Does anyone work at Etsy customer support?

[MockStarStudioCo]

Hi All, 

I have a real issue with my store at the moment. I am unable to send messages on Etsy. I was doing well to earn my 'Star Seller' badge, but now i am not able to reply to customers within 24 hours. Luckily for my customers, i was able to email them to help them, but i am still paying the price for it. 

I have emailed support but i have not had a single reply yet, and its been a week.  I have also requested a call back twice. Only once did they actually call me. They couldnt help and said they would forward the issue to someone who can. That was 5 days ago, and i still haven't heard from any one. 

Any suggestions on what i can do to get the help i need? 

Thanks

James

[CraftyCornishMaids]

if it's an etsy message saying you've been muted,

normally it's because you have been contacting people who are not customers, or giving blanket responses,

... otherwise, if it isn't a deliberate intervention, try a browser on a laptop or desktop

[OneEyeCatStudio]

"normally it's because you have been contacting people who are not customers, or giving blanket responses, ..."

Really?
I didn't know that you could be muted for responding to messages.
I thought it was only for initiating too many messages.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

i have seen people here, who have very confusing listings, and have said they have a standard snippet set up to use as an initial response

they could, of course, not being completely honest, but I have seen a few

[MockStarStudioCo]

Hi @CraftyCornishMaids 

I have only messaged thank you messages to my customers, no one else. 

I have tried to send message on the app and on the web etc but nothing seems to work. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@MockStarStudioCo 

when you mark a sale as complete, you can put a thankyou there, and it goes in the same confirmation message

you don't know if your customers ticked the "no contact" box, only etsy does

you will have to wait it out, and don't do it again

[AnnaleasFinest]

@MockStarStudioCo 

"I have only messaged thank you messages to my customers, no one else. "

What for?

Only as a thank you after shipping an order, or more, like sending discounts...?

The latter is considered spam and could be marked as such.

The former is unneccessary and could annoy some buyers.

I know that a lot of sellers place great value on creating a personal contact with the buyer, but you can really put your "Thank you" into your shipping notification, instead.

Not all buyers appreciate a "double whammy", --a private message in addition to the official Etsy shipping notification!

If they have a shop as well, you force them into a reply, if they are (aspiring) starsellers.

If they didn't realize they need to reply to them, they may have gotten dinged for it, marked you as spam, to recover their stats, and then, if you get marked as spam a few times, Etsy reacts.

So, no matter how friendly you mean it, "less is more". Imo.

[CuriousityShop]

Last time I had an issue, it took two weeks for them to get back to me. Luckily it doesn't happen to me often.

[NanaLetha]

@MockStarStudioCo  - Have your messages been muted? If so, that means you have sent too many in a short period of time.

[hopeandjoystudios]

I think there is a difference between INITIATING messages and answering a lot of messages. Answering ..ok. Sending..it is seen as probably spam.

[MockStarStudioCo]

The error message i get is "Hmm. Something went wrong. Try refreshing, but if this persists contact support."

So not sure if they are muted or its an glitch. 

But ALL my messages are to my customers who brought something from me. Its a thank you message. 

Thanks

James

[hopeandjoystudios]

@MockStarStudioCo that seems an error message not a muted message, Try another browser or if using the app..don't. Other things..clear your cache and cookies. Restart your device. 

[VintageRescueSquad]

And if your messages have been intentionally muted, you just have to wait until it is lifted. People say 1-2 weeks.

[BlueCatStudioShop]

@MockStarStudioCo When I get muted, there is a good size  counter that shows up when I try to enter the forum. It counts my remaining mute time in minutes or seconds, I forget which. Anyway, you would know if you have been muted. Sounds to me like something else has gone wrong. Good luck.

[hopeandjoystudios]

I think the answer to your question is technically Yes. But I feel they may look at questions and skip ones they see as not urgent in their opinion or ones that will resolve on their own.

[ApogeeVintage]

So that's a no.

[hopeandjoystudios]

They have answered my questions. BUT  I have only had a couple "situations" since 2007 and they were fairly dire. One I got a call back and almost immediate response on their end. One I got ignored for weeks but when I went through chat they passed me on  to a team and it was solved in a day. Have I seen people here reporting awful issues and languishing for weeks? YES. I have also seen some who seem to think Etsy is their personal "why am I not getting sales" hotline. They must get slammed with trivial issues..which makes fielding serious issues harder. They got the Help "sorter" a few years back to field some of those(but if they just keep pushing still need help or misreport their issue as dire it doesn't help) then chat to field and sort more of that..still there are millions of sellers now and not enough help people. I do not think seller support is prioritized. I think cases like hacking or financial set up issues should be fast tracked..maybe they are to a degree. 

[ApogeeVintage]

Nothing is trivial when it's a negative experience, out of our hands, and happening firsthand. This is compounded when the sole option we're extended is to have completely circular and evasive conversations with bot-like support staff who don't understand the basic mechanisms of Etsy. We were promised additional support as sellers; this has not happened. If anything it has gotten worse. Period.

[smithriverwild]

I've been selling on Etsy for over 10 years, and I've never had so much trouble getting in contact with Etsy support! Just trying to run my small business and I have a few issues I need to discuss with them, and spending all morning attempting to get in contact. I keep getting looped into the Etsy help endless, unhelpful cycle, and can't get to where it says "request a call back". Maddening!

I hope you get your messaging issue resolved and they don't penalize you for it. I've never had that problem but just wanted to address the lack of support issue.

[nineteen27]

@smithriverwild 

try this:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?segment=selling#issue_sell_manage_listings-callback

[Metalopia]

I have saved that link to the call back site , its the only way you will get there now ... the contact button does not work anymore either ... I think Etsy is having major major issues financially right now 

[MockStarStudioCo]

Thanks! 

It is disheartening. I've only been on Etsy for a month, i was all set for Star Seller after my 90 days as i had hit all the requirements but now it shows that my messaging back stats are terrible. 

I hope they can fix it soon. 

[JustMeToo]

@MockStarStudioCo   Every time I scroll through the forums and see your question, my first thought is just "NO".

[JMOldeVintage]

@CraftyCornishMaids  - In a way I think it's a rather sad commentary if what you say is correct - that a customer/buyer opting for the "no contact" box - can cause a shop owner to be muted because they sent a personalized shipping confirmation. 

I have never thought of a shop owner's message sent to me about my order as 'spam'. I appreciate the time they took to confirm everything, the addition of any special notes - this piece/part wrapped separately - the personalized "thank you". 

Oh well, maybe it's just another sign of the times. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

I mark messages like that as spam, as I tick the no contact box.
the message you can add on purchase, and on marking complete, should really be enough