Teds eBay - Need Some Advice on Whether This Is Right

Lvisions on 06/12/2016 - 23:01

I need some advice - I purchased a camera lens from Teds eBay store during the recent eBay Tech 20% off sale.

A couple of days later I received a message to say the item had been sent with an estimated delivery date included. After that date passed and the item hadn't turned up, I sent them a message asking how much longer it would be:

The response from them read (in part):
"I'd like to apologise for the delay that has occurred with this order. It looks like the Fuji XF 55-200mm f3.5-4.8 was incorrectly listed as "IN STOCK" on our eBay store, when in fact it was a "Special Order" product that needs to be ordered in from Fujifilm Australia directly. The current ETA for this particular lens is "early to mid-December" so hopefully not too much longer."

Then I got a follow up message stating they are still waiting for the lens from Fuji and can't guarantee a delivery date…so not only did they sell me something that is out of stock, they can't even tell me when they will get more stock…

So I asked them how come I had even received a message stating the item had been sent when they supposedly never even had stock to begin with and their response has left me puzzled:
"Unfortunately Ebay send a central email once we confirm orders, so the email you received may have been that. Once we confirm the stock with our store room, and they process the shipment, you would receive a notification with the tracking number. If you received an email without a tracking number, then it was most likely a pre loaded ebay message, which i can understand can be confusing. Hopefully that explains the situation further regards Teds Camera Stores"

Now the "item sent" email I received indeed did not have a tracking number but is it really the case that eBay will send a "pre loaded" message on behalf of the seller stating an item has been sent even if the seller did not actually send anything yet??

I've never sold anything on eBay so I don't know much about how that side of it works but this doesn't seem right to me and makes Teds look very unprofessional IMO.

Any thoughts?

General Discussion

Related Stores

Ted's Cameras
Ted's Cameras

Comments

  • MiniMad on 06/12/2016 - 23:42
    +3

    I wouldn't worry too much, they would have got hammered from the 20% off plus Fuji cashback offer. I bought an XF23 1.4 off them as well and got the same email.

    They ordered it in from Fuji and mine arrived today.

    It's not always hassle free going for the bargains and I think it's fair to expect this sometimes.

    Ted's were good at responding to my queries and keeping me updated.

    • mskeggs on 07/12/2016 - 09:31
      +8

      You are wayyyyy to reasonable to participate on OzBargain forums.
      Please go overcaffeinate yourself and amp up your sense of self righteousness before posting again.

  • visions on 06/12/2016 - 23:53

    The issue for me is that I need the lens by a particular date as I am going away so wanted it for the trip, not to mention I will also be able to claim TRS.

    If they never had stock, why not admit the mistake from the get go? Instead a week was lost while I waited for the non-existent item to arrive and only after I queried it, did they notice the mistake and start looking into ordering the item, AFAIK anyway.

    If the item hadn't been marked as sent to begin with, I would have contacted them after a day or two at most for an update and the ball could have been rolling on this process already.

    Hence my frustration and question as to whether this is standard eBay practice because if so, that seems crazy to me.

    • pais on 07/12/2016 - 01:11
      +2

      The most likely scenario here is that Ted's are using an eBay/auction management tool that will automate most of their tasks. So they get x amount of orders, it's transmitted from eBay to their own internal inventory management system where it's either picked and packed or placed on back order. When they go ahead and do this process they probably move the order from 'pending' to 'processing' in their system and the auction management tool mistakenly flicks the eBay item status to 'marked as sent'… which then sends you an email. ("Good news! Your item is on its way… etc.") In the mean time, they'd have already been chasing the item up behind the scenes so I wouldn't stress too much about it.

      So basically everything you've been told is completely plausible albeit inconvenient. Your choice is really either ask to cancel or just suck it up.

      • visions on 07/12/2016 - 09:48

        Thanks for the clarification. That makes more sense now.

    • mskeggs on 07/12/2016 - 09:32

      It is annoying, yet often the price of doing business online compared to actually attending the physical store and buying without the discount.

  • Stzaa83 on 07/12/2016 - 07:38

    I had the same thing with the 35/2. Ted's in this case were proactive in letting me know and the item arrived a week or so late.
    I didn't mind, as I locked in the cheaper price.
    Unfortunately for you, it seems there are less of the 55-200s floating around.. Hope you get it soon!

  • visions on 07/12/2016 - 09:58

    Thanks all for the replies. To be fair to Teds they have offered me a full refund and have been up front (now at least) that they can't promise delivery by my specified date. I am going to wait for now and see what happens but it's good to hear that people are getting their stuff, albeit late. There is some worrying recent negative feedback on their eBay account which was adding to concern about this transaction.

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