Well it had to happen, although thankfully this year we got through Christmas before the snow came, it’s finally here.
Now’s the time to step up communications with buyers and ensure that they’ve noticed the white stuff probably floating down from the sky outside their windows this very minute.
Doubtless couriers and postal services will update their websites with details of potential delays on Monday, but in the mean time start to assume buyers will expect their deliveries on time and won’t realise that snow means delays.
If you expect and prepare for the worst that will be the best way to protect your eBay and Amazon accounts from low feedback scores.
16 Responses
Fair enough suggestion. Unfortunately ebay have made it very difficult to communicate with customers. We can’t edit the despatch email and we can’t send bulk emails.
Could download emails from paypal and do it that way, but what a pain in the arse!
We cant communicate via ebay, nor can we via amazon easily.
With the temperatures being recorded in such places as Minsk and Moscow(minus 30 Centigrade etc) and the fact that it appears that the weather is moving West. It is likely that there clould be more to come. Indeed anything could arrive between now and Easter(and if really extreme weather is on the way possibly after Easter). We are in a Maunder Minimum so Winter 2012/3, and 2013/4 expected to be even worst.
its winter whats new it happens every year,ebays feedback system should allow for seasonal problems
If they can’t change estimated delivery dates at Christmas (which is predictable) what chance have we got with snow?
Rather than sellers struggling to email individual buyers (in some cases many, many buyers) because eBay removed the bulk email functionality, wouldn’t it be easier if eBay sent all users an email explaining the situation?
Or is this simple solution beyond the air heads?
Agree that ebay have now made it very difficult to bulk email buyers or to add messages or notes to their standard emails.
Those who use third party ebay management tools do have an easier time as many of these do enable bulk batch emails to be sent.
You could also use up part of the allocation of marketing emails that come with an eBay store but of course this only targets those that have signed up for newsletters and not necessarily recent buyers.
eBay do give a sense of not caring about issues such as weather. Which is odd for a site that perports to be numero uno!
what about leaving a message on your shop using the holiday settings?
st georges dragon
Couldn’t agree more StGD
The DSRs and their “exigent” thresholds need revising, from the ground up. Esp for low volume sellers.
Glenn
Agreed!
eBay are happily “agnostic” about many things, including, evidently, informing buyers of weather conditions and to, well, go easy on buyers. It very rarely happs.
(there’s the pesky buyer in the Scilly Isles/ Oban/ Fishguard who was unaware that the courier hub was blighted by snow, and will happily leave 1 star)
ps A simple fix, and a mild alleviation for many sellers (the good ones, that strive for eTRS, unlike SOME of the Outlets and Daily Dealers’, with shocking feedback that reveals they probably don’t even concern themselves with their feedback – such is their reliance on eBay’s Daily Deal coverage and their “brand awareness”…. -) would be to increase the “exigent” threshold from 0.5% to 1.0%.
Rant over.
-MB
ebay have now posted a message in their news section and they encourage sellers to communicate with buyers.
They do not explain how to though given that the batch message system is no longer available.
Do ebay expect every seller to send a message one by one through the listing contact seller function?
More guidence from ebay on how to contact sellers in bulk would be appreciated.
It might be good idea to reflect about the situation in eBay dispatch emails or leaflet with the order will do.
.
SNOW, what Snow…..!!