Getting frustrated with customers
I have been bombarded with items not received over the last couple of days and wondering if anyone else is still experiencing problems. I have tried the line of covid and the post being stretched but have two separate ones today saying they don’t believe that I’ve even posted their item as every other postal item they’ve ordered has come next day. These are items posted 3 weeks ago and a whole batch I posted together so I’m guessing they’re stuck somewhere but is there still a massive issue?
Getting frustrated with customers
I have been bombarded with items not received over the last couple of days and wondering if anyone else is still experiencing problems. I have tried the line of covid and the post being stretched but have two separate ones today saying they don’t believe that I’ve even posted their item as every other postal item they’ve ordered has come next day. These are items posted 3 weeks ago and a whole batch I posted together so I’m guessing they’re stuck somewhere but is there still a massive issue?
25 replies
Seller_64jziShTiTjOq
I suspect that RM staff aren’t even trying to clear the backlogs by “oldest first”. There was a picture posted on another thread here of a depot with wall-to-wall trolleys stacked high with parcels - they’d have a job just to get to the ones at the back
Seller_Wqg5EgqxuOwDD
I’m greetings cards too. Atm I’m finding 1st class can take up to a week, 2nd class about 10 days to 2 weeks but have had a few that took around 3 weeks. I found that changing my shipping settings to the max and increasing my handling time really helped with the incessant querries.
I should add that these are the outliers, the majority are all arriving with 5 days.
Seller_NoMNQDGnEW5Bx
Yes I’m in Blackburn. I’ve been posting up to 100 a day some days so it’s not them all not going, it’s just that line of every other item I post gets there that concerned me. I also know they could be genuinely lost too
Seller_6sxtIS0RbZ5k7
I too sell greetings cards and there have been some dates when lots have been severely delayed. It is definitely an issue and I think you need to believe your customers and either refund or resend.
In a few incidences I’ve marked the back of the envelope ‘replacement’ and asked the customer to let me know which arrives first and every time it has been the replacement (though in one instance they both arrived on the same day!)
It’s not the customer’s fault and some of these have converted into positive feedback for the cost of a card.
Seller_NoMNQDGnEW5Bx
I’m not at all saying I don’t believe them, I’m frustrated with the accusations that I never posted the items though!
I just wondered if others were still finding there are excessive delays as I will have to change my handling times, I don’t find people order cards 3-4 weeks before they need them so mostly its refunds not replacements they want.
Seller_Xo4Z606J15V4I
There’s really not much you can do about it. Many buyers are overly suspicious in thinking they are being ripped off and having the excuse of COVID-19 delays and backlogs told to them time and time again. For some buyers it never really seems to sink in that this pandemic is causing delays.
I removed free delivery from all my listings and send everything 1st class signed. All mine go Large Letter at a cost of £2.45 and I charge £1.95 for delivery. So I effectively lose 50p, which is far less than doing free delivery and it costing me £1.15 standard 1st class. Also, all deliveries now get delivered within 2 business days, sometimes 3 and everyone is happy. I am receiving more orders than before I offered free delivery. Madness but ok.
Seller_wqciCXuQbNS4p
Do you use 2D barcodes? If you do, they at least give you some form of defence in that they show as being delivered by the local sorting office, or not delivered at all.
Although not recognised by Amazon, we often find that presenting that evidence to the customer either confirms the fact that they’re genuine, or if they’re chancing it, they often back down. Unless that is, they are totally brazen about it.
Doesn’t stop things completely, but it does help. Help us anyway.
Seller_ubOjsnA5tMARI
There’s definitely still a problem as far as we can tell but as others have said it’s probably depot specific.
Orders sent out on Monday 11th (after the bank hol) had lots of issues. For example a 1st class parcel going from us in Somerset to a customer in Bristol only got to her yesterday. Luckily she was very understanding.
I could give you multiple other examples like this especially after the bank hol.
The majority of orders seem to get to customers within a week and some after a day but there are still quite a few not getting through for over 2 weeks.
To combat this we have increased the shipping time to the max which has stopped most emails from customers expect the ones who email regardless.
No doubt this bank hol weekend will generate a massive postal backlog again. Orders continue to be extremely high.
Seller_6GV9ERzcUsygV
I use this template which a lot of thought has gone into to try to deter scammers and offer reassurance to genuine customers, please feel free to use or adapt it if you wish it has helped me a great deal and it is factual.
> Hello
Thank you for your email regarding your order for xxxxxxxx which was purchased on xxth Apr, 2020 , can I ask that in these difficult times you please bear with Royal Mail as over 50% of their current workforce is off sick or self-isolating.
Your item is on the way be assured but Royal Mail have asked me to let all customers know deliveries are taking between 5 to 10 working days minimum , there is absolutely nothing I can do to speed up the service as we are all in the same situation.
Thanks for your continued patience and understanding, I am here to help but as you can appreciate there isn’t anything I can do at the moment, your item will arrive, but this situation isn’t a normal one.
Stay safe!
