False Reviews and Unfair Refunds – Losing Trust in Etsy

[AnatoliaVibe]

Hi everyone,

I’m really frustrated. Etsy keeps refunding customers without even hearing the seller's side, and they never remove reviews full of false claims. In my case, I clearly proved through messages that the customer’s statements were untrue, but Etsy still sided with them, saying “it’s our policy.” This kind of approach really breaks our trust in the platform.

Has anyone else gone through something like this?

[BootifulLabels]

It is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong.  Buyers are entitled to express their opinion of the transaction as a whole.  There are laws in many jurisdictions that protect that right.  The review in question is already off the front page and is unlikely to affect sales, as you have mostly 5 star reviews.  Customer service is not just about the sale or the product, it also includes how you handle matters when the transaction doesn't go as planned.  Learn from the experience and use it to tweak the buyer experience to avoid the same issue with future buyers.  If it is the cost o the refund that bothers you, remember you are running a business and refunds, damaged goods etc are a business expense you can claim at tax time.

[SethMade24]

So professional, learned a lot.

[PieceByNumberQuilts2]

I suggest reading carefully Etsy‘s updated Creativity Standards, as I suspect a number of your items do not meet them.  Everything in your shop needs to be handmade or designed by you or people in your shop,  or otherwise they need to be vintage (over 20 years old), or crafts supplies (which Etsy further narrowed down in the latest version).  Production partners are people making products that YOU design, they are not simply people you buy things from to resell on Etsy.  Although I can’t say for sure, your items appear far too varied for them all to have been grown, handmade or designed by you (rugs, food products, metal crafts, ceramic, bags and backpacks, etc.).  Reselling items crafted by others isn’t allowed here.

Although Etsy has quite a lot of standards, they do not carefully check that each shop meets them, because they simply can’t.  However, when shops that don’t meet their standards have issues, Etsy provides far less seller support, especially when buyers complain and demand refunds. 

Your shop and products are appealing and beautifully presented.  But Etsy may not be not a good fit for your shop - you might want to look at setting up your own website or selling on another platform. Which is a good idea in any case, because Etsy can and does suddenly close down shops that don’t adhere to their rules.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

there are only certain reasons reviews can be legally removed by etsy

them being false is not one of them, etsy is not allowed to decide what is true or not.

If you believe them to be false, you have to take them to court, and have a judgement in your fabour, only then can etsy remove it - the courts have to decide on true or false, etsy is lega;lly not allowed to.

.......

If your items are shipped late, or marked as shipped late - ie you put the tracking number in after the ship by date (even if they were shipped on time), then etsy refunds in full, and recoups from you.

also, if you are not making those items by hand yourself, then etsy will refund in full and recoup from you.