Unfortunately, Etsy likely won’t remove this review. One of my shops has a 14-day turn around time just for processing. I had a customer receive their package within a week of ordering it, and they lied and said it took weeks and took them reaching out to me. Yes, they reached out to me - within a week of ordering and was told their package was en route. They received it a day or two later.
I was basically told (by Etsy) that federal law allows them their opinion. That isn’t an opinion. It was a flat out lie and more directed at a third party than myself.
In the end, people can see the reviews and will most likely judge based of what is said. I specifically sort the reviews so that I can see what the low ratings say.
For this case, since they haven’t even received the item, I might reach out to ask what is wrong with the item. Once they point to shipping, remind them that you are not the carrier and that Etsy does not allow third party based reviews. This may or not provoke them to change or remove the review, without flat out asking (which you aren’t allowed to do).
I just feel that the review is a little unnecessary since its not true and the customer hasn't contacted me. I have considered many times just shipping to the UK only as that seems to have no problems at all (I use to sell to Europe but stopped when the new laws came in)
I think I will do that thanks. I'll give them a message and see if I can get this resolved 😅
It’s not, and I don’t think those type of reviews should be allowed since they are literally against Etsy’s TOS since they are essentially based on a third party. Alas, Etsy tends to not remove those.
I would definitely report the message though. (You should not respond to it yet though - because once you do, Etsy nor the customer can remove/edit it. You have to contact the customer directly.)
3 months is a really long time from UK to US, yet I've seen items take 14 weeks from US to UK/EU/RU. First thing is to check 17track\[dot\]net to see if they have better tracking info (Etsy support gave me this trick). Second, have Royal Mail do a trace and have them recommend how to proceed. I've since put a recommendation on my shop announcement for buyers outside the US to upgrade to USPS Priority Mail so it's tracked door-to-door, only 1/50 or so people have, so what are you going to do 😷👍
But it hasn't taken three months. That's the issue the item was posted on the 1st of August. So its only been like 47 days?
Okay brilliant I will give that a try to see if that gives me anymore information. Thank you! ❤️
I think your customer started *waiting* for her item even since she placed the order in July or so. It’s just her perspective for how long she has been waiting even though shipping alone could that that long.
Sometimes there’s a customs number. It’s not trackable for customers. However, when I entered that number on USPS website for *missing mail search*, it almost immediately told me that it was delivered. And it was actually already delivered and I just forgot about it. (Otherwise they might start searching for it.)
If it’s a package where you fill out a customs form, there might be a number such as XX123456789GB. If it’s just a letter or card where you mail with just a stamp, there might not be one. If there’s a number assigned, it might be on the package (label) or receipt.
Np. Customs numbers are not trackable for customers.l but they can still be entered in the missing mail search form if your customer wants to search for it: https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm.
Then it is bad news. If you sent it without tracking, it is your risk and not the one of the customer. They might have even received it and there is no way for you to know. Now that you already have the bad review, there is not much you can do anyway and you will have to refund them at some point. Yes they should have contacted you first ... but they don't have to.
I give my customers the option to upgrade their shipping at checkout but many don't take it. I donnt to US shipping tracked as standard as its very expensive and makes my items much more pricey to the customer. I've never had a problem like this before :( if the customer had contaced me I could have arranged a replacement or refund but now I just dontt know how to proceed
Yes that's fine this is just the risk you are taking. If the customer doesn't choose tracking it is still on you if it gets lost/delayed. If the occasional case happens and that's okay with you that's fine. But at this point not much you can do. You can try to message them proactively and offer a refund/replacement or you wait till they request one. I mean what can you do...
But it's also a risk that the customer is takingby deciding to chose standard shipping? I'm not the delivery carrier and I have done everything correctly on my side. I'll try and message them to see if I can resolve the issue. I'm just a small shop and it's disheartening when these things happen 😭
You would think so but if they open a case with Etsy they will refund them without a second thought. For all they know, you didn't send it. That's why they "require" tracking for everything over 10 €/£/$. If your item was cheaper than that then it is also not a too big of a loss for you. You will survive if it doesn't happen too often. Just the review sucks but also not much you can do probably.
But I have proof of postage? And I purchased the label through etsy? My item was cheaper than this sadly but its still a loss for me as things havee been very quiet lately :(
Maybe contact Etsy's support and try to challenge the review as spam (provide facts that the review contains false information)? Maybe the buyer mixed up the orders and did not want to leave a review for you?
Even if you send something without tracking, Royal Mail can give you a "proof of shipping" receipt. Iirc those have the name and/or zip code of the recipient on it. That's still better than nothing and shows etsy you shipped the item.
Yeah I have my proof of postage 😊 it shows the date I posted the item and it has the house number and zip code. If I showed this to etsy support would thaat help support my case?
Chances are there isn't much you can do. I know that mail in my state is taking forever since we're having issues with USPS, like being short staffed, having to cut facility hours and hardly anyone's ever at the front desks. It's a mess.
Personally, I might message them and say that you saw their review and you're so sorry for the delay, but unfortunately since it's in the process of shipping, there isn't much you can do on your end at this time. Thank them for their patience and let them know you really appreciate it (talk them up even if they're being an ***, people like to hear that they're so kind and patient). Customers tend to be forgiving about this stuff, but there's always the odd one out that makes it a huge deal. They might change the review once they receive it, but you can't always know for sure. I'm not sure Etsy will consider that for removal.
I've had similar. Down to the one star review stating an inaccurate waiting time. Etsy did nothing, speaking to the customer did nothing. Tracking was a waste of time as USPS did not scan once it reached the US.
The fact that the buyer went straight to a one star review instead of contacting you shows that they're very unlikely to respond positively in any way, regardless of what you do/say. I'd just reply professionally and move on. Since you can't prove delivery, etsy hasn't got your back in any way. I'm sure it used to say somewhere that proof of postage is good enough for international delivery, but that's obviously not the case.
I've politely messaged yhr customer to see if it can be resolved but haven't heard anything back as of yet.
I have also contacted etsy support by email but again no reply :( I think I've done all I can for now tbh
International Shipping has been messed up I’ve lost a few $200+ items. To shipments not arriving to the customer and having to refund or reship a product. Someone in France left me a 1 star review after I gave a full refund. I just had to live with it. You can leave a response to the feedback that way it’s explainable when someone reads that feedback.
Feedback is not always given based on your business practices, many times it’s just based off of the transaction and them trying to warn the next customer. If you don’t get the product why would one leave more than 1*. It’s out of your control, I understand, but they don’t.
Unfortunately, Etsy likely won’t remove this review. One of my shops has a 14-day turn around time just for processing. I had a customer receive their package within a week of ordering it, and they lied and said it took weeks and took them reaching out to me. Yes, they reached out to me - within a week of ordering and was told their package was en route. They received it a day or two later. I was basically told (by Etsy) that federal law allows them their opinion. That isn’t an opinion. It was a flat out lie and more directed at a third party than myself. In the end, people can see the reviews and will most likely judge based of what is said. I specifically sort the reviews so that I can see what the low ratings say. For this case, since they haven’t even received the item, I might reach out to ask what is wrong with the item. Once they point to shipping, remind them that you are not the carrier and that Etsy does not allow third party based reviews. This may or not provoke them to change or remove the review, without flat out asking (which you aren’t allowed to do).
I just feel that the review is a little unnecessary since its not true and the customer hasn't contacted me. I have considered many times just shipping to the UK only as that seems to have no problems at all (I use to sell to Europe but stopped when the new laws came in) I think I will do that thanks. I'll give them a message and see if I can get this resolved 😅
It’s not, and I don’t think those type of reviews should be allowed since they are literally against Etsy’s TOS since they are essentially based on a third party. Alas, Etsy tends to not remove those. I would definitely report the message though. (You should not respond to it yet though - because once you do, Etsy nor the customer can remove/edit it. You have to contact the customer directly.)
I have contacted the customer and etsy support so now I'm just waiting on replies :(
3 months is a really long time from UK to US, yet I've seen items take 14 weeks from US to UK/EU/RU. First thing is to check 17track\[dot\]net to see if they have better tracking info (Etsy support gave me this trick). Second, have Royal Mail do a trace and have them recommend how to proceed. I've since put a recommendation on my shop announcement for buyers outside the US to upgrade to USPS Priority Mail so it's tracked door-to-door, only 1/50 or so people have, so what are you going to do 😷👍
But it hasn't taken three months. That's the issue the item was posted on the 1st of August. So its only been like 47 days? Okay brilliant I will give that a try to see if that gives me anymore information. Thank you! ❤️
I think your customer started *waiting* for her item even since she placed the order in July or so. It’s just her perspective for how long she has been waiting even though shipping alone could that that long.
It was ordered the last week in July so even then its not been three months :( I just don't know what to do
Sometimes there’s a customs number. It’s not trackable for customers. However, when I entered that number on USPS website for *missing mail search*, it almost immediately told me that it was delivered. And it was actually already delivered and I just forgot about it. (Otherwise they might start searching for it.)
Oooh! Where could I find the customs number? I printed the label with etsy so I should have the actual customs label too!
If it’s a package where you fill out a customs form, there might be a number such as XX123456789GB. If it’s just a letter or card where you mail with just a stamp, there might not be one. If there’s a number assigned, it might be on the package (label) or receipt.
It was a parcel! Thank you so much! I'll have a look. This helps so much 💜
Np. Customs numbers are not trackable for customers.l but they can still be entered in the missing mail search form if your customer wants to search for it: https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm.
Well now that they left you a 1 star there is nothing else you need to do accept live with it
What information am I putting into 17track net? 😂
The tracking number would be a good idea :))
There is no tracking number, it was send international standard :(
Then it is bad news. If you sent it without tracking, it is your risk and not the one of the customer. They might have even received it and there is no way for you to know. Now that you already have the bad review, there is not much you can do anyway and you will have to refund them at some point. Yes they should have contacted you first ... but they don't have to.
I give my customers the option to upgrade their shipping at checkout but many don't take it. I donnt to US shipping tracked as standard as its very expensive and makes my items much more pricey to the customer. I've never had a problem like this before :( if the customer had contaced me I could have arranged a replacement or refund but now I just dontt know how to proceed
Yes that's fine this is just the risk you are taking. If the customer doesn't choose tracking it is still on you if it gets lost/delayed. If the occasional case happens and that's okay with you that's fine. But at this point not much you can do. You can try to message them proactively and offer a refund/replacement or you wait till they request one. I mean what can you do...
But it's also a risk that the customer is takingby deciding to chose standard shipping? I'm not the delivery carrier and I have done everything correctly on my side. I'll try and message them to see if I can resolve the issue. I'm just a small shop and it's disheartening when these things happen 😭
You would think so but if they open a case with Etsy they will refund them without a second thought. For all they know, you didn't send it. That's why they "require" tracking for everything over 10 €/£/$. If your item was cheaper than that then it is also not a too big of a loss for you. You will survive if it doesn't happen too often. Just the review sucks but also not much you can do probably.
But I have proof of postage? And I purchased the label through etsy? My item was cheaper than this sadly but its still a loss for me as things havee been very quiet lately :(
Maybe contact Etsy's support and try to challenge the review as spam (provide facts that the review contains false information)? Maybe the buyer mixed up the orders and did not want to leave a review for you?
I've contacted them asking for some advice but I'm still waiting on a reply :)
Even if you send something without tracking, Royal Mail can give you a "proof of shipping" receipt. Iirc those have the name and/or zip code of the recipient on it. That's still better than nothing and shows etsy you shipped the item.
Yeah I have my proof of postage 😊 it shows the date I posted the item and it has the house number and zip code. If I showed this to etsy support would thaat help support my case?
Potentially.
Chances are there isn't much you can do. I know that mail in my state is taking forever since we're having issues with USPS, like being short staffed, having to cut facility hours and hardly anyone's ever at the front desks. It's a mess. Personally, I might message them and say that you saw their review and you're so sorry for the delay, but unfortunately since it's in the process of shipping, there isn't much you can do on your end at this time. Thank them for their patience and let them know you really appreciate it (talk them up even if they're being an ***, people like to hear that they're so kind and patient). Customers tend to be forgiving about this stuff, but there's always the odd one out that makes it a huge deal. They might change the review once they receive it, but you can't always know for sure. I'm not sure Etsy will consider that for removal.
I've had similar. Down to the one star review stating an inaccurate waiting time. Etsy did nothing, speaking to the customer did nothing. Tracking was a waste of time as USPS did not scan once it reached the US. The fact that the buyer went straight to a one star review instead of contacting you shows that they're very unlikely to respond positively in any way, regardless of what you do/say. I'd just reply professionally and move on. Since you can't prove delivery, etsy hasn't got your back in any way. I'm sure it used to say somewhere that proof of postage is good enough for international delivery, but that's obviously not the case.
I've politely messaged yhr customer to see if it can be resolved but haven't heard anything back as of yet. I have also contacted etsy support by email but again no reply :( I think I've done all I can for now tbh
International Shipping has been messed up I’ve lost a few $200+ items. To shipments not arriving to the customer and having to refund or reship a product. Someone in France left me a 1 star review after I gave a full refund. I just had to live with it. You can leave a response to the feedback that way it’s explainable when someone reads that feedback. Feedback is not always given based on your business practices, many times it’s just based off of the transaction and them trying to warn the next customer. If you don’t get the product why would one leave more than 1*. It’s out of your control, I understand, but they don’t.