This is ridiculous!

[Lady Snowdon]

I bought a custom made item off Etsy on Sep 17th.  The vendor has consistently taken multiple days to respond to any request or concern I've had.  On Wednesday, I sent a conversation request to her, asking what the status of my item was.  Wonder of wonders, she replied the next day!  Telling me, and I quote, "Getting ready to ship.  I should have a tracking number for you shortly".  I replied back that day (so yesterday), early morning, asking when I could expect to receive it.  I got a reply this evening telling me that my item should arrive sometime late next week, as the post office is closed on Monday!  So essentially she's not going to ship it until Tuesday!

I could put aside all the delays in getting responses to my questions, but this is just beyond ridiculous.  It severely diminished my opinion of the vendor and her business.  I want to mention it in my feedback review, because I really think other people need to know how things might happen for them.  My question is, should I share my issues with the vendor prior to leaving the feedback.  There's not much she can do about my problem at this point, so I'm not sure it would do any good to tell her ahead of leaving feedback.  What is the etiquette of something like this?

[SoCalVal]

There sure is something she could still do.  For your trouble, she could refund the cost of shipping (or reduce the cost of the item).  If she were to do that, you could turn bad feedback into good by saying something like, "I expressed a concern about the lateness of shipping so the vendor refunded my shipping.  Good to know the vendor wants to keep her customers happy!"

[magician5]

I'm not sure I see an etiquette question here quite so much as a business question. If the item is actually shipped Tuesday (and you get a tracking number Tuesday) it's a little late to comment on these business practices (and actually do any good for yourself).

When you do comment, keep it short. "Very slow communication, slow delivery." Something like that.

When I was selling a lot on eBay and Amazon, I got a lot of goodwill (even if I made a mistake or if the item arrived broken and I had to ship another) because I'd respond to emails quickly and ship next day. Good customer service builds repeat business, and really it is part of what you should expect as a customer.

[Barb3000]

As a seller on ebay and etsy, may I ask that you contact her BEFORE leaving FB. Give her a chance to make things right for you.

[Shoo]

As a seller on ebay and etsy, may I ask that you contact her BEFORE leaving FB. Give her a chance to make things right for you.

What could make it right?  The transaction is complete.  She could refund every penny of the OP's money, but that wouldn't change the fact that this seller gives horrible customer service.  Other customers need to be warned, which is one of the purposes of leaving feedback.

[Lady Snowdon]

As a seller on ebay and etsy, may I ask that you contact her BEFORE leaving FB. Give her a chance to make things right for you.

What could make it right?  The transaction is complete.  She could refund every penny of the OP's money, but that wouldn't change the fact that this seller gives horrible customer service.  Other customers need to be warned, which is one of the purposes of leaving feedback.

This is it exactly.  I've always heard that it's good business etiquette to contact the seller on etsy/ebay/half.com/amazon if there's a problem so they can try and make it right.  I don't know what would make it right in this case though.  She can't go back in time and make my item quicker/ship it more quickly/respond to my questions in a more timely fashion. 

[MrTango]

I wouldn't warn her before leaving feedback.

Just keep your feedback factual.

Something like "I placed my order on Sept 17 but the seller did not ship the item until October 9."

Then, let others draw their own conclusions.

[Pen^2]

The purpose of feedback is to let other customers know what to expect and if they should avoid a seller. So I wouldn't avoid leaving factual feedback, since to give incorrect feedback is lying and misleading other potential customers. You don't want that!

It might be worth contacting the seller, and very briefly stating that you were dissatisfied with the slow communication and long time for shipping. Don't mention anything about feedback, since that could be perceived as a threat. If the seller offers to reimburse you in some way, great! Your feedback can be "very slow communication & service; ordered on Sep XXX but only shipped on Oct XXX. Contacted seller and s/he reimbursed shipping." This is factual and lets customers know that there will be poor service, but that they can at least get the shipping/etc. sorted out if they request it. Of course, if the seller doesn't reply in a few days to your email, or replies with something like "oh, I was busy, sorry," then your feedback can instead end with "contacted seller about this but s/he made no effort to fix."

Keep in mind the other customers, since that's what feedback is about. Give the seller a chance to make things right, but don't demand anything, and keep your subsequent feedback factual.

[Redsoil]

I've learned the hard way.  Bought some artwork on Etsy FOUR MONTHS ago.  Have contacted seller to ask about it, but no reply as yet.  It says it's shipped, but from reading other (negative) feedback on this shop, it seems this has happened previously.  More than once.  Apparently communications are less than great as well.

I know I live in Australia, so I allow extra time with shipping, but this is way too long.  Every other transaction has only taken a couple of weeks at most.  If there's no reply soon, I'll report the shop to Etsy management.  Not sure if that does any good.  Suspect I'm out $45.00  Grrr.

[TootsNYC]

As a seller on ebay and etsy, may I ask that you contact her BEFORE leaving FB. Give her a chance to make things right for you.

What could make it right?  The transaction is complete.  She could refund every penny of the OP's money, but that wouldn't change the fact that this seller gives horrible customer service.  Other customers need to be warned, which is one of the purposes of leaving feedback.

I agree.

(in fact, I still feel guilty because I've never left feedback on the Angie's List handyman who bailed on me with word undone)

[SleepyKitty]

As a seller on ebay and etsy, may I ask that you contact her BEFORE leaving FB. Give her a chance to make things right for you.

What could make it right?  The transaction is complete.  She could refund every penny of the OP's money, but that wouldn't change the fact that this seller gives horrible customer service.  Other customers need to be warned, which is one of the purposes of leaving feedback.

I agree.

(in fact, I still feel guilty because I've never left feedback on the Angie's List handyman who bailed on me with word undone)

Yep. I live and die by the Amazon Marketplace reviews. I buy so many books for each semester that is is impossible for me to buy them all new. I buy the ones I need in the first two weeks new, to guarantee that I will have them on time for seminars, and the rest I buy on Marketplace. A seller could be kind, apologetic, and refund me every penny of my money for an experience like that and it still wouldn't make it right. I need to know which sellers ship promptly and which don't. So I always appreciate honest reviews - something like Pen suggested above. That way you can give her props for trying to fix it and caring about your dissatisfaction (if she does) but still warn other sellers that she's a slow shipper.

And, FWIW, I will still buy from slow shippers if I see they genuinely try to make things right with unhappy customers. I just don't buy time-sensitive things from them.

[Virg]

Lady Snowdon wrote:

"This is it exactly.  I've always heard that it's good business etiquette to contact the seller on etsy/ebay/half.com/amazon if there's a problem so they can try and make it right.  I don't know what would make it right in this case though.  She can't go back in time and make my item quicker/ship it more quickly/respond to my questions in a more timely fashion."

Answering the implied question here will tell you how to proceed.  What would make it right, in your regard, and how likely is it that it will happen?  To take it to an extreme, if the seller agreed to refund your entire purchase, essentially giving you the item for free, would that be enough to change your opinion or give her another chance?  So, decide what would convince you not to leave negative feedback and then present that to the seller.  If there's nothing that would stop you from leaving it, then there's no reason to contact her before leaving it.

Virg

[doodlemor]

I wouldn't warn her before leaving feedback.

Just keep your feedback factual.

Something like "I placed my order on Sept 17 but the seller did not ship the item until October 9."

Then, let others draw their own conclusions.

This is exactly what I did with a dishonest ebay seller. 

You are probably limited as to the number of letters/spaces for the feedback.  Figure out very carefully how to get in as much factual info as possible, and still be understandable to the reader.

You have a right to be exasperated with this person.  In this case the facts will speak for themselves.

[Pippen]

I think feedback should be an honest reflection on your experience. If delivery was slow mention it.

I wouldn't warn her either. If she contacts you and asks you why you didn't give her a glowing review just explain it that it was later than advised and other customers have a right to know.

Personally I don't hold small traders to the same standards I would when dealing with a company on the internet. They aren't professionals and their approach is often not business like however much you would like it to be. I can imagine with something like Etsy they are all to busy 'being creative' and toododling around with their whatits and see the back end functions as a PITA even if they are essential to the customer experience.

[Cat-Fu]

I expect etsy sellers to act professionally. If they aren't going to, then they shouldn't have a business.

I strongly dislike the idea that because their business they don't need to act professionally. I have worked with many etsy sellers and the majority of them have been splendid. I helped a friend set up her etsy store, but when I saw the way she was interacting with customers, advised that she close up shop because pretty soon she wouldn't be getting any more sales due to her poor behavior. She didn't and then eventually her bad reviews took care of the rest of her business.

That little rant aside, I do think it's appropriate to leave factual feedback for negative reviews. However, a custom item by default is going to take longer than something that is premade, so I would double-check the item description and her store policies before you leave anything permanent.