Sellers now able to change estimated delivery date after purchase

Debbie9009

Not sure if this is a new thing or if I’ve just never had it happen before.

Purchased an item on 20th Oct with an estimated delivery date of 1st-2nd Nov, a couple of days after I purchased the estimated delivery date changed to 2-3rd Dec which I wasn’t happy with, and wouldn’t have purchased if that had been the date shown when I made the purchase.

On the 29th Oct the item still hadn’t been dispatched so I requested a cancellation, the seller declined this on the 30th Oct saying it had been despatched.  It stil hasn’t arrived and it still marked as waiting to be dispatched still with an estimated date of 2-3rd Dec, so I’m not able to do an INR, so I contacted the seller by eBay message and said it must have either been lost or not yet dispatched and could they please refund, as the delivery estimate is now Dec and that is too long to wait.  They told me the delivery was now December due to being away for work and they would look into what has happened with the skirt.  If I don’t hear back by Monday I will contact eBay and ask them to step in.  The skirt is still showing as not dispatched.

I wasn’t aware sellers could change the delivery date, and this really puts me off buying anything else from eBay.  Unless it’s a glitch, the reason I am so sure I have the original date correct is because I was away until the 31st Oct so checked the date carefully to make sure I would be back.

soolin

Sellers can’t change the delivery date, either it changed between you checking out the listing and actually buying it, or it’s some sort of very strange one off glitch. 

Due to the extra long delivery estimate I might be tempted to take this one up with eBay and explain that the wait is too long, item hasn’t been sent and seller won’t consider a cancellation. It might be worth a try. 

Debbie9009

I did think it was a bit strange, maybe it did change between me checking the listing and buying, that does seem the most likely explanation, and that I just didn’t notice until a couple of days later.

i’ll give the seller the weekend, and if I don’t hear anything further, I’ll try contacting eBay.

forgotmyname

Does the seller have more than 1 item for sale?  Thought the same a few times, checking the delivery dates it shows 4 or 5 days away
where I thought it was due for delivery sooner. Checking properly showed they had another identical item listed.

Murphybear

I buy loads of stuff from eBay.  A recent purchase showed this 

“Running behind, original estimate was Mon 4 Nov - Wed 6 Nov”.  I was then told it would be delivered on 7th November.  It’s now 9th, no sign yet.  

So it looks as if the seller has changed the date.  

We live in sheltered housing.  There’s always someone around to take post in or the court manager will keep it for us if we are away.  In 7 years I’ve never had an item going missing.  

noitsnotme

Murphybear said:

I buy loads of stuff from eBay.  A recent purchase showed this 

“Running behind, original estimate was Mon 4 Nov - Wed 6 Nov”.  I was then told it would be delivered on 7th November.  It’s now 9th, no sign yet.  

So it looks as if the seller has changed the date.  

We live in sheltered housing.  There’s always someone around to take post in or the court manager will keep it for us if we are away.  In 7 years I’ve never had an item going missing.  

Sellers can’t change the date for an order that has already been dispatched.  There is nowhere in the dashboard that allows this.

The date is possibly changing based on tracking information that eBay’s system is automatically monitoring.

You have to remember they are ‘estimated’ dates, they are not promises.  All postal services see occasional delays, some worse than others.  And it’s that time of year when volumes start to increase in the lead up to Christmas causing more delays than usual.

noitsnotme

Debbie9009 said:

I did think it was a bit strange, maybe it did change between me checking the listing and buying, that does seem the most likely explanation, and that I just didn’t notice until a couple of days later.

i’ll give the seller the weekend, and if I don’t hear anything further, I’ll try contacting eBay.

Are you looking at the estimated delivery date on the listing or for your specific order in your order page?

The date on the listing will change daily but that does not relate to an order already placed.

soolin

Murphybear said:

I buy loads of stuff from eBay.  A recent purchase showed this 

“Running behind, original estimate was Mon 4 Nov - Wed 6 Nov”.  I was then told it would be delivered on 7th November.  It’s now 9th, no sign yet.  

So it looks as if the seller has changed the date.  

We live in sheltered housing.  There’s always someone around to take post in or the court manager will keep it for us if we are away.  In 7 years I’ve never had an item going missing.  

As has been said that hasn’t technically changed the date, the date on the original listings is unchanged but either seller shipped late or there’s an issue with the postage method, hence the message about it being ‘late’. 

Debbie9009

I’m looking at the item I have purchased in my order page, and it also hasn’t been marked as dispatched yet.  I think the most likely explanation if that the seller changed the dates on their listing just before I clicked to buy so I didn’t see the update.  I am a little frustrated that it still hasn’t been dispatched and the seller is refusing to cancel and refund.  I can’t open a INR because the estimated delivery hasn’t passed yet.

i think the best thing for my to do is to try and contact eBay on Monday.

noitsnotme

Debbie9009 said:

I’m looking at the item I have purchased in my order page, and it also hasn’t been marked as dispatched yet.  I think the most likely explanation if that the seller changed the dates on their listing just before I clicked to buy so I didn’t see the update.  I am a little frustrated that it still hasn’t been dispatched and the seller is refusing to cancel and refund.  I can’t open a INR because the estimated delivery hasn’t passed yet.

i think the best thing for my to do is to try and contact eBay on Monday.

The seller can’t directly change the date.  The date is determined by the handling time the seller sets and the postage option they choose.

I think what has happened in your case is the seller has switched on holiday mode between you noticing the original date and clicking to buy.  With holiday mode they set a date for their return but can choose to keep the listings visible and buyable.  That would explain a month added to the original delivery date you saw.

If you look at their listings now is there a message at the top that says something like “this seller is away”?

That would mean they probably haven’t dispatched it yet so should be able to cancel.  Something isn’t quite right.

soolin

Murphybear said:

I buy loads of stuff from eBay.  A recent purchase showed this 

“Running behind, original estimate was Mon 4 Nov - Wed 6 Nov”.  I was then told it would be delivered on 7th November.  It’s now 9th, no sign yet.  

So it looks as if the seller has changed the date.  

We live in sheltered housing.  There’s always someone around to take post in or the court manager will keep it for us if we are away.  In 7 years I’ve never had an item going missing.  

Further to this I have just had an INR case opened for an item sent well within my despatch time, and only sent on the 7th 2nd class. If I now check the order history it says 
'Running behind, original estimate was Thu 7 Nov - Sat 9 Nov'

so the original estimate was actually within the despatch date- I didn't even have to despatch it until the 8th . I changed nothing at all, item was sent on the 7th and is now apparently 'late' whereas RM would not even consider it overdue until at least 11th or 12th.