Ebay so called Simple Delivery and Buyer Protection. Double Jeopardy?

4ferfer

Further to my previous post, I opened an 'item not delivered' case against the eBay item today as the expected delivery date had expired. It gave me the option of ticking a box to indicate whether I required a refund or if I still wanted the item.
I ticked the latter box and in the comments box I clearly stated that the item is still awaiting collection from the sellers address. On submitting the case, a confirmation message popped up stating that they will investigate and email me with their findings.
And lo and behold, I immediately received an email stating that they're sorry that my item is delayed and may be lost in transit. We understand this is disappointing. Your order is covered by our money back guarantee, and so we’ve issued you a full refund. If you still receive the item, there’s nothing else you need to do. You may keep the refund and the item.
So if the item is collected tomorrow by the courier and I receive it in a few days time, I'll be getting it completely free and the seller will still receive the money because eBay obviously didn't even bother to read my comments which explained exactly why the item has not been delivered. 
Now you can't get a better outcome than that.
It's quite satisfying to think that eBay are willing to pay such a high price for their own ineptitude.

4ferfer

TimeLord1 said:

swingaloo said:

The new 'Simple deliver' has several advantages for the seller. I incorporate the cost of packaging into the starting price of my items. 
Its a much better system for the sellers. I have had one item that was not delivered on time and the buyer got a refund at no cost to me. The item was later delivered so the buyer got the item free and I lost nothing.

What if they decided to leave negative feedback are eBay going to be responsible for removing it?

Reading up I believe you would have to request eBay to remove it.  Sounds fair but you shouldn't have to request it's removal if the system stopped it.

This very scenario has just happened to me as a buyer. I reported the item not delivered and received an immediate email from eBay apologising for the delay and suggesting that it may have got lost in transit. They are arranging for me to be refunded in full within 2 days and they said that I can keep the item if it turns up. The seller will have been paid so it works well for them too. If I do receive the item in the next few days, I won't mind leaving positive feedback for the seller because I will have received the item for free.

soolin

4ferfer said:

As an eBay buyer, I'm currently having a very frustrating experience with eBay's expensive but very poor Simple Delivery Service, and the seller is just as frustrated as I am.
I purchased an item 8 days ago and the expected delivery date shown was between 30/10 & 5/11 (today).
The seller wasn't happy as they normally post items within 24 hours but had no option but to wait for eBay to send the necessary labels which took 3 days to arrive. To make matters worse, the seller was then unable to contact the courier to arrange for collection (their telephone line was constantly engaged and they failed to respond to a message sent to them on their website with the promised 24 hour period). 
Meanwhile, I received an email from the courier on 2/11 with a tracking number and advising that delivery would be made on 6/11 (a day late). However, the tracking details are showing that they were unable to collect the item on 3/11 because the premises were closed, and that collection was refused on 4/11.
I messaged the seller on eBay and they advised that they waited in all day on 3/11 but nobody turned up to collect the item and that they were not at the premises on 4/11 because they had to go out to work. 
The seller also stated that they finally contacted the courier on 4/11 to re-arrange delivery and were told that the item would be collected today (5th), but again no collection was made, so the seller rang them again this afternoon and they apologised and said that they will collect it tomorrow.
As the buyer, this is simply unacceptable as all that I can do is report the item undelivered. I then have to wait another three days before I can request eBay to investigate the matter on my behalf.
The 30 day buyer protection allows me to cancel the order and get my money back, but neither myself or the seller want this to happen.
I live 300 miles away from the seller, otherwise I'd bloody well collect it myself, but why should I when I've paid eBay to arrange delivery direct to my door?
The seller has kindly offered to take the item to the couriers premises if they fail to collect it tomorrow, so hopefully I will receive it sometime early next week, but I'm very unhappy with eBay's so-called Simple Delivery Service and as a result of this fiasco, I will never buy or sell another item on eBay which forced me to rely on this poor service.

I suspect your seller was not telling you the truth. Labels are generated as soon as someone pays, there is no wait for them to be generates, there is sometimes on Vinted but not on eBay.

Also the only couriers on SD are RM where collection is arranged when generating labels, not afterwards, or Evri where I can’t see any collection options possible. 

Are you sure the seller hasn’t ignored the SD label and is trying to send this themselves? 

molerat

4ferfer said:

Further to my previous post, I opened an 'item not delivered' case against the eBay item today as the expected delivery date had expired. It gave me the option of ticking a box to indicate whether I required a refund or if I still wanted the item.
I ticked the latter box and in the comments box I clearly stated that the item is still awaiting collection from the sellers address. On submitting the case, a confirmation message popped up stating that they will investigate and email me with their findings.
And lo and behold, I immediately received an email stating that they're sorry that my item is delayed and may be lost in transit. We understand this is disappointing. Your order is covered by our money back guarantee, and so we’ve issued you a full refund. If you still receive the item, there’s nothing else you need to do. You may keep the refund and the item.
So if the item is collected tomorrow by the courier and I receive it in a few days time, I'll be getting it completely free and the seller will still receive the money because eBay obviously didn't even bother to read my comments which explained exactly why the item has not been delivered. 
Now you can't get a better outcome than that.
It's quite satisfying to think that eBay are willing to pay such a high price for their own ineptitude.

I had the same experience, I had not closed the screen from making the INR claim when the refund message popped up.  Item was delivered next day.

swingaloo

I had similar when I sold an item which was delayed in transit despite me posting the same day as payment. The buyer got the item free and I was still paid so Simple Delivery worked fine for both of us. 

However, the buyer in your case would have had instant access to the label as soon as you paid so someone is telling you porkies.

steveE2

soolin said:

4ferfer said:

As an eBay buyer, I'm currently having a very frustrating experience with eBay's expensive but very poor Simple Delivery Service, and the seller is just as frustrated as I am.
I purchased an item 8 days ago and the expected delivery date shown was between 30/10 & 5/11 (today).
The seller wasn't happy as they normally post items within 24 hours but had no option but to wait for eBay to send the necessary labels which took 3 days to arrive. To make matters worse, the seller was then unable to contact the courier to arrange for collection (their telephone line was constantly engaged and they failed to respond to a message sent to them on their website with the promised 24 hour period). 
Meanwhile, I received an email from the courier on 2/11 with a tracking number and advising that delivery would be made on 6/11 (a day late). However, the tracking details are showing that they were unable to collect the item on 3/11 because the premises were closed, and that collection was refused on 4/11.
I messaged the seller on eBay and they advised that they waited in all day on 3/11 but nobody turned up to collect the item and that they were not at the premises on 4/11 because they had to go out to work. 
The seller also stated that they finally contacted the courier on 4/11 to re-arrange delivery and were told that the item would be collected today (5th), but again no collection was made, so the seller rang them again this afternoon and they apologised and said that they will collect it tomorrow.
As the buyer, this is simply unacceptable as all that I can do is report the item undelivered. I then have to wait another three days before I can request eBay to investigate the matter on my behalf.
The 30 day buyer protection allows me to cancel the order and get my money back, but neither myself or the seller want this to happen.
I live 300 miles away from the seller, otherwise I'd bloody well collect it myself, but why should I when I've paid eBay to arrange delivery direct to my door?
The seller has kindly offered to take the item to the couriers premises if they fail to collect it tomorrow, so hopefully I will receive it sometime early next week, but I'm very unhappy with eBay's so-called Simple Delivery Service and as a result of this fiasco, I will never buy or sell another item on eBay which forced me to rely on this poor service.

I suspect your seller was not telling you the truth. Labels are generated as soon as someone pays, there is no wait for them to be generates, there is sometimes on Vinted but not on eBay.

Also the only couriers on SD are RM where collection is arranged when generating labels, not afterwards, or Evri where I can’t see any collection options possible. 

Are you sure the seller hasn’t ignored the SD label and is trying to send this themselves? 

No longer true, eBay now use DHL for large  items and there are numerous reports on the boards of failed collections.

@4ferfer if DHL were the carrier, seller cannot drop off at depot as it will be refused as it's a collection only service even though they have failed to collect

savergrant

It would be useful to know what the item (size, weight, value) is? Is it definitely simple delivery?

RedImp_2

Also surprised to see it described as expensive, as far as I can see prices are generally lower than if you tried to source directly?