Why the new eBay feedback system stinks: a real life story

On Jul 19, 1:27*am, "Arnie Quarry" wrote:
"Voltronicus" wrote in message

If Resistered Mail is so secure, why the need to insure it?

There isn't any need to insure it, moron. *Registered mail is insured....

So it IS insured, right?

On Jul 19, 9:34*am, Harry Smith wrote:
Voltronicus wrote :





On Jul 18, 9:59*pm, "Nick Knight" wrote:
In , on 07/18/2008
* *at 11:53 AM, tony cooper said:

Who has said that registered mail parcels need to be insured?

They are insured by default, to a point, I believe. *I think you have
t
o pay
more for additional insurance, but I don't know the particulars.

What, do you really think it's impossible for the post office to
lose/dam
age
a parcel simply because it's registered? *I wonder if there are
statist
ics
somewhere. *But you know it's happened, right?

Registered mail for an $1100 coin is overkill, akin to cracking open a
peanut with a sledgehammer.
Insured Priority Mail with sig required and delivery confirmation will
get the job done more quickly and less expensively.
You bozos go on like the USPS loses every package you ever sent.

Volt...

What is the issue here? *It's certinaly true that some sellers choose
overkill shipping methods and overcharge for regular shipping, but this
particular case clearly does not illustrate that. *In this case, if you
review the initial posting, the value was $1300. *Assuming a one pound
package, the difference in cost for Priority Mail and Registered Mail, each
with $1300 insurance, is forty cents ($18.90 for Priority Mail and $19.30
for Registered). *What's the problem???

The issue was one of speed.
Registered mail is slow.
Insured Priority mail is usually pretty quick.

On Jul 17, 7:51*pm, LRC-Tom wrote:
A guy won two auctions totalling about $1300, and paid me on July 3.
My shipping charge was $11.00 for the two coins. * I shipped them 7/5,
USPS Registered Mail, insured for $1300: *shipping cost $15.84.

We live on opposite ends of the country..there's some distance
involved in this shipment. *I get an irate e-mail on 7/9, upset that
he hasn't received the coins yet, says he has a coin club meeting
coming up and wants people's opinions on the coins. *I write back
indicating when it was sent and by what means, and he's doubly upset
that (1) I hadn't shipped it on July 4 (umm...think about that for a
minute, buddy) and (2) that I hadn't shipped by Express Mail (which he
hadn't requested or offered to pay for).

Things proceed, and unfortunately for both of us, this turns into a
case where the shipment is hung up somewhere in the USPS system, 12
days later. *The USPS tracker only shows that I sent the shipment
7/5; *no further transfers show on their system. * I've sent the
customer two apologetic e-mails, trying to explain that Registered
Mail is the most secure method of shipment but also the slowest. *And
also talked to USPS, to no avail...they claim to have no more
information available than I do through the Internet tracker.
Meanwhile, the customer has continued to insist that I should have
sent Express Mail.

And now I have a PayPal complaint and an eBay "Neutral", where future
customers are told that they can expect shipments to take 2 weeks, and
no e-mail responses from me. * Feedback to which I cannot respond
through the new eBay system.

I suppose I should be thrilled to death that I got a "Neutral" and not
a "Negative". *But...I was kind of proud of my 1106/0/0.

This customer is clearly...."one of those guys..." *everyone in every
business has dealt with difficult people. *But now, with the eBay
system as it is, I have no way to present my side of this silly story,
or inform other sellers that this is a buyer to be wary of.

For buyers, the new feedback system allows inaccurate and unfair
accusations. *For sellers, the system allows no opportunity to present
"the other side of the coin." *This stinks. *Don't you agree?

...Tom

You should feel free to leave a response to your customer's feedback.
You should also look into insured express mail. It is often cheaper
than first class registered or insured for high dollar items. You
shouldn't send registered unless the customer requests it. As you
point out, it is annoyingly slow. As a customer, I wouldn't expect
registered mail unless you specifically mentioned it in the auction.

On Jul 20, 2:46*pm, bgg wrote:
On Jul 17, 7:51*pm, LRC-Tom wrote:



A guy won two auctions totalling about $1300, and paid me on July 3.
My shipping charge was $11.00 for the two coins. * I shipped them 7/5,
USPS Registered Mail, insured for $1300: *shipping cost $15.84.

We live on opposite ends of the country..there's some distance
involved in this shipment. *I get an irate e-mail on 7/9, upset that
he hasn't received the coins yet, says he has a coin club meeting
coming up and wants people's opinions on the coins. *I write back
indicating when it was sent and by what means, and he's doubly upset
that (1) I hadn't shipped it on July 4 (umm...think about that for a
minute, buddy) and (2) that I hadn't shipped by Express Mail (which he
hadn't requested or offered to pay for).

Things proceed, and unfortunately for both of us, this turns into a
case where the shipment is hung up somewhere in the USPS system, 12
days later. *The USPS tracker only shows that I sent the shipment
7/5; *no further transfers show on their system. * I've sent the
customer two apologetic e-mails, trying to explain that Registered
Mail is the most secure method of shipment but also the slowest. *And
also talked to USPS, to no avail...they claim to have no more
information available than I do through the Internet tracker.
Meanwhile, the customer has continued to insist that I should have
sent Express Mail.

And now I have a PayPal complaint and an eBay "Neutral", where future
customers are told that they can expect shipments to take 2 weeks, and
no e-mail responses from me. * Feedback to which I cannot respond
through the new eBay system.

I suppose I should be thrilled to death that I got a "Neutral" and not
a "Negative". *But...I was kind of proud of my 1106/0/0.

This customer is clearly...."one of those guys..." *everyone in every
business has dealt with difficult people. *But now, with the eBay
system as it is, I have no way to present my side of this silly story,
or inform other sellers that this is a buyer to be wary of.

For buyers, the new feedback system allows inaccurate and unfair
accusations. *For sellers, the system allows no opportunity to present
"the other side of the coin." *This stinks. *Don't you agree?

...Tom

You should feel free to leave a response to your customer's feedback.
You should also look into insured express mail. *It is often cheaper
than first class registered or insured for high dollar items. *You
shouldn't send registered unless the customer requests it. *As you
point out, it is annoyingly slow. *As a customer, I wouldn't expect
registered mail unless you specifically mentioned it in the auction.

Bad choice except for speed. Express mail now has a base charge of
About $15 vs $10 for Registered mail. Express mail incl. only $100
worth of insurance and there is about $1.00 charge for each additional
$100 worth
of insurance. Plus, there's a $5000 limit for Express mail vs $25,000
for Registered. Each
increment for Registered mail insurance is MUCH cheaper than any other
type of insurance. if I send out a coin worth $2000, insured Experss
mail
would cost about twice as much, and customers would tell bloody murder
about the charges.

Ira

Ira wrote:
On Jul 20, 2:46 pm, bgg wrote:
On Jul 17, 7:51 pm, LRC-Tom wrote:



A guy won two auctions totalling about $1300, and paid me on July 3.
My shipping charge was $11.00 for the two coins. I shipped them 7/5,
USPS Registered Mail, insured for $1300: shipping cost $15.84.

We live on opposite ends of the country..there's some distance
involved in this shipment. I get an irate e-mail on 7/9, upset that
he hasn't received the coins yet, says he has a coin club meeting
coming up and wants people's opinions on the coins. I write back
indicating when it was sent and by what means, and he's doubly upset
that (1) I hadn't shipped it on July 4 (umm...think about that for a
minute, buddy) and (2) that I hadn't shipped by Express Mail (which
he hadn't requested or offered to pay for).

Things proceed, and unfortunately for both of us, this turns into a
case where the shipment is hung up somewhere in the USPS system, 12
days later. The USPS tracker only shows that I sent the shipment
7/5; no further transfers show on their system. I've sent the
customer two apologetic e-mails, trying to explain that Registered
Mail is the most secure method of shipment but also the slowest. And
also talked to USPS, to no avail...they claim to have no more
information available than I do through the Internet tracker.
Meanwhile, the customer has continued to insist that I should have
sent Express Mail.

And now I have a PayPal complaint and an eBay "Neutral", where
future customers are told that they can expect shipments to take 2
weeks, and no e-mail responses from me. Feedback to which I cannot
respond through the new eBay system.

I suppose I should be thrilled to death that I got a "Neutral" and
not a "Negative". But...I was kind of proud of my 1106/0/0.

This customer is clearly...."one of those guys..." everyone in every
business has dealt with difficult people. But now, with the eBay
system as it is, I have no way to present my side of this silly
story, or inform other sellers that this is a buyer to be wary of.

For buyers, the new feedback system allows inaccurate and unfair
accusations. For sellers, the system allows no opportunity to
present "the other side of the coin." This stinks. Don't you agree?

...Tom

You should feel free to leave a response to your customer's feedback.
You should also look into insured express mail. It is often cheaper
than first class registered or insured for high dollar items. You
shouldn't send registered unless the customer requests it. As you
point out, it is annoyingly slow. As a customer, I wouldn't expect
registered mail unless you specifically mentioned it in the auction.

Bad choice except for speed. Express mail now has a base charge of
About $15 vs $10 for Registered mail. Express mail incl. only $100
worth of insurance and there is about $1.00 charge for each additional
$100 worth
of insurance. Plus, there's a $5000 limit for Express mail vs $25,000
for Registered. Each
increment for Registered mail insurance is MUCH cheaper than any other
type of insurance. if I send out a coin worth $2000, insured Experss
mail
would cost about twice as much, and customers would tell bloody murder
about the charges.

Chris Victor-McCawley sends out virtually all of his coppers via overnight
express mail. Some years back I even took delivery of one on a Sunday
morning!

James

On Jul 20, 4:00*pm, "Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote:
Ira wrote:
On Jul 20, 2:46 pm, bgg wrote:
On Jul 17, 7:51 pm, LRC-Tom wrote:

A guy won two auctions totalling about $1300, and paid me on July 3.
My shipping charge was $11.00 for the two coins. I shipped them 7/5,
USPS Registered Mail, insured for $1300: shipping cost $15.84.

We live on opposite ends of the country..there's some distance
involved in this shipment. I get an irate e-mail on 7/9, upset that
he hasn't received the coins yet, says he has a coin club meeting
coming up and wants people's opinions on the coins. I write back
indicating when it was sent and by what means, and he's doubly upset
that (1) I hadn't shipped it on July 4 (umm...think about that for a
minute, buddy) and (2) that I hadn't shipped by Express Mail (which
he hadn't requested or offered to pay for).

Things proceed, and unfortunately for both of us, this turns into a
case where the shipment is hung up somewhere in the USPS system, 12
days later. The USPS tracker only shows that I sent the shipment
7/5; no further transfers show on their system. I've sent the
customer two apologetic e-mails, trying to explain that Registered
Mail is the most secure method of shipment but also the slowest. And
also talked to USPS, to no avail...they claim to have no more
information available than I do through the Internet tracker.
Meanwhile, the customer has continued to insist that I should have
sent Express Mail.

And now I have a PayPal complaint and an eBay "Neutral", where
future customers are told that they can expect shipments to take 2
weeks, and no e-mail responses from me. Feedback to which I cannot
respond through the new eBay system.

I suppose I should be thrilled to death that I got a "Neutral" and
not a "Negative". But...I was kind of proud of my 1106/0/0.

This customer is clearly...."one of those guys..." everyone in every
business has dealt with difficult people. But now, with the eBay
system as it is, I have no way to present my side of this silly
story, or inform other sellers that this is a buyer to be wary of.

For buyers, the new feedback system allows inaccurate and unfair
accusations. For sellers, the system allows no opportunity to
present "the other side of the coin." This stinks. Don't you agree?

...Tom

You should feel free to leave a response to your customer's feedback.
You should also look into insured express mail. It is often cheaper
than first class registered or insured for high dollar items. You
shouldn't send registered unless the customer requests it. As you
point out, it is annoyingly slow. As a customer, I wouldn't expect
registered mail unless you specifically mentioned it in the auction.

Bad choice except for speed. Express mail now has a base charge of
About $15 vs $10 for Registered mail. Express mail incl. only $100
worth of insurance and there is about $1.00 charge for each additional
$100 worth
of insurance. Plus, there's a $5000 limit for Express mail vs $25,000
for Registered. Each
increment for Registered mail insurance is MUCH cheaper than any other
type of insurance. if I send out a coin worth $2000, insured Experss
mail
would cost about twice as much, and customers would tell bloody murder
about the charges.

Chris Victor-McCawley sends out virtually all of his coppers via overnight
express mail. *Some years back I even took delivery of one on a Sunday
morning!

James

In all liklihood, Chris pays for private insurance that covers the
liabilty over the first $100. My comany doesn't Offer
it as part of their policy. Most of the insurance companies that off
excess insurance for Express mail have a $50,000 limit. My company
only offers excess insurance for Registered mail of $150000. That 's
more useful to me. Otherwise I'd have to use a private courier service
which is extremy expensive ( typically $600-$1500). I've often flown
to deliver such items personally when the value is signicantly over
$175,000.

Ira

On Jul 20, 4:36*pm, Ira wrote:
On Jul 20, 4:00*pm, "Mr. Jaggers" lugburzman[at]yahoo[dot]com wrote:





Ira wrote:
On Jul 20, 2:46 pm, bgg wrote:
On Jul 17, 7:51 pm, LRC-Tom wrote:

A guy won two auctions totalling about $1300, and paid me on July 3..
My shipping charge was $11.00 for the two coins. I shipped them 7/5,
USPS Registered Mail, insured for $1300: shipping cost $15.84.

We live on opposite ends of the country..there's some distance
involved in this shipment. I get an irate e-mail on 7/9, upset that
he hasn't received the coins yet, says he has a coin club meeting
coming up and wants people's opinions on the coins. I write back
indicating when it was sent and by what means, and he's doubly upset
that (1) I hadn't shipped it on July 4 (umm...think about that for a
minute, buddy) and (2) that I hadn't shipped by Express Mail (which
he hadn't requested or offered to pay for).

Things proceed, and unfortunately for both of us, this turns into a
case where the shipment is hung up somewhere in the USPS system, 12
days later. The USPS tracker only shows that I sent the shipment
7/5; no further transfers show on their system. I've sent the
customer two apologetic e-mails, trying to explain that Registered
Mail is the most secure method of shipment but also the slowest. And
also talked to USPS, to no avail...they claim to have no more
information available than I do through the Internet tracker.
Meanwhile, the customer has continued to insist that I should have
sent Express Mail.

And now I have a PayPal complaint and an eBay "Neutral", where
future customers are told that they can expect shipments to take 2
weeks, and no e-mail responses from me. Feedback to which I cannot
respond through the new eBay system.

I suppose I should be thrilled to death that I got a "Neutral" and
not a "Negative". But...I was kind of proud of my 1106/0/0.

This customer is clearly...."one of those guys..." everyone in every
business has dealt with difficult people. But now, with the eBay
system as it is, I have no way to present my side of this silly
story, or inform other sellers that this is a buyer to be wary of.

For buyers, the new feedback system allows inaccurate and unfair
accusations. For sellers, the system allows no opportunity to
present "the other side of the coin." This stinks. Don't you agree?

...Tom

You should feel free to leave a response to your customer's feedback..
You should also look into insured express mail. It is often cheaper
than first class registered or insured for high dollar items. You
shouldn't send registered unless the customer requests it. As you
point out, it is annoyingly slow. As a customer, I wouldn't expect
registered mail unless you specifically mentioned it in the auction.

Bad choice except for speed. Express mail now has a base charge of
About $15 vs $10 for Registered mail. Express mail incl. only $100
worth of insurance and there is about $1.00 charge for each additional
$100 worth
of insurance. Plus, there's a $5000 limit for Express mail vs $25,000
for Registered. Each
increment for Registered mail insurance is MUCH cheaper than any other
type of insurance. if I send out a coin worth $2000, insured Experss
mail
would cost about twice as much, and customers would tell bloody murder
about the charges.

Chris Victor-McCawley sends out virtually all of his coppers via overnight
express mail. *Some years back I even took delivery of one on a Sunday
morning!

James

In all liklihood, Chris pays for private insurance that covers the
liabilty over the first $100. My comany doesn't Offer
it as part of their policy. Most of the insurance companies that off
excess insurance for Express mail have a $50,000 limit. My company
only offers excess insurance for Registered mail of $150000. That 's
more useful to me. Otherwise I'd have to use a private courier service
which is extremy expensive ( typically $600-$1500). I've often flown
to deliver such items personally when the value is signicantly over
$175,000.

There you go again Irastein, bragging about money.
What a little tiny person you are.
Just remember, if everything else fails, hit 'em with your wallet!

On Jul 20, 11:46*am, bgg wrote:
As a customer, I wouldn't expect registered mail unless you specifically mentioned it in the auction

Why? So you can steal the merchandise and then tell the seller it
never arrived?

The forms I have had to fill out for registeration have a choice to check:
1) *with postal insurance, and 2) without postal insurance. *Checking (1)
requires me to fill in the value.

James

They've changed that form, fairly recently, I think. Now you must
fill out the value, and it's insured for that amount.

...Tom

somewhere. *But you know it's happened, right?

Registered mail for an $1100 coin is overkill, akin to cracking open a
peanut with a sledgehammer.
Insured Priority Mail with sig required and delivery confirmation will
get the job done more quickly and less expensively.
You bozos go on like the USPS loses every package you ever sent.

I've had five Insured Mail packages lost or damaged in 8 years of
doing eBay. Yes, the claims process has reimbursed me and therefore
the customers, but it's been a time-consuming hassle.

I've never had a Registered package lost or damaged, and I haven't
heard of anyone else having this happen. My policy is to send any
package over $600 in value by registered mail.

What I intend to do from now on is to let all customers know, when
they buy one of these higher-value items, that I'll be using
Registered Mail, and to expect that it may take a bit longer.

BTW, the guy (see original post) did get his package.

...Tom