Expected Delivery Date Errors...

[BlackberryDesigns]

Customer orders on Thursday, late evening, item is 1-3 days production time with 1-3 days in transit with Priority shipping.

3 days is Friday, Monday, Tuesday, ship date should show as Tuesday, with delivery on east coast as between Thursday-Friday.

Etsy is showing the customer they will receive their package on Tuesday-Wednesday. Giving me 48 hours to create, ship and receive. Simply not possible.

Needless to say the customer was irate and 14 emails later I am suffering the consequences for Etsy's error.

2 Days later, same thing, this time I managed to catch the order in time to explain to the customer. I have lost a good chunk of change having to cancel orders because of this "expected delivery date" issue.

Etsy we have a hard enough time trying to explain to customers that we are responsible to ship timely but can't possibly be held responsible for the errors created by shipping services like USPS or Fedex. The customers are now seeing we are responsible for shipping services as noted on the listings.

I feel my customers frustration and they should not be put in this position. If I begged would you change it back to "expected ship date"??

[custompetandtack]

I started posting about this mid-July (from my other shop) and it seems this is how it's supposed to work..which is just stupid.
It's setting up sellers that use calculated shipping to have mad buyers and bad reviews because buyers will see that 1st estimated delivery date and expect their item on that date. This was s stupid idea when eBay started this and now Etsy is doing it.

Why not leave it alone and show our processing times, like it was doing, "get it fast, ready to ship in 1-3 days".


Here's the link to my thread:
Admin replied a few times on page 1 and 2 and the last time on page 3

https://www.etsy.com/teams/7720/bugs/discuss/18767143/page/1

@Marie Kelly "It's possible to have the earliest expected delivery date be before your processing time is up.
This can occur if you offer a range of processing times, rather than a single processing time. So, a range of 3-5 days rather than just 3 days or 5 days.

The earliest expected delivery date is the earliest processing time, plus the most optimistic transit time (1 day).
For example use a single processing time, of 5 days instead of the 3-5 day range."

*******************
Using a single processing time doesn't work either because instead of a range of estimated delivery days, it only shows ONE estimated delivery date.

[BlackberryDesigns]

Thanks Pat. Etsy has this setup as defaults in their shipping and I have always used it. They have set it up this way. They are setting us up for bad reviews and I have 2 possibly coming for this issue and have done my best to try and defer my customers anger. Amazon has something similar but they allow us the full days so it has never been an issue. This is really, really bad! I only saw it in my shop yesterday, so was unaware it existed, I don't think it had rolled out to me yet. If they want us to ship fast, this certainly is not the way to do it. We will need to extend our production time.

[juliegodseyjewelry]

Oh so are you saying that this is how it is only if you use calculated shipping? If so I'm about to change my shipping settings back to manual because I'm not ok with customers thinking they will possibly receive their item the day it is scheduled to ship out. So lame. Thanks for the info! 

[GRITSGirlz]

Dea, I agree. Estimated delivery date was poorly implemented by Etsy. 1) not allowing for the full processing time (Etsy uses the least if a range, so if I have an item that ships in 1-3 days, Etsy uses 1 day and 2) Etsy is using 1 day for delivery. Yes, really. See Admin's response in the thread Pat linked above.

USPS is challenged delivering Priority Express in 1 business day. It's certainly not going to happen for Priority, Parcel Select or First Class Package.


I would write into support@etsy.com and include screenshots of your many convos with the buyer related to the erroneous Estimated Delivery date.

[ZehOriginalArt]

I agree and have complained about it also. I got the same response as Pat with the addition to the effect that they use the most optimistic date possible even if it is actually impossible. When I tried to explain that it is far better to under promise and over deliver, it fell on deaf ears.

The problem with expecting sellers to rectify Etsy's delivery dates by extending our processing times is that it puts us in a bind. Etsy has filters to sort by one day shipping. If we can get the order out in one day, but must list a processing time of 3 days to make sure the delivery date is more realistic, we don't show up in the one day filter.

They are making things impossible.

[BlackberryDesigns]

Well isn't this special, just got a email from a customer in Scotland who is expecting the order they placed today to be in their hands in 3 working days. Etsy is not clear that these are for domestic delivery times....I am in a world of hurt as many of us are. My pieces can take 3-4 hours to make, how in the world am I suppose to make them, and have them delivered by USPS first class shipping (3-5 days in transit) in 3 working days, they are not even giving me any production time. The amount of stress this is creating has caused my blood pressure to go through the roof, and I don't have high blood pressure. The customers see this is writing and expect it is 'the truth' not estimates, and who can blame them?

[GRITSGirlz]

If I change country to an international country in the listing's shipping area, then I only see your processing time. Expected delivery date is removed by necessity.

[BlackberryDesigns]

Well at least that is something, but it still doesn't solve the issue, and the customer seems to think it will arrive in 3 working days, need to find out where they saw this.

[BlackberryDesigns]

I have been with Etsy for years and this has to be the worst Epic Fail I have ever seen. Wait till the busy holidays are upon us....we haven't seen nothing yet!

Oh, and if you need it sooner, upgrade your shipping...meaning the seller will stay up all night making your item (we're robots, right?) rent a private plane and fly it to you, so you will have it in the one working day Etsy says you will.

This is just plain silly,

Like anyone is going to hover over this and read the really long text. People are to busy to read the titles and descriptions!

[ZehOriginalArt]

This thread is a perfect example of why unrealistic expected delivery dates will fail:

USPS' largest sorting center North Texas shut down this week!
https://www.etsy.com/teams/7722/discussions/discuss/18791456/page/1

Amazon gives expected delivery dates. However, if there is a delay, they also update and customers get an email with the revised dates. Does Etsy have something like that in place?

[BlackberryDesigns]

Thanks everyone, I realize we are all in the same boat and I feel sorry for my customers also. I will not extend my production time because as I understand it the lower the production time we get a slightly better placement so would be shooting ourselves in the foot, yet, I want my customers happy. I was thinking about sending the mails to Etsy showing what a epic fail this is! Don't think Etsy will appreciate the customers foul language and name calling directed at me over this, trust me, it was really bad. They have put us all in a untenable position, unable to meet unreasonable production and delivery times. I try and teach my customers I am not a robot and need some down time, weekends and evenings (even though I work most of those) and Etsy just threw us under the bus.

[ZehOriginalArt]

I hope you do send the emails to Etsy. If you have support beta, use that and if you get the cut and paste reply that Pat and I got, question it until you get through to someone on the team responsible. It's important that they see the fallout from this.

[BlackberryDesigns]

@Janet, Thanks!

[custompetandtack]

Same here, I hope you send Etsy those convo's you got.

[BlackberryDesigns]

My temporary resolution to this is to do a snippet with shipping/production times and email this to each customer. It's going to be a royal pain, but I can't see another way around it. I will also send Etsy the emails from 3 customers this week, including the brutal ones to show them what a Epic Fail this has become.

[AntiqueAndBijou]

Trying to estimate delivery to anywhere is pretty impossible, even when it is to next door and there are not weather or natural disaster events going on. Buyers take these estimates quite seriously - as fact, not "estimate".

[BlackberryDesigns]

@Katherine, that is the issue, right? The see it in writing so it 'must be so'!

[Shelleyville]

Another suggestion I might add is to not use calculated shipping.  I do manual shipping in both my shops and don't have these issues. 

[GypsyIntent]

I just got an item packed and into the mailbox to ship out today within 10 minutes of receiving the order and was already getting an alert that the buyer was expecting shipping a day before first class shipping could even pull it off. The only way for me to have avoided it would be to pack up the order and ship it out a full day before the girl even made the purchase from me.

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