My first negative feedback : (

[#1]

I took this really badly and found it very upsetting today to receive my first negative feedback, as I am sure like many of you, you work so hard to make your craft and build your seller profile, walk on eggshells somewhat for succes and put your heart into it, and then a feedback can feel so immediately damaging - especially when it was premature, unfair, did not contact me first and felt like it was not a considered feedback on the buyers behalf!

I feel that there should be a recourse to respond next to the feedback, when it is unfair - perhaps there is, if someone could let me know?

I state clearly that I ship from the UK, and that shipping outside the UK takes 3-5 days. Because of the weekend, today would have been the expected receipt date for an item that is bought on evening of 14 April - and as far as I can tell she left her feedback morning of today in Las Vegas, without waiting to see first if it would arrive today at all - am I wrong?

[Former_Member]

I agree with what most are saying here. Customs can keep items for a while especially during busy seasons such as christmas and most other holidays. I state that it can take up to 20 business days as this is what the canada post site says, unless a more express method of shipping is used.

I would check with your post provider what their policies are and relay that to your customers. Your package can only go as fast as the post office can, so unless they want to pay for UPS overnight, they are going to have to wait.

[Former_Member]

i axiously await neg. feedback after i ship each item, not that my products are inferior in any way, but just that disgruntled impossible to please customer that may find me one day!! it sounds like yours found you. 3-5 days from the uk is a miracle! keep up the good work, dont let it ruin your day!

[Former_Member]

It does seem like this buyer was hasty in her feedback, especially for an international order. I would try the kiss and make up; if she is unwilling, leave her feedback and explain in it what happened.

[Former_Member]

I believe that feedback has been changed so that you can no longer see the identity of the buyer. So hopefully because of that, it can now be discussed since I kind of see it as a valuable conversation especially for when it is the first time it happens to someone and they need advice.

On a positive note @ sisterbatik i really like your pillows :)

[Former_Member]

I would also put in your policies about the delay in international orders and that way they should know before going in what the shipping time is and you're covered.

[Former_Member]

I have a feeling this person didn't read your policies... or saw UK and thought US. One week from the UK to the US would make me think 'super fast shipping.' I don't know how that particular listing described shipping, so that's additional information they had that I can't comment on. If you had it explictly stated there, it would be hard to miss.

In your policies, under shipping, you state shippping times and it says it takes longer outside of the UK, so it's implied. The majority of people would figure that out, but it does take a second look. I suggest making this fact much more explicit... change the very first sentence under "shipping" to something like "All items ship from the United Kingdom." Also, whenever possible, spell out United Kingdom. The US is the most common on Etsy, and so someone reading quickly might see what they assume, 'S,' rather than what you've typed, 'K'.

Not that this is your fault, there are lots of places in a shop a buyer can find out where it's located, but maybe this one didn't make the effort. If I were you, I'd really spell it out. That way, if you ever having a problem with shipping expectations again, you can refer to exactly where it's explained in plain language. I hope that helps! I haven't gotten any negative feedback, but I'm sure it happens to most sellers at some point. If it happens to me, I can imagine it will be devastating, because I put my heart into my shop, as it seems you do also. Twig and Sprout Vintage

[Former_Member]

So so sorry this happened to you. It is a nightmare I am sure. But I have seen many many shops with more than one neg keep chugging along with many many sales after the fact. Just the one neg won't dissuade a potential shopper. Esp with your beautiful items and fab photos! Esp with the date in question, most people can see that it was a bit premature.

Best to you and be encouraged to keep moving on.

[Former_Member]

Don't worry about the negative feedback. You're shop is filled with so many beautiful things it won't hurt you a bit!

I happened to mention your shop on my facebook page last weekend 'cause it's so gorgeous. :-)

https://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php?id=1430175040

[QuirkyUniverse]

You have some really beautiful items. I don't think that feedback will affect your sales. Most reasonable people can tell it was not called for. I've been selling on Ebay for about ten years and I've had a couple negative feedbacks that were obviously the buyer just being a pill and I don't think it affected my sales at all, although it does hurt my feelings and in some cases makes me angry because I do my utmost to provide excellent items and excellent customer service.

[efinegifts]

We agree with the above comments. Most buyers have not a clue about how long a package can take to arrive from overseas.

We estimate up to 21 business days for delivery overseas.

From what we understand, this buyer has not yet received their package. They may be freaked out that they will not receive it at all.

We would contact them and assure them that you are as concerned as they are. Ask them to let you know when they receive the package and then when they have received it, request the kiss and make up.

It is very difficult to bite your tongue in the face of unfair feedback, but when speaking with the customer, make sure you do. This is the place to vent.

Best wishes

[Former_Member]

I hope your buyer understands your very reasonable explanation and changes the feedback! Keep us posted and good luck!!

[CausticThreads]

international orders can take up to 6 weeks, I live in the US and I wouldn't promise an item in that short of a time period! I am sorry that she did this but you should also try changing your policies.

[Former_Member]

Just looked at your shop, and you make beautiful things. I think buyers would be much more concerned about negative feedback concerning item quality than shipping time (at least I would), so with all your wonderfully positive feedback, I don't think it will affect your sales.

[PepiDesigns]

It's horrible that this happened to you! But what's even worse is that they buyer 1) didn't fully understand your policies and 2) didn't contact you directly to figure things out.
I hope you can kiss and make up, because your work is beautiful and you definitely don't deserve that feedback!
I'd also look into rephrasing things in your policies and making sure that everything is clear - basically the same point that a lot of other people already made.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

I buy certain supplies from an overseas buyer who has expressly stated in his policies that he is not responsible for shipping delays after the item leaves his shop, and that the shipping times stated are estimates only.

I agree that a negative comment about delivery time shouldn't make a difference.

Good luck!

[Former_Member]

If i see someone has less than 100% positive feedback i always read the feedback to see why the neg.
To me it is the buyer who appears to be in the wrong in this case. Sometimes even domestic parcel post would not arrive in 6 days.

On another note, when I ship my orders I always send message to buyer and tell them that if they are not completely satisfied, or if order is damaged to contact me right away so i can make it right. So far no problems but I think this might make the buyer think to contact me before leaving negative fb.
Like you said, it's all live and learn so try not to feel bad about it.
As I said, to me buyer appears to be in wrong and i am sure most others will feel the same when they see it.

[MoonspellCrafts]

If you are shipping between the US and Canada, it can take an awfully long time. Even 4 weeks...I tell people that 4 weeks is the worse case scenario.

Otherwise, don't worry. I am lucky so far, on ebay I've sold to over 500 and and got 3 nuetral...you cannot please everyone.

[Former_Member]

I would just ignore her grumpiness. It really sucks, and I'd be super sad too that the rating has no reflection on the item, just the shipping, so just keep moving forward!

Seriously, people don't realize a lot of the time that outside of shipping an item rapidly, a seller has little control sometimes on how long it takes for an item to get to you. Especially if it was an international buyer, they should have figured it would take a while! Although it does help to pinpoint that if you are an international buyer it takes a lot longer for the item to reach you.

On a brighter note, I think a lot of buyers wouldn't be repelled from buying from you if they like your stuff from her rating. They'll just be aware that it can take a week or so to get an item from you if they're an international buyer.

So no worries! Cheer up! :]

[Former_Member]

Contact Etsy. They will remove it if it was left unjustly.

[Former_Member]

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[Former_Member]

I don't think you should take this very critically as thi is clearly a mailing issue and not your fault. I think th best thing to do would be to say it may take up to 2 weeks for shipping internationally and also add something about customs delay. You should also add that they try to resolve any sort of issue privately prior to posting a negative comment otherwise they will get a negative feedback also :)

[AeridesDesigns]

I've seen a few of these threads lately and I just don't understand why the customer isn't asking the seller what happened before leaving feedback - US to US within 10 days is within "reason". UK to US? forget it! When I ship outside the US I tell my buyers to expect 2-4 weeks, maybe longer as international mail and customs can go either way.

OP, hopefully once the item arrives your customer will be receptive to the KAMU option.

[TheWhimsicalMuse]

I'm sorry this happened! That must be so disappointing.

I generally don't volunteer information on how long something will take to get somewhere. What I do is send a convo or email after I've received notification of the sale & at that time I say when I will mail the order. I ask that they contact me with any questions or comments. If someone did ask how long their order would take to arrive, I would say something along the lines of "the postal service estimates x amount of days but they don't guarantee a delivery date. I've found it generally takes x number of days to get from here but there. It could take longer."

It sounds like it would be a good idea to clarify that you are in the United Kingdom rather than simply the UK. Some people frankly just don't pay full attention to what they're reading. If you're going to address how long it will take for something to arrive somewhere, make sure to give yourself a large cushion of time & also, like many have suggested, clarify that it's business days.

Good luck with this situation. I hope you're able to get it worked out to your satisfaction.

[Former_Member]

hey! my guess is that if you offer up your apology she'd be willing to kiss and make up on etsy ( go here: http://www.etsy.com/help/article/104 )
my first and only negative feedback was when i sent an item to a customer with awful packaging and it was 100% my fault. she ended up having to take the earrings apart and re-create them! she was super nice, though, and corrected her feedback to a positive after i explained my mistake.

such a learning experience, though!

[Former_Member]

oh and i read all of your feedback- only 1 customer said bad shipping, everyone else went out of their way to say how awesome the shipping was!
you'll be fine