Thursday, July 30, 2009

What if a package gets lost?

In my last post, I quoted eBay's new policy on insurance:
The insurance option creates the perception that buyers need to purchase shipping insurance as a protection on eBay, an experience they're not accustomed to on other ecommerce sites. In fact, sellers have always been responsible for their items until they arrive safely in their customers' hands. That's why shipping insurance will no longer be included in the purchase flow as either an option or requirement for buyers.
I then made the following statements:
Many sellers are upset about this. The sellers that are upset are the ones who think that they are not responsible when the buyer does not receive the merchandise. If you are one of those people, consider this: When you buy from Amazon and do not receive the item, do you expect Amazon to reply, "We are not responsible for items not received. Once the item leaves our warehouse, we cannot guarantee delivery. Speak to the carrier about the whereabouts of the item."? Or, do you expect Amazon to send another one at their expense? I am sure that most people would expect Amazon to send another.
This issue is getting debated at length on various message boards. No seller wants to refund a buyer's money when a package goes missing, and most sellers would always wonder whether the buyer did receive the package. This is why a seller should always use delivery confirmation.

On a side note, I am surprised at how many of my sellers still do not use PayPal shipping or delivery confirmation. With PayPal shipping, delivery confirmation is free for priority mail and much cheaper than at the post office for other services. All a seller needs is a digital scale so that the package can be weighed. Digital scales can be bought inexpensively on eBay, or at a higher price on Amazon. I bought mine on Amazon because eBay sellers normally send items like scales in bad packaging causing them to get damaged. I buy all new items anywhere other than eBay, even if I have to pay more.

To go back to delivery confirmation, it will save sellers from most scams, but it is not foolproof. I once received a neighbor's package that had delivery confirmation. If I had not given it to my neighbor, the recipient would not have received it, but the delivery confirmation would have shown it as delivered. Another time, I found a package stuck in my mailbox hours after the mail arrived. I checked the delivery confirmation online and found that it had been delivered seven hours before, but not to me. It was not a cheap purchase, either. I'm lucky my neighbor was honest enough to put it in my mailbox.

I do feel that a seller is responsible for a package until the buyer receives it (per my Amazon analogy above). I'm sure my opinion is not popular among many people reading this blog, but it is reality.

Consider this: What if you have a buyer who does not receive a package from you, and you decide not to refund the buyer's money because you are not responsible? How do you think your buyer will feel?

I can tell you exactly how your buyer will feel. A couple of years ago, I had a package go missing from a seller with whom I had had multiple previous successful transactions. Around four weeks had passed, and I had not left the seller any feedback because I did not have my purchase. This was an international transaction, so four weeks was not too long to wait.

The seller sent me a message requesting that I leave feedback and wondering if anything was wrong with my purchase. I replied, saying that I had not received the package yet, which is why I had not left feedback. The seller did apologize and hoped I would still receive my package. The seller did not offer a refund, and I did not request one. I never did receive the books.

How do I feel? I will never purchase from that seller again. I do not believe it was her fault, but she should have refunded my money. I can understand why she did not offer, since international postage is quite expensive. The problem is that I have a lingering bad feeling about her and that transaction, so I have passed on her auctions ever since that time. Think for a moment if you feel that you are not responsible. What if a package does go missing? Do you want to risk losing a customer?

I agree that when a seller packs well, then it is not the seller's fault when a package goes missing. But how does a buyer know that the seller packed well? All the buyer knows is that a purchase was made and not received. The buyer will blame the seller instead of someone else.

Should a seller refund a buyer when a package goes missing? Yes, yes, and yes. A seller never knows when a buyer may have friends who would later make purchases. It is also true that all a buyer has to do is file a PayPal claim to get their money refunded, but do you really want your buyers to do that? With the direction that eBay is going, a seller has no room to allow a buyer to file a claim when the seller can settle the problem directly. Nobody wants a black mark on their record, besides the fact that the buyer will have a bad feeling about the seller.

3 comments:

Series Books said...

Jennifer,
Buying a postage scale is only necessary if paying for Delivery Confirmation online.

However, mailers (sellers) also have the option of downloading USPS Shipping Asst, software. This has more features than the web-based USPS Click-N-Ship. You have the option to use a scale and pay & print postage, or to print a shipping label and pay at the counter (that is, it's weighed and paid for at the post office). You still get the benefit of the (much) discounted Delivery Confirmation.

As far as missing or mis-delivered packages, for those having Delivery Confirmation the best two options are:
(1) to call the USPS 800 number and have them run a trace on the package;
(2) call the destination post office, ask to speak with the Delivery Supervisor, provide the DC number and have them check with the specific Letter Carrier for that route.

They can do a retrieval for a mis-delivery. Trust me, I know !!

Paula said...

I couldn't agree with you more. Today, I bought a small lot of books on ebay. The seller had provided only calculated Parcel Post as the shipping method, but indicated very clearly in the description that shipping would be a flat rate of $5.00. The Parcel Post cost was about double that price for my zip code. I asked for an invoice w/ the $5.00 S&H, and when I received it, the seller sent me a note saying "Hello, if you do not want the insurance please realize loss or damage is not my responsibility. Thanks for your purchase." What a turn off! I immediately resolved never to do business with this person again. I paid right away like I always do, but this really takes the fun out of it and makes me worry that, if something should go wrong, I will have problems resolving the issue with this seller. This seller also did not really understand how to use ebay I guess, because he complained in the description that the shipping was a flat $5.00 media mail no matter what the ebay calculator says, because there was no way he could send this for the $4.00 shipping fee that ebay was requiring. I've seen this comment before, and I have no idea what they are talking about.

Jennifer White said...

"Hello, if you do not want the insurance please realize loss or damage is not my responsibility. Thanks for your purchase."

Absolutely the worst thing a seller can do is tell a buyer that it is the buyer's fault when something goes wrong, if the buyer does not purchase insurance. The seller may not realize it, but claiming no responsibility puts the responsibility squarely on the buyer, and the buyer has no control over how well the seller packages.

This seller also did not really understand how to use ebay I guess, because he complained in the description that the shipping was a flat $5.00 media mail no matter what the ebay calculator says, because there was no way he could send this for the $4.00 shipping fee that ebay was requiring.

I've seen that sort of thing quite a few times in the last year. The seller is referring to the $4.00 flat rate shipping cap in the media category. All sellers have to do is use calculated shipping, and they can make the results come out as high as they need. Many sellers do not understand that they can use the shipping calculator.

I have also run across quite a few sellers who do not know how to send a combined invoice. They say that they combine shipping, but they fail to do it in the invoices.

These problems may in part be eBay's fault for having an interface which is difficult to use.