in the post, did the above and refunded the buyer, then the item turned up and the buyer contacted me to pay for it. Fortunately I hadn't finished my claim with royal mail so got paid and was able to cancel my claim.

soolin

TripleH said:

When I have had a buyer query about an item not delivered, I tell them unfortunately I have to wait x days (sorry can't remember the correct date) before it is classed as lost by the courier.

I then say if they haven't received their item by whatever date that is, to come back to me and I will refund it straight away and claim as lost.

Even for the rare times an item gas gone lost, the buyer has never come back and argued or complained about that.

I am friendly, polite and apologetic about their inconvenience because that's all you can be.

I had an item get mislaid in the post, did the above and refunded the buyer, then the item turned up and the buyer contacted me to pay for it. Fortunately I hadn't finished my claim with royal mail so got paid and was able to cancel my claim.

You must have nicer buyers than me, mine would never wait for a full RM claim- in fact many just go straight to an INR (not that I actually have that many ). I do get a few ‘where is my item’ emails usually the day after postage, and I just keep it really friendly and tell them when it was posted and when it is likely (hopefully) to arrive. 

Occasionally I get a very early INR opened , way before any realistic buyer would expect to get their item, but they are easily managed as I just phone ebay as soon as I get delivery confirmation and get the case closed. 

I have a 2 day dispatch showing but ship same or next day just to give myself some wiggle room. 

DisablednProud

@soolin yeah I had someone last week open an INR case a couple days after expected delivery on a 2nd class signed for parcel ... it's so frustrating, and I'm worried if affects my seller status on the site having cases opened against me. The tracking showed the item arrived the next day, so it was a total of 6 days to arrive. They still haven't closed the case either. 

I think I'm going to do as others suggested and basically extend dispatch time by 5 days, dispatch it, and then mark it as dispatched 5 days later, to allow extra time and prevent people from opening cases for no reason.

I try to be as polite as possible, but it's extremely frustrating and annoying, particularly when they are a rude and demanding. I had someone who was just like: 'eBay said it would arrive on the 18th and I was waiting all day' which really frustrated me as I feel people think it's like Amazon where delivery dates are exact.

TripleH

Soolin, it may be down to being a private rather than business seller (or luck).

red_boots2

I switched to using Packlink (hermes) as believe it or not it is actually cheaper and more reliable than RM at the moment... Tend to find things are arriving well within the expected date, although I am sure that will change!

Pollycat

I've had no issues with Royal Mail.

I have a 3 day despatch notice on all my listings but I schedule most of my listings to end on Saturday early evening.
This gives the remainder of Saturday and Sunday for the buyer to pay and for me to pack up the parcel. I usually post on Mondays so well within my timeline.

I posted something small parcel 2nd class on Friday 24/9 at 15:25 and the buyer has already left feedback for me. (It was a best offer/bid listing so ended early).

neverlikedpeas

I send a photo of the proof of posting is someone asks where their item is.This eliminates any doubts they might have that they haven't received the item because it hasn't been posted

Thrugelmir

After issues in the early days of running an online shop. I started to send everything by signed for second class post. Meant that there was a way for buyers to monitor the status of their parcel.  

FluffityBunny

I changed my dispatch time to 4 days but post next day (or quite often same day) and have had more sales, it gives a bit more leeway if RM have delays.  Buyers are usually surprised at how quickly they receive their items when Ebay have said it would arrive later.