Funds held in reserve / Star Seller technical issues

[HocknRocks]

I have an ongoing issue for which customer service has been absolutely no help and Ann wondering if anyone else is experiencing this.

Currently my on-time shipping and tracking rating is 88% despite all order being shipped on time (or early) and tracking added the same day. For some reason, twice in the last month my on-time shipping and tracking rating switches from 100% to below 95% when I add tracking. When I click to find out why, it tells me 3 orders are missing tracking information.

Every single one of my orders has tracking information, including the 3 it says are missing. Screenshots of everything provided to customer service. When I asked customer service what was going on, they confirmed all orders have tracking and tell me to wait 24 hours for it to refresh. Then they go days without resounding when it doesn’t refresh.

This most recent incident has been going for 72 hours now. When I download my order history, those 3 orders show “no” in the shipped on time column, despite the fact that they were shipped on time and I have copies of the emails to the customers with tracking information to prove it. 

This morning I noticed that the funds for these 3 orders are being held in reserve. The page states that the funds will be released when tracking information is added, or no later than 90 days. 2 of the customers received their orders yesterday, the 3rd received their order today. The transactions are complete. Yet Etsy is telling me there is no tracking when their customer service reps already confirmed ther is.

Customer service has stopped responding to the help desk ticket. An email to Finance about why my funds are being held has gone unanswered. I’m at my wit’s end.

How does this get fixed once and for all? Any other sellers experiencing this?

[NanaLetha]

Are you using Etsy labels? I always use them and never had a problem with tracking not showing.

[OneEyeCatStudio]

I never use Etsy labels and have never had a problem with tracking not showing.

[HocknRocks]

No, I use PirateShip. I ship a lot of heavy items and they tend to be cheaper than Etsy labels. 

However, scrolling through the forum I see other sellers having this same issue. The replies all say to contact customer service which I have tried, but to no avail.

[PlatypusDream]

About Reserves:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360058722214-What-is-a-Payment-Account-Reserve-?segment=sell...

https://www.cindylouwho2.com/blog/2021/10/22/etsy-payment-account-reserves-what-every-seller-needs-t...

[HocknRocks]

Thanks, but I’ve read those and they don’t help me. The reason the payments are in reserve are because Etsy thinks there is no tracking when there is (and the orders have already been delivered)

[cindylouwho2]

Your reserve isn't necessarily due to the tracking issue; lots of us regularly ship without tracking and aren't on reserve. It's just as likely to be because you are a newer shop, or a combination of the two factors. 

However, the lack of tracking now means you won't get those funds until the tracking picks up,  so that is a big issue that Etsy should be fixing. They can and have fixed the tracking for other shops - demand it. 

[HocknRocks]

Thanks. Yes, I have demandedit and they just aren’t responding.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

There have been reports in the forum, that pirate ship tracking isn't registering properly with Etsy.

Etsy does only say they MAY release the funds if you ship with tracking, not that they WILL

By adding valid tracking, you may be able to release the reserved funds sooner than 45 days. If Etsy can confirm the order was dispatched, the reserved funds will be immediately released.

On average for most sellers in 2021 this meant that funds became available within 1-2 weeks from the order date, based on an internal analysis of orders in reserve during 2021.

Etsy isn’t always able to confirm tracking for some carriers. If we can’t determine an order is in transit, the funds will be reserved for the full 45-day period.

[HocknRocks]

This is from the auto reply email I received from my Finance help request:

Add tracking that shows the order in transit. If Etsy can confirm this tracking, your funds will be released as soon as your order ships. Sellers in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the UK can buy shipping labels directly on Etsy that may include tracking. Learn about customer service best practices.

Ironically, I have had two orders since and the tracking is correct and funds released for those. It’s just these 3 orders that are stuck.

[JMOldeVintage]

@CraftyCornishMaids  - Whether a shop purchased their labels thru Pirate Ship or not should basically be irrelevant. It is still a USPS tracking number.

Some shops have their accounts linked to Pirate Ship, others don't & complete the orders manually. Much like a person that might go directly to their local PO to mail a family member a package. They would get the tracking number when paying to send the package.

Last week or so I believe shops that did have Pirate Ship connected had to unlink & then redo the connection to Etsy. Apparently changes were made here.

I do feel badly for the OP, especially if it is the tracking issue that caused the reserve to be placed on their shop. 
Add in help requests that shops may receive due to the lack of accurate tracking on a buyer's order and this could become a tsunami. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@JMOldeVintage 

if there is a break with etsy/aftership/shipper, etsy doesn't recognise it,

It was 100% broken with Royal Mail to begin with, so nothing was recognised, now it's intermittent

which is what their disclaimer is for.

...... it's rubbish, but using third party links to other third party's, then this will happen

[HocknRocks]

@JMOldeVintage - I don’t have PirateShip linked and add the tracking numbers manually. All 3 of these are stuck in “pre-transit” status and when you click then, it literally says to have the funds released I need to add valid tracking. The tracking is there and if you click it, you can see all 3 orders have been delivered.

Honestly the most frustrating part of this is the lack of customer service. When this same thing happened last month it miraculously fixed itself after contacting customer service. This month they they responded and confirmed that tracking is there, told me to wait 24 hours for it to refresh, and now are ignoring multiple support requests over the last 72 hours. And to add insult to injury, my on-time shipping and tracking percentage has dropped below star seller level  

[JMOldeVintage]

@CraftyCornishMaids  - I would have thought that Aftership is reading the data that is here on Etsy.

Whether the data entered came from Pirate Ship or directly from a local PO shouldn't make a difference. Once that info. is entered here on Etsy - on shops' orders - this is where Aftership is getting the info. to complete the task they've been hired to do.

That the tracking updates don't seem to be affecting all shops equally (that we know of) then Aftership's communications with USPS (& other carriers) &/or with Etsy means to me that either they &/or Etsy need to make corrections to changes made.
Who made the changes needs to be tracked down. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@JMOldeVintage 

It does make a difference,
etsy uses aftership, and if they can't track, becuase they can't integrate for any reason, there is a problem.

for over a year, we could put tracking numbers in etsy from royal mail, and you could click on the number, on the order, and get the tracking info

but as aftership didn't link with Royal mail, Etsy didn't recognise it anywhere else.

It is still intermittent

[JMOldeVintage]

@CraftyCornishMaids  - Yes, there have been issues with Royal Mail & Aftership. Apparently they are/were not properly integrated with Royal Mail & could not pick up the information here on Etsy. So Aftership was not showing current, if any, tracking data on packages here on Etsy.

But Aftership has always integrated with USPS. (Not to say that glitches haven't happened) So where a shop purchased their labels in the end shouldn't make a difference. A USPS tracking # is a tracking #. If a shop's printer blew a gasket & they went to their local PO to mail their order, once they marked the order complete & entered the tracking #, Aftership would take that data entered here on Etsy & track the package, updating the shipment's progress.

So either Aftership & Etsy are not properly communicating?

Etsy & USPS are not communicating properly, causing issues for Aftership?

Aftership & USPS are not communicating properly?

In the end though, it's on Etsy to find where the broken chain is & fix it. 
If they find that Aftership is responsible, well, get them to correct the issue. I'd guess they're being paid for a service & should be required to perform that job adequately. 

If USPS made unexpected changes, well, they're not going to "correct" anything just to accommodate Etsy. Etsy &/or Aftership will need to adapt to those changes. 

If Etsy themselves made a change, even if inadvertent, then they need find out what happened on their end & fix it. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@JMOldeVintage 

you could put in the tracking number into the order, and you could see the tracking on etsy, and you could click on the number on the etsy order, for full tracking through Royal Mail to USPS,

what it didn't do, was recognise it for star seller, or payment reserve

it does most of the time now, but not always