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How do I track a Global Shipping parcel


Colin_McLeod
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I purchased an item nearly three weeks ago. Within a few days it had arrived at the Global Shipping centre. It has still not arrived and the seller is saying that it is up to me to chase up as he has "fulfilled his obligations" by getting my item to the GSP premises.

 

The e bay resolution centre does not give immediate help as for delayed items it gives the seller another eight days to resolve.  

 

However I did eventually get a tracking number for the GSP part of the journey but all that tells me is that my item has been in transit for 14 days but no other detail.  I am not told whether it is in Bristol or at a depot near me.  It only coming from England to Ireland!

 

Is there any way to get more detailed shipping information.  The seller can't help.

20200527_155405.jpg.a3289a777dbcd87f3135b14e2dce6831.jpg

Thanks.

Colin

 

 

Edited by Colin_McLeod
Correcting auto correct.
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You could try here but don't hold your breath

 

https://www.pitneybowes.com/uk/global-ecommerce/contact-us.html

 

Ignore what's on the right. .  Look for the small email address in the blurb on the left

 

They don't make it easy lol

 

EDIT TO ADD. . Colin tried the above email and it comes up as 'no longer monitored'

So please ignore my contribution :sorry:

 

 

Edited by Mattc6911
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Looking at the general info here... http://parcelsapp.com/en/shops/ebay and it would appear that GSP pass on packages to an appropriate courier/postal service for the final leg of their journey.   Your tracking above states Pitney Bowes as being the delivery agent, have you tried entering your tracking code here...  http://parcelsapp.com/en/carriers/pitney-bowes 

 

Maybe that could provide a more detailed breakdown?

 

If it offers any consolation, I'm shipping packages daily as part of my business, and taking Royal Mail as an example whereby many packages are taking anything up to 3-4 weeks to arrive with my customers, and many of those are sent via Royal Mail 24 or 48!  Okay, I know that's perhaps of little significance to your dilemma, but it does highlight that there are quite significant delays in some areas and with many delivery services.  Another factor with Airmail, or international shipments in general is that there can be quite significant hold ups at airports  , as there may be no staff, no available plane etc etc, meaning that lots of mail and packages are backlogged at airports awaiting handling. 

 

On a positive note, and again from personal experience, few packages seem to actually be going astray, the main downside being that deliveries that would normally take 2-3 days to arrive with customers seem to be taking 3-4 weeks in many cases.

 

Al

Edited by YesTor
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4 hours ago, Mattc6911 said:

You could try here but don't hold your breath

 

https://www.pitneybowes.com/uk/global-ecommerce/contact-us.html

 

Ignore what's on the right. .  Look for the small email address in the blurb on the left

 

They don't make it easy lol

 

 

 

Thanks.  I have just sent them an e mail. Unfortunately I got this response:Screenshot_20200527-204420_Outlook.jpg.ccdc57da07968533ee4a35591e9566d2.jpg

 

 

 

4 hours ago, YesTor said:

 Your tracking above states Pitney Bowes as being the delivery agent, have you tried entering your tracking code here...  http://parcelsapp.com/en/carriers/pitney-bowes 

 

Maybe that could provide a more detailed breakdown?

 

.

Al

 

Thanks, but that is where I got the info in my OP 

Edited by Colin_McLeod
To update re Pitney Bowes response.
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5 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

The seller can't help.

 

Ultimately, the seller can help.  Simply because the item has been shipped via eBay's GSP does not mean that the seller can wash hands of all responsibility.  Overall, it may simply be a case of remaining patient under the current circumstances, as I do think that we all need to cut a little slack at the moment with regard to shipping times and in many cases simply sit-tight, as many services really do seem to be struggling. 

 

That said, if I were in your position right now I would politely throw the ball back in the seller's court (so to speak), contact him/her and forward the message above that states, "Please contact your seller etc...".  I'm not overly familiar with GSP, but it would be remarkably strange if there wasn't some form of system in place to provide information to buyers and sellers in the event of a problem. 

 

As said already, I wouldn't be overly-demanding at this point due to current circumstances, but as an eventual last resort if your seller outright refuses any responsibility then your final option would be to raise a PayPal dispute, at which point the onus is on your seller to resolve the issue.  Again, if the item is shipped via what is effectively eBay's own system then eBay themselves should very much be able to pursue any tracking data and resolve any issues.  If they cannot then there is something horribly wrong with the system...

 

That's the line of fire I would pursue anyhow...

 

Best
Al

Edited by YesTor
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39 minutes ago, YesTor said:

Again, if the item is shipped via what is effectively eBay's own system then eBay themselves should very much be able to pursue any tracking data and resolve any issues.  If they cannot then there is something horribly wrong with the system...

 

Quoting myself here, but just thinking to myself a couple of weeks ago when I telephoned PayPal customer service only to be informed that my call would be answered in 7 hours, 40 minutes!  :lol::blink:  Similarly, I think eBay's telephone customer service telephone was simply 'not available'.  I've no idea how long it might take either of them to respond to email enquiries...  :huh:

 

 

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2 hours ago, YesTor said:

I'm not overly familiar with GSP

 

When you sell with GSP you send to a freight handling depot and receive an email saying "Your parcel has arrived at our depot ready to be forwarded on"   in the blurb from Ebay the responsibility of the seller ends there, as the contract for postage is only in the UK. 

The buyer has a seperate contract with EBay (and pays separately) for the overseas postage. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/global-shipping-programme/default/global-shipping-programme?id=4646&st=3&pos=1&query=Global Shipping Programme&intent=selling with gsp&lucenceai=lucenceai

 

The relevant paragraph as a seller.

Quote

 

You aren't responsible for item loss or damage that occurs after the item reaches the UK Shipping Centre. Once an item has been forwarded by the UK Shipping Centre, you won't be responsible for refunding the buyer if an eBay Money Back Guarantee or PayPal Buyer Protection case is filed against you for one of the following reasons:

A buyer claims an item isn't received or a package is damaged in transit

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

The buyer has a seperate contract with EBay (and pays separately) for the overseas postage. 

 

Fair enough, so eBay assume responsibility for any package once delivered to the GSP depot.  It sounds as though @Colin_McLeod would need to pursue via eBay directly.  Interesting though if a buyer should raise a PayPal dispute at any point, as that dispute will be raised against the seller and not eBay directly...

 

...although an educated guess says that it is highly likely that all tracking info would be automatically uploaded via the eBay listing and thus to the PayPal transaction, so it might possibly be that the seller has very little to do to intervene at that point.  Interesting.

Edited by YesTor
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Thanks for your input everyone. 

 

The seller has now agreed to try and contact e bay. He has got some sketchy information (I don't know how) indicating that my item has gone to America!

 

It would have been much simpler to have got his courier to deliver direct to Ireland, but we are where we are.

 

I have turned my patience back on and will now get on with other things while I am waiting. 

 

Thanks again. 

Edited by Colin_McLeod
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2 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

It would have been much simpler to have got his courier to deliver direct to Ireland, but we are where we are.

 

From my experience of GSP, if he had it turned on for the listing he could not overide it as it was part of the sale contract, when the item sold he would have had an instruction to send to a gsp depot with a reference number. Ebay control the delivery not the seller.

The only way around this is to not list with GSP but offer overseas in the description (I do this now) and agree a price for post before the overseas bidder bids.

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I send packages Airmail to family in Canada every so often using the Royal Mail “Tracked And Signed” service. All goes well until they arrive at Langley for forwarding to Canada Post then they disappear for days before suddenly turning up at the destination. An item I posted at the beginning of April took 6 weeks recently.

Edited by Brian Indge
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46 minutes ago, chris p bacon said:

 

From my experience of GSP, if he had it turned on for the listing he could not overide it as it was part of the sale contract, when the item sold he would have had an instruction to send to a gsp depot with a reference number. Ebay control the delivery not the seller.

The only way around this is to not list with GSP but offer overseas in the description (I do this now) and agree a price for post before the overseas bidder bids.

 

Only way?

 

The other way around it is to just cancel the sale and re-list without GSP. I did it for a number of items with no effect on my Ebay account. I set a BIN price equal to the auction result and the same buyers bought them all, saving themselves a fortune in GSP fees. Simples. Everyone was happy :)

 

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19 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

The e bay resolution centre does not give immediate help as for delayed items it gives the seller another eight days to resolve.  

 

I know you've moved on but if you have access to eBay's concierge service they can be useful.

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10 hours ago, Colin_McLeod said:

It would have been much simpler to have got his courier to deliver direct to Ireland, but we are where we are.

 

8 hours ago, chris p bacon said:

The only way around this is to not list with GSP but offer overseas in the description (I do this now) and agree a price for post before the overseas bidder bids.

 

Agreed, which is why I have always avoided the GSP option (when I remember that is!) - I do think it's quite sly of eBay to set GSP 'on' by default, so when listing you need to consciously remember to 'opt out' - caught me out a couple of times on that one.  :blink:

 

Another thought is what happens upon receipt if a buyer claims that an item has been 'damaged in transit' - ie. How can it be established whether the damage occurred whilst in the care of GSP or/and their delivery agent, or whether it happened en route to GSP whilst in the care of the seller's nominated courier?  Which courier is liable...?  I could see that kind of scenario ending in a right old mess...   :wacko:

 

It's a good while since I looked at the extensive terms and conditions of GSP, and I'm not quite sure now what happens if a buyer wants to return an item, but from memory it all seemed to point toward the seller losing out big-time in terms of return shipping fees, deduction of eBay's fees etc etc, even if the return wasn't due to seller error...  Although maybe it's moved on since then...

 

Al 

Edited by YesTor
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I had a similar issue when I sold some Hornby-Dublo to someone in USA.   The items went via Global Shipping Programme and the seller complained he never received them.   I followed up the tracking and the end courier claimed to have tried to deliver but nobody was at home.  I contacted the buyer with this information and he said he had received no notification from the carrier.  After that he made contact with the carrier and eventually received his item.

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Item finally arrived today. 

After getting promptly to the Global Shipping Programme depot, it sat there doing nothing for ages and was only processed by GSP on Saturday 30th May, despatched from Litchfield on 1st June and arrived with me on 3rd.

 

Thanks for all your advice  everyone.  

 

Lesson learnt, contact seller and arrange some alternative method of shipping other than GSP.

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On 28/05/2020 at 18:01, YesTor said:

Another thought is what happens upon receipt if a buyer claims that an item has been 'damaged in transit' - ie. How can it be established whether the damage occurred whilst in the care of GSP or/and their delivery agent, or whether it happened en route to GSP whilst in the care of the seller's nominated courier?  Which courier is liable...?  I could see that kind of scenario ending in a right old mess...   :wacko:

 

 

eBay take it on the chin, unless it was evidently damaged upon arrival at the GSP hub. As in the OP the obligation of the seller is fulfilled when them item is received by the GSP hub in the originating country.

 

I personally don't want to sell internationally, it's a faff to work out which service is best, and usually expensive for have things appropriately insured. Conversely I've had a lot of GSP sales, and whilst not very quick, they are painless for me. Without GSP I wouldn't sell to those people at all.


I had one chap (in Germany) buy 3 successive items on GSP, I contacted him and asked if he wanted to go direct instead, if only to save him money as he was buying multiple items, but he said he was happy with the GSP, so clearly it works for some buyers.

Edited by njee20
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