I'm Not Too Pleased With eBay

[mau1]

Something weird happened with my purchase last night. Here's the background. I'm from Canada and use eBay.ca not eBay.com. In eBay, I have both a Canadian address and a US address for shipping purposes. I can ship purchases to my US address for those US sellers who only sell domestically or when I don't want to pay the insane GSP fees which can be more than the pipe. I then can pick up the pipes when I'm in the US. I have never had any issues buying in the US until now. Last night I made a purchase with my US address set as the primary address. It wasn't a sale with GSP. The seller then notified me that the address was showing as my Canadian address. Sure enough, when I checked the purchase, it now showed my Canadian address. I went back to my address settings, the US address was still set as primary. So what gives? I'm not a fan of high shipping fees and I would have gotten dinged if the seller hadn't mentioned the Canadian address (we were chatting) and if I missed it. The paranoid conspiracy theorist in me wonders if ebay is doing something shady to make more profit. They get a cut of the shipping fees,I'm told. Has anyone seen this issue before? Thanks

 

[olkofri]

Don't use ewwBay much myself, and even when I do I have only one address, so I can't be much help. Yet, it might have something to do with geolocation. Are you sharing your location with eBay via your browser? If so, they might use this to override your settings in order to 'give you a more personalised experience'. Were you using PayPal? What are your settings there?

 

[skydog]

I think Olkofri may be right that it could be caused by the address associated with your Paypal. I use ebay pretty often but only have one address stored so I don't have any experience with your issue. I wouldn't put it past ebay to try to make a few cents more by defaulting to the address with higher shipping but it could just as likely be a programming glitch or Paypal default thing as well.

 

[mau1]

Yes, my palpay address is my Canadian address. It could be a glitch or it could be something ebay has just implemented. I've been using the 2 addresses for at least 6 months without a problem, but now I'm a little leery about what will happen with the next purchase. The thing is, ebay gives you the option of having multiple addresses ,so why would they override the one I set as primary?

 

[didimauw]

I ordered two items two different times from the same customer using PayPal both times. Just these past couple weeks. The first order came to my house, my second order the next week said it was delivered but was no where to be found. Then I checked the invoice in my email and it was sent to my old address. Even though my new address was set as my main. I don't know how it happened. It was sent back to the sender, and they re shipped it to me. But I don't know what happened there.

 

[mau1]

That's weird. I assume both addresses are in the same country. Was your PayPal address the new or the old? If we can eliminate Paypal involvement, then it's strictly an eBay issue, and not them using paypal.

 

[woodsroad]

Paypal will only guarantee the transaction to the seller if the item is shipped to the buyer’s official Paypal address.

This may be your situation.

 

[mso489]

Just for the record, I'm not too pleased with ebay either, such that I've never used it at all. I like retailers who rely on future business.

 

[ssjones]

I think that is related to your Paypal account. I have the ability to choose which address to use (sometimes my office, daughter in NOLA, etc.)

 

[davet]

I'm in the same situation, a U.S & Canadian address. This only happened once to me and was worked out with the seller. I always double check the mailing info before finalizing a sale.

 

[cosmicfolklore]

My Paypal used to have my business address, because I used it mostly for business. But, my ebay had my home address. It was 50/50 which address things were mailed to. So, my guess is that it must have something to do with the settings on the vendor's end.

 

[mau1]

The vendor ships internationally. I'll be more diligent with checking the shipping address in future. Fortunately the vendor was able to correct the problem but we had to jump through a number of hoops.
Mso489, I hear you. There aren't any good B&M's to speak of in my neck of the woods, otherwise I would give them my business. But for estate pipes, eBay has the most to offer. I'll be heading to Montreal in a couple of weeks with friends. When the ladies are running around, I hope to make a beeline to Blatter & Blatter Pipes. It'll be my first visit and I'm looking forward to it!

 

[newbroom]

2 cents. Maybe the address defaulted to the last address you used and it was the CA address? You may have missed it during checkout. or not.

 

[instymp]

I have 2 addresses & sometimes I forget to change the default. I change it on one & forget to change the paypal.

Thats just me.

 

[piperusak]

This is exactly the address of paypal. If the seller has 2 shipping addresses, he will select the shipping address from paypal. In case of problems with delivery and paypal, the shipping address of the order must match the address in the buyer's paypal.

 

[piperusak]

Add 2 shipping address to paypal. before purchase, select the shipping address in paypal. and all will be well.

 

[mau1]

Thanks for that, piper!