{"id":1992,"date":"2016-08-17T17:14:50","date_gmt":"2016-08-17T17:14:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.system11.org\/?p=1992"},"modified":"2016-08-17T18:04:12","modified_gmt":"2016-08-17T18:04:12","slug":"fuck-pitney-bowes-and-fuck-the-ebay-global-shipping-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/?p=1992","title":{"rendered":"Fuck Pitney Bowes (and fuck the ebay Global Shipping Program)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I received another item from the states, which has come via the ebay Global Shipping Program.\u00a0 Before we get on to that, let’s explain exactly what this means.<\/p>\n

Sellers enrolled in this (which is most of them, since it’s opt-out) can sell items to the rest of the world and have ebay handle the customs and international shipping, the cost of this service being passed on to the buyer.\u00a0 This isn’t too bad, conceptually.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately that’s where reality kicks in.\u00a0 Here are the ugly parts:\u00a0 buyers now get charged for customs and fees automatically, at a higher rate than if they used normal mail.\u00a0 Not only that, but the buyers are also paying for two sets of shipping which increases the price to them.\u00a0 Anyone who has used a proxy service should be familiar with this.\u00a0 Wouldn’t be so bad if the issues stopped there.\u00a0 They don’t.<\/p>\n

The service is provided by Pitney Bowes.\u00a0 What they do is check items, repackage them, sort out the customs documents and post them on.\u00a0 Uh.\u00a0 Repackage?\u00a0 As part of the inspection they repackage items to reduce the weight as far as they can, which in turn reduces their costs.\u00a0 Costs you’ve already fucking paid in their inflated shipping estimate.\u00a0 Here are just a few examples of their work (pro-tip – I contacted the sellers and they confirmed items were not shipped this way, and they were shocked):<\/p>\n

\"fuck_pitney_bowes1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s a CPS2 A board.\u00a0 These are in extremely strong plastic cases.\u00a0 In this photo you can see the lower part is shattered, and even the top is cracked.\u00a0 This is because PB repackaged this with just cardboard around the sides.\u00a0 The seller ended up having to supply a spare case, at his expense, because PB fucked him, and me.<\/p>\n

\"fuck_pitney_bowes2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a crushed flat rate box.\u00a0 To be honest they’re not very strong and most people don’t use them for PCBs for this reason, but Pitney Bowes do.\u00a0 When they are used, people pack them properly so the box maintains shape better and protects the contents.<\/p>\n

\"fuck_pitney_bowes3\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But PB decided this was OK.\u00a0 This is why the box gave way.\u00a0 This is not how how the perfectly innocent seller packaged it.\u00a0 Hey though, I’m seeing an opportunity here – that green bubblewrap looks way too heavy and expensive.<\/p>\n

\"fuck_pitney_bowes4\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another crushed flat rate box.\u00a0 One of many, so many more.\u00a0 They’ve upgraded their packaging inside though!<\/p>\n

\"fuck_pitney_bowes5\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Everyone knows you can just put PCBs in a bubble bag, loose in a flat rate box.\u00a0 Again, seller was innocent and it’s the imbeciles at Pitney Bowes who thought it was OK.<\/p>\n

It actually gets worse.\u00a0 Pitney Bowes partner with couriers in destination countries, such as, wait for it…\u00a0 Yodel.\u00a0 Yodel are infamous in the UK for being the absolute worst courier company, they damage everything.\u00a0 Every single thing.\u00a0 Don’t believe me?<\/p>\n

\"fuck_yodel\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Just some of the steel rack parts they damaged.\u00a0 Actually the shelf underneath is broken in half too.\u00a0 They also deliver into dustbins, throw things over fences, leave them ‘delivered’ on the doorstep in full view, or mark things as delivered when they aren’t.\u00a0 This is a double blow when you find that where items cannot be delivered, PB don’t have to return them to the seller.\u00a0 Yes, really.<\/p>\n

So why would PB use a courier which is well known as the worst?\u00a0 Simple – they don’t give a fuck and Yodel are cheap.\u00a0 Of course if things were properly packaged, they might survive the Yodel experience, but PB ensure that things are not properly packaged, in fact they fucking pride themselves on it.\u00a0 Here’s the one which arrived today:<\/p>\n

\"fuck_pitney_bowes6\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is exactly how it turned up.\u00a0 I particularly like the ebay\/PB sticker on the parcel.\u00a0 They’ve torn the side open, then to repackage it simply put some parcel tape somewhere near the hole.\u00a0 Then they’ve put their little sticker on it, as if they’re somehow proud of this fucking atrocity.\u00a0 It’s like when a child attempts their first clay craft at school and hands a disfigured mug to their proud parents with a well meaning ‘I MADE THIS’ expression on their face.<\/p>\n

Except this isn’t a mug, it’s someones personal property which Pitney Bowes are supposed to handle with care.\u00a0 They’re not children, they’re a cynical corporation who simultaneously overcharge customers and provide a lamentable, near fraudulent service.\u00a0 And I’m not their fucking parents and I shouldn’t have to explain why the above is unacceptable to put it mildly.<\/p>\n

To date every item I have received through the GSP has arrived in this state, most were damaged.\u00a0 Make sure sellers know this is happening, and know that they’ll be liable for it, or nothing will change.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today I received another item from the states, which has come via the ebay Global Shipping Program.\u00a0 Before we get on to that, let’s explain exactly what this means. Sellers enrolled in this (which is most of them, since it’s opt-out) can sell items to the rest of the world and have ebay handle the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2006,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1992"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2005,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1992\/revisions\/2005"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.system11.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}