Case of "goods not received" by buyer with downgrading in service level | Members help members

0175akula1 · 2025-10-25T16:47:19.440000Z

Hello dear community, this is our first thread, for an unfortunate reason. Specifically: we sell commercially, mostly abroad, since 2008, 100% ratings. Recently there was a sale to Poland. The goods were shipped within our processing times on 18/09/25. The buyer got in touch after 5 days because the DHL tracking had been stuck at the second DHL depot since 19/09/25, (to the first one, directly with us, I have been taking the relatively large packages (60x60x80cm 20/30kg) myself for years. I explained to him that DHL unfortunately only allows an investigation request 14 days after drop-off. Nevertheless, the customer opened a case on 27/09/25.At the same time as the notification email from Ebay about this, a system message arrived stating that, due to the current case, our service level would be downgraded, and therefore sales proceeds would from now on only be paid out after the customer has received the goods. I contacted Ebay customer service that same day, explained the problem, and made it clear that we cannot take any action before 30/09/25, since DHL will not start the investigation earlier. On 30/09/25 I submitted the DHL investigation request (proof/email confirmation), and on 01/10/25 the shipment overview in DHL's system was updated. The customer received his goods on 02/10/25. Regardless of the fact that I have now already spoken twice by phone with Ebay staff about this to explain the situation, and to make clear that no fault lies with us and that we acted as quickly as possible, they are refusing to adjust our service level again. Originally, this meant that our sales proceeds were transferred to us within 2 to 3 days after payment by the customer. How can I solve this problem? For a customer who lives in Germany, the downgraded service level is not really a problem. Shipping costs and transit times for the packages are manageable. But around 70% of our customers live in so-called "third countries" (China, Brazil, etc.). The parcel prices for our needs are between 140 and 200€. The transit times are 20-25 days and, in addition, the customer still has to pay import duties locally in the destination country. For one thing, it is not acceptable to me to advance these shipping costs and then wait around 30 days for our sales proceeds to be paid out. Which brings me to the next question. An Ebay employee replied to me regarding the case described above: "the customer can open a case one day after payment if no parcel transit times are specified". That does not make sense to me, because - first our internal processing time (for packing the goods/standard boxes, creating the shipping label, creating the customs declaration) needs to be taken into account- apparently, as the seller, I cannot adjust the actual parcel transit times? (although I am happy to be corrected) - on Ebay, for example, parcel transit times of 2 to 8 days are stated for DHL Parcel "worldwide", whereas DHL states standard transit times of 20 to 25 days for a parcel to Brazil, for example- the service level was apparently downgraded automatically, "solely by the buyer opening the case", without any prior review by an Ebay employee. This procedure is absolutely not seller-friendly and unfortunately I have the impression that they are trying to make the goods of sellers more attractive to customers, among other things with absolutely unrealistic parcel transit times. I look forward to your constructive replies

Discussions

Case of "goods not received" by buyer with downgrading in service level | Members help members | eBay Germany