Hi friends. I have a bit of disappointing news to share with you, especially any crafters out there. We have some friends that are not crafters but that like to buy from the website from time to time. They have had nothing but bad experiences with the customer service from several etsy sellers.
Now, being used to judging sellers based on amount of sales and positive ratings as they do when shopping on ebay and other commercial websites, they believed before hand that the sellers that they had chosen to buy a wedding ring and wedding favors from would surely deliver. They communicated to each seller when their wedding date was, when they would be heading out of town, and when they needed the products by. Each seller said the date was no problem, accepted payment, and that was that.
Weeks later, the stress was building on their shoulders as their wedding date approached and they still had no product. Despite efforts to email their sellers multiple times inquiring about the status of their orders, they received no response from one seller. The other, responsible for the wedding ring denied knowing that the ring needed to be ready by that specific date even though there were email traces of that fact AND the deadline was written in his custom order listing.
Finally my friends got their products. The ring was late but very well crafted at least. The favors were less than satisfactory. As a matter of fact (they were flower seeds) I tried to grow mine and nothing ever came of it but mold. So, having attempted every other method of communication with these sellers and being nothing but dissapointed with the time line AND the product, my friend left negative feedback on the favor seller's etsy site. She was sure to specify her problems with this seller's customer service.
This is the point where the seller decided to care enough to respond. She was outraged, acting as if she had no idea that her product was late nor shoddy. She bullied my friend in attempts to get her to change the feedback, stating that in etsy you are supposed to communicate your dissatisfaction through email rather than feedback. I really wish that she hadn't changed it, but she did. I suppose she was just shocked that this seller would be so defensive and aggressive and felt bad.
I as an etsy seller am horrified. I don't know where this attitude came from where sellers feel that they have every right to ignore their customer's requests and emails and still receive positive feedback. Further, have the gaul to bully a buyer into changing the feedback. It's ridiculous and frustrating to me. My friends said they would not be making any more etsy purchases in the future.
What's even sadder is this isn't the first time I've witnessed a friend buy something, be dissatisfied with it for shoddy workmanship and misrepresentation of the item and then be nervous to leave negative feedback.
So is this really what we want? Do we want to drive buyers away because we somehow feel we have the right to send them any old thing any time we feel like it because we are tired or busy? That's a load of crap if you ask me. I stand behind my craft, my workmanship, and I know I never use products that I feel have any type of imperfection. There is a big difference between a handmade item and a crappily handmade item, that's for sure. I thought handmade was better than Walmart. Further, I not only respond to my customers but stand by what I say. This is a business after all, and your reputation IS on the line whether you think it is or not. Guess how many people my friends will tell about their crappy experience and who specifically to avoid ordering from on etsy?
I know I'm really preaching to the chior here, but I hope that anyone who reads this and agrees with what I'm saying will do their part to encourage others to not just stand by their products and customer service, but make sure they are worth standing by in the first place.
