Etsy Refunded All Orders for the Last 60 Days on Digital Products Customers Already Downloaded

[Arcforms]

Etsy Refunded All Orders for the Last 60 Days on Digital Products Customers Already Downloaded—Going Against Its Own Rules of Digital Products Being Non-Refundable Name Verification 

I am absolutely emotionally and economically destroyed. I have poured so much effort into running this shop, and now not only have I lost over 100 orders, but my shop has also been closed. This shop is my main source of income, and the situation has been devastating.

The exact same thing happened to me today. I hold dual nationality, and my name appears on documents in both Latin and Greek Latin scripts. In Greek Latin, it’s written using Elot, which is simply a transliteration of the Greek characters into English letters. While the two versions of my name may look different, they are essentially the same.

I was given a 60-day period to resolve the issue. I submitted every document I had—my ID, passport, taxpayer ID, driver’s license, etc.—but every submission was rejected. I uploaded these files at least 15 times and repeatedly reached out to support, only to be told each time that my case was “under review.”

As the days went by, I lost over €2,800 due to refunds for digital file orders that customers had already purchased and downloaded. When the refunds started, I contacted Etsy support again. I was told the same thing: my case was under review, and I would be notified via email. One of the agents even promised to get back to me immediately, only to leave me on hold for over two and a half hours with no updates.

When I called again, another support representative was slightly more helpful but still reiterated that the issue was under review. I’m in complete shock that all these products—digital files customers had already downloaded—were refunded. Despite explaining my situation and providing all the necessary documents, nothing has been resolved.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

all products here are refundable, including digital

digital products, by their nature, are non-returnable

there is a big difference

....

this is from etsy

Here are additional criteria for your ID:

• The copy must contain your full name, date of birth, and expiration date. If any of this information is on the back of your ID, you will need to upload a copy of both the front and back of your document. 
• The name on your ID must be in Latin characters.
• The information on the document must correspond with the information provided during shop setup. 
• The image(s) must be clear, legible, and unaltered. 

you need to upload documentation, for the country you have set your shop in, in latin characters only, and everything must match exactly, down to the last letter and "."

do not submit anything in non-latin  characters, or for a different country

[Arcforms]

Hello, thank you for reaching out. I have uploaded all the documents I could provide and have tried doing so multiple times in the past. I also contacted support repeatedly, but there has been no resolution. Unfortunately, the support team has been unhelpful, and I never expected such poor customer service.

When I started my shop, I registered it using my driver’s license, where my name is in Latin. Later, I added my business name, which is written in ELOT Greek letters transliterated to Latin this is when the 60 days period started. I explained this situation to support, but all I received was reassurance that the team would help me. However, it was not resolved in time, and I am now at a complete loss. I send them more than 15 times my drivers licence, passport, ID, Tax payer ID. Everything on hand showing that I am the same person.  

I really don’t know what to do at this point—it’s been awful. How can Etsy refund orders that have already been completed, even for buyers who received their products and left reviews? It should have been made much clearer that Etsy would refund all orders from the past 60 days, not just pending orders. What would a seller understand from such unclear communication?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@Arcforms 

not sure where you put your business name, but you do not have a business name and registration number properly entered, if you did, it shows up in sellers details

etsy checks the countries business registration site, to verify the business name, and number, are valid for you - have you checked your countries business registration site, to see if all that matches?

....

with a business, both bits are separate, business information and registration,

and personal information and tax

[DaysofYoreTreasures]

I strongly disagree with Etsy taking the seller's funds and refunding customers who have already happily received their products.

If Etsy is unable to release the funds to the seller until banking & id verification are complete, why could they not put that money into a holding account? 

There have been too many forum reports of sellers repeatedly submitting verification documents - and failing - for it to be a random problem.

It makes me wonder if there is a problem with the Etsy verification process, in particular the verification of documents that require interpretation by a human eye instead of automated software.

[TrinketDrawersUK]

There have been so many similar posts recently that Etsy really needs to explain what's happening / going wrong as it no longer feels like a safe or legitimate place to sell. 

As above if it's a case of no human staff or using poorly trained outsourcing then the funds should have been placed in a holding account till the ID is verified.  

[DigTheDesign]

@thatregina second time in as many days. Perhaps your specialist team needs better specialists?

[ModKenneth · Accepted solution]

Hello! We're sorry to hear you're experiencing issues with your account. We've forwarded your concerns to a specialist team. Thank you! 

Please know we handle support inquiries privately per our Community Policy – we’re closing this thread, so you can get the support you need from us directly.