walkonthemoon’s story:
Just wanted to let you know…. This actually happened to me around Christmas time. I had a customer request a Custom Order & then Subsequently change her mind. I refunded her payment & never marked the item as shipped. About 2 months later I got an email from Etsy saying I did not ship an item and the Customer was furnished with the FBI Cyber Crime thing & my account would be suspended if I did not respond. I responded to the email explaining that she changed her mind & the Payment was refunded. About 2 days later I got the same email & responded agian explaining what happened. I even contacted the buyer (nicely - & asked if she was unhappy in any way with the way the transaction had been concluded & to doublecheck that she had received her refund).She said she had received her refund promptly & was very satisfied since it was she who had backed out of the transaction. She said she had not reported the transaction to Etsy in any way. In fact, she had left me Pos. feedback previously.
FINALLY, I got a 3rd notice from Etsy staing the same as before & saying my account would be suspended within 24 hrs (or something like that) if I did not respond. I responded once agian, somewhat harshly…that I had responded to their emails on 2 previous occasions and was quite unhappy that I was continuing to receive these threatening emails when I had, infact done nothing wrong. My account was suspended! I sent an email directly to admin, explianing what had happened, that I was furious & what did I need to do to have my shop re-instated (offering to send the Paypal receipt from the refund). The next day I got an email from Admin saying something to the effect of ooops, we made a mistake, your shop had been re-activated. No explaination, no apology, nothing. I had no idea this was happening to so many others. Thanks for putting it all on the UEN! -Regina (walkonthemoon)
14 April 2007 1:12pm EDT
Note: As you read these accounts, please keep in mind that UEN only has access to one side of the story: the seller’s. We believe, however, that this is far too important an issue to go unmentioned.
April 16th, 2007 at 5:53 am
There are less than 10 CS staff. But not all of them are in Brooklyn, some work remotely from other cities. It sounds hard to imagine such a small company would have communication issues but it can definitely happen when there are not good sytems set in place. For example, etsy are still handling all their CS through email. Email is a terrible tool for CS with multiple staff because you’re the only one who can read your email. Admin A can’t read what admin B wrote to the customer. They need a central area, a third party helpdesk software that uses help ticket forms, that allows multiple staff members to access the case history, allows the customer to access their case for updates or to add more info, allows staff to make internal private notes that the customer doesn’t see, that has a good internal search, that allows staff to triage tickets and assign them different priority levels, etc. These kinds of software are not expensive- especially compared with building it all yourself- and some of the cheapest are also some of the best.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Serena,
Etsy CS can fit into one room. Isn’t there less than 10?
Hardly a bureaucracy.
April 16th, 2007 at 12:03 am
I’ve been reading and not commenting since all of this started, but reading this just tipped me over the edge. It seems like they came up with these “rules”, for lack of a better word and handed them over to those working “customer service” and said “ok, enforce!” So, off they go, enforcing the rules as they read them, without everyone being on the same page, or without a central tracking area for communications with buyers/sellers. It’s ridiculous…kinda like trying to rustle together a stamped with a piece of thread.
I honestly think they need to sit down and discuss rules and situations with their employees before they sic them on the populace.
This is all just amazing…and not in the good sort of way. :(
April 15th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
I guess a lesson for those who may get into similar situations would be to not just send an email and assume it’s being acted on properly, but to follow up on the dispute process diligently to make sure that things are on track. I’m a go getter, so I’d send daily/bi-daily emails until I got a response. Seems like extra work, but what happens when customers try to visit your shop and find it’s no longer there? Eek.
Not that such proactivity should be required, but after dealing with the most dense form of bureaucracy possibly ever invented, a university, it seems that personally adding grease to the wheels is the way to go. I don’t want to admit how annoying I’ve been to various departments, but I’ve gotten what I wanted, eventually.
Reading the post about efforts to improve site speed (here) made me wonder if Etsy has a customer service “load balancer.” Like, when every support email comes in, maybe it could be assigned to a specific staff member. There could be one person that gets all the initial complaints and sorts them throughout the team. Then, the admin assigned to a case could be the go-to person for anyone with questions about what’s going on, and Rob could be the boss in charge. The seller could write that admin about the case, not the general support@etsy email, which I’m sure gets barraged each hour. This is how it’s been done where I’ve worked, anyway. And maybe this is how it’s done now–I don’t know.
April 15th, 2007 at 11:26 pm
If etsy ever notifies me I am at risk of getting suspension, I think I would FAX or send mail to the etsy HQ. These stories disturb me on all sorts of levels, but the seeming lack of communication and coordination are bizarre. It’s almost as if the form letters are being sent out by a computerized system - anyone else get that sense too?
Surreal.
Sorry to everyone to whom these nasto-grams have been sent. I RECKON there were instances on the site warranting a report to the Cyber Crime folks, but really, none of the situations here come close.
That would piss me off. I wouldn’t have reacted as nicely.
April 15th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Sorry, yes, that’s why only I posted it as a comment, because it’s not in the same league. However, again, I think it shows lack of coordination of communication.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
JB,
It’s hard to tell in that particular case because we can’t review the items and store in question ourselves (the store no longer exists). Maybe the listings were confusing or provided insufficient info. While in the cases of the other sellers who’ve given testimonials here, we can review their activities to get some context for their stories.
April 15th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
It also seems like some of BritWit’s warnings from admin came after not enough investigation on their part. The item she was accused of “copying” from another seller was a vintage dress. Assuming it said that in the description and it was in the vintage category, and that she did not claim to have made it herself, why would admin even proceed with the “copying” complaint? They should have looked at the listing and dropped the case as groundless right then. If anything, the other seller who had handmade their dress was influenced by the vintage style, not vice versa. Totally understandable since 80’s fashion is back in style now, but makers of retro-style items must know it’s all been done before. It’s kind of ironic to accuse anyone of “copying” a retro-style item.
We’ve always been told that flagged items are seriously investigated before any action is taken, which accounted for the sometimes long delays in action. But from this example, it doesn’t appear the flagging staff even read the listing for the flagged item.
April 15th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I’m glad that you all started the UEN. I feel like someone finally cared enough to remove my “blinders”
April 15th, 2007 at 5:28 pm
I agree with Kate Black.
We can’t ask Etsy to be firm with violations that muck up the works for other sellers (mis-listings, non-handmade) and ask them to be responsive when we flag, then be upset when they follow through.
I’m not keen on a seller being asked to change a photo because a mannequin *looks* naked (nor even that a live person *is* naked), I’m not clear on how that fits in with the guidelines. And it appears in this case that it would’ve been better for a staff member to virtually sit with the new seller and explain how Etsy works once they realized they’d issued numerous flags for the same just-signed-up person. Or even ask a mentor to show them the ropes. That’s not the best welcome to a new seller..
I think the situation expressed on Flickr is just another example of how difficult it is to get started on Etsy, how scattered the resources are, how the copycat reports could be better handled, and how badly a Welcome Seller email package is needed.