Today I’ve gotten into a bit of a squabble with a seller on Etsy. It’s my first transaction-gone-bad. Fortunately, I haven’t paid for anything, and there is no record of my order, so I can talk freely about this knowing that her name won’t be out there. L-Train and I came up with a great idea for a Christmas gift for Mr. BIL. I immediately went on Etsy and began contacting a couple sellers about a custom order.
On October 8 I found a seller who responded back and said she could do it and would let me know when she had the custom portion ready for my review and approval. On November 1 she contacted me and emailed me the graphic, which I approved on November 2.
I then waited almost four weeks and on November 28 I contacted her again to find out the status of the order, advising her that the deadline for receiving this item was Thursday, December 20 in advance of the party on Friday. When she responded later that day, it was obvious from her message to me that she hadn’t even STARTED on it yet.
A week later, on December 5, I emailed the seller for another update and was told then that she was still working on the customization design, even though I had approved it back on November 2 – over a month prior. I was also given any number of excuses about holiday schedules, kids, work.
Almost another week later, on December 11, the seller contacted me with a new design stating that the company she used to make her designs had gone out of business and she’d have to start from scratch. She also once again lamented about how busy she was with home and work. I approved the new design within 20 minutes of her sending it to me. A week later (yesterday), I had to contact her again for another update. I didn’t get a response from her at all until I sent a scathing email this morning outlining my frustration that a custom order I asked for in October and approved in early November was not going to be done in time. I told her if it couldn’t be delivered to me by THURSDAY that I wanted to cancel my order request.
She responded quickly this time, stating that SHE was out a lot of money if I backed out of the order, since she had to do the custom design TWICE. I wrote back saying that although we didn’t set a price agreement at the outset that I completely intended and expected to pay more since it was a custom design and that my main dissatisfaction is non-communication and poor planning on her part to ensure this item was ready to ship.
She wrote back and stated that if she is able to get it done by Wednesday I don’t have to pay for the item and need only pay for the express shipping for overnight delivery. Part of me is pissed off about that “offer.” I’d rather pay for the item ($20 – up from her normal price of $12-15 to compensate for the customization) and have HER pay for the express shipping ($30+) since she’s the one that lollygagged for two and a half months after I placed my order.
Either way, if this order DOES happen and I DO receive the item by Thursday, I’ll be leaving mediocre feedback at best for her.
In happier news, the item I ordered for Blondie Boss arrived yesterday and is PERFECT.
You gonna leave neutral feedback on that one?
I’d love to know who is the seller.
If I get the item and it looks nice, I’ll leave neutral feedback. But I don’t even think at this point that I’ll be getting the item at all, which means I wouldn’t even be able to leave feedback.
I would stick to my guns and say, I’ll pay for the item but I’m not paying for the extra shipping and if I don’t get the item when we agreed, she’s getting negative feedback.