Admin I would like answers on Pre-Transit issues

[#1]

So it has been going on since Monday and I think we deserve some answers after this many days since the pinned thread has not a single update.

Any tracking manually entered or entered through a third party shipping service is only showing Pre-Transit.  I am currently up to over 75 now.

This is effecting star seller status.  Will this be addressed?

Do I have to contact Etsy support and give every single one of the over 75 order numbers to get this fixed or will the fix when it is implemented update all the tracking numbers?

It won't be long until my customers start to contact me asking what is going on with their packages and it's not a good look for my shop, or Etsy

[CarolinaHats]

@PrettyVagrant @CloverFinds

I tried the fix also, where if the package hasn't yet been delivered, I temporarily change the tracking number and then change it back to the correct one.  The tracking information updated right away and my package now says in-transit.  I also noticed that it didn't seem to work on older orders that are out for delivery today.  But at least I've got some fixed, and now I have 44 that ETSY will have to fix.  It will interesting to see what happens with the Star Seller stats tomorrow!   Thank you so much for the tip!

[PrettyVagrant]

You only have so long to edit the tracking info, but I am not sure how long since it's not something I usually have to do.  Id say do it with in 24hrs.

[CloversFinds]

@CarolinaHats 

Yes, I have one package already delivered and you cannot edit the tracking number for those. It is ridiculous what we have to do this but at least it is something we can use going forward for new orders. I won't hold my breath for the old ones to be fixed but I guess we'll see...

[PrettyVagrant]

I have a feeling now that Etsy has the currently labels fixed with Etsy labels that this will be put on the back burner for those that use third party label services since it does not have high priority.  

Clock is ticking on all the past orders that are affecting our star seller status.  We were told by Admin that star seller will not be affected, but yet there is still not a fix for all the past orders.  it IS still being affected.  I am happy to send all the order numbers over to have them fixed, but chat wont do it and Admin is giving no answers to what we need to do.

[BirdsongEmporium]

@PrettyVagrant how on earth can they say it won't affect star seller? Clearly it is affecting star seller status because what I'm seeing is sellers having this issue are also reporting that their star seller shipping status is dropping.

[DivineCrossings]

This is simply my opinion and I could be wrong, but with all of the bots seemingly interconnected, this can create a devastating cascade. Failed tracking > loss of star seller > possible payment reserves > suspension/forced vacation mode > shop closure. If one program stops working it’s kinda like dominos…one by one they all fall. I get the feeling our shops’ viability is sitting on a house of cards. Add to that Etsy’s laissez-faire approach and we’re all one programming error away from disappearing.

[BirdsongEmporium]

My thoughts too @DivineCrossings.

[BlackSheepDyeworks]

@DivineCrossings, agree.  A few other potential consequences, off the top of my head:

- Buyers cannot see accurate tracking within Etsy > decreased trust, increased confusion

- Increased volume of support contacts, from both buyers & sellers > wasted resources, increased cost to Etsy

- Increased risk of instant refunds, because bots don't see order as shipped > costs sellers, and potentially Etsy (although our fee increase should mitigate risk to Etsy)

[leinweberstudio]

...we’re all one programming error away from disappearing.

I wish I could be 100% certain that all of this is just an error, which is a sad state of affairs.

[CloversFinds]

@DivineCrossings 

Yes, not a bad idea to make sure your data backups are up-to-date, I have read some bad things about good shops being closed with no warning or clearly stated reason, anything's possible here...

[bradgoodell]

I contacted Chat 2 days ago, they said they would fix my items that show no tracking.  Gave me a list of ones they would fix.  Were great online.

Only problem.

Not fixed.  2 days later and nothing has changed.

[BarronDesignStudio]

Exactly.  Chat plus two call-backs and not one correction.  The list grows longer and my patience is gone

[Adorabilities]

@bradgoodell 
That was my experience with the first chat I did.
During the second chat (through the help section), the agent went through each one and fixed them while I waited. And then asked me to double-check them to make sure she got all of them!
So if they're actually changing them, you should see it right away.

[bycinbyhand]

If our shops lose search visibility due to this, how are we going to be compensated? We keep paying fees and...the entire month's orders, so far, appear in  Etsy as Pre-Transit; please address this, Etsy.

[EnergyPeace]

I contacted chat this morning again as the orders that I believed to be fixed went back to affecting my ss rate. 

2 weeks of engineers working on this and it isn't fixed? So are they truly working on this or are they ignoring it? 

I quit listing and relisting my items that are expiring because Etsy only seem to cause me grief and stress nowadays so I am sitting back and deciding what to do with my Etsy shop at this time. 

If Etsy cannot resolve a technical issue on their side in 2 weeks time, they should freeze the ss program. If Etsy cannot fulfill THEIR side of the program with correct stats, they should not punish and kick sellers out of the program due to no fault of their own. It is irresponsible to have a demanding program with criteria to meet and then not correctly track it. 

Etsy, hire a new engineer? I cannot believe "engineers" have been working on this for 2 weeks and it isn't fixed. If you think I sound disrespectful, then look in the mirror. This is complete disrespect for sellers who have been working hard to fulfill your criteria only for Etsy to let them down because of an "oops" for 2 weeks. Not acceptable. 

[PrettyVagrant]

Totally agree.  We are providing tracking per the SS rules. We didn't beak anything, but yet are getting punished

[TraceyGurleyArt]

Totally agree with you!!

[AliciasOddities]

This is getting absurd. I can't even figure out how this "bug" works - if everything was showing up pre-transit, or everything that took an extra day for USPS to scan, it would make sense, but this seems to be totally random. You'd think there would be a common denominator to the orders getting flagged, but there's no way we can figure that out without the data. Who knows - maybe it's all orders with 3 as the sixth to last number, or any customers with more than one J in their street name. Two weeks should be plenty of time to find the error. They really should freeze the program until they get their act together. I'm down to 96% - another couple of days and poof to ss.

[OrangeGroveBeads]

I've tried to find the answer within this thread and so far have been unsuccessful....are we going to wind up being punished with payment reserve from Etsy because of all of the pre-transit orders we have showing?  I'm taking an indefinite break from Etsy at the end of this month anyway but if they put my shop on payment reserve because of an issue at their end, it may happen sooner.  I'm just really so over all of this. 

[PrettyVagrant]

This is from the help section:

If a Payment account reserve is placed on a seller’s account, a percentage of funds from each new sale of a physical item is set aside until the order is in transit with valid tracking or for 45 days if valid tracking is not provided. The Payment account reserve ends after 90 days, unless the shop receives an Etsy policy violation during the reserve period.

If your Payment account has a reserve, you may be able to receive the full funds from a sale sooner than 45 days by adding tracking that shows the order in transit. 

[slimchicken]

PrettyVagrant;

"If your Payment account has a reserve, you may be able to receive the full funds from a sale sooner than 45 days by adding tracking that shows the order in transit. "

You'd think, right? I have 60+ items that shipped the day an order came in, or the day after if we had a really busy day. It's been 2 weeks now and all orders have been delivered. They are still holding over $3000 in reserve, with all these orders still saying "pre transit". I have sent a half dozen messages to Etsy and only received one copy/paste answer about why accounts can be placed on reserve. Not one of the reasons listed applies to my account. They have not answered any of the other requests for nearly two weeks. By my calculation, I have now lost over a thousand dollars in sales and Etsy has lost all those fees since I put my shop in vacation mode a few days ago. Ridiculous. 

[CloesCloset]

Chat refused to do anything, and indicated that the issue was being worked on... star seller continues to decline... what a mess!

[TraceyGurleyArt]

I'll lose star seller too if they won't fix mine.  I've tried chat 4 times and emailed them.

Still, nothing.

[LanaLuckyFinds]

Everything was fixed on Monday for items delivered in the beginning of March. Now, new orders (both delivered and in transit) are in Pre-Transit again. They said that that fixed the issue for the new orders. Apparently not.

[BirdsongEmporium]

I'm wondering if they fixed this for Etsy labels but not for labels created outside Etsy. Usually we use Pirate Ship. It is easier, the reporting there is better, so is customer service and the pricing for some services is also better than what Etsy offers. However, all of the orders we shipped this month using Pirate Ship are showing as pre-transit and our star seller rating for shipping has tanked saying all those packages don't have tracking. So I tried using Etsy labels yesterday for the order we had and today that order is showing as being in transit while all the Pirate Ship labels have now delivered but still show as being pre-transit. So is this Etsy trying to force sellers to using Etsy labels by fixing the problem for Etsy labels but not for other label services?

ETA I haven't tried to contact Etsy customer service because the chat on the dashboard isn't working. It just does a weirdly flaky thing with gray bars shifting like something is going to happen but never does.