How to report harassment

[RileyPrintshop]

I have been getting harassing messages from a customer, since her purchase from me in February. I have asked her more than once to please stop messaging me and leave me alone. Etsys help page only says to mark it as spam. I have done this a few times now and her messages are still coming through. Is there a way to block someone from your shop? Please help. 
Thank you. 

[PillowDetails]

If the harassment isn't threatening,  then continue to mark as spam, and don't read or reply.  If they purchase again, cancel the order.

[DReneCo]

This was helpful.  It’s always so uncomfortable dealing with customers that are unpleasant.   

[RileyPrintshop]

Thank you for the advice, I will keep marking them as spam and hopefully she will stop. 

[TheVintagePineapple]

Go to your Dashboard > Help > Contact us and you'll find the option to report harassment.

Since you already marked her message as spam, aren't the subsequent messages going directly to spam?  If they are, you're not obligated to respond.

[RileyPrintshop]

No, her messages are not going directly to spam. I have to mark them as spam each time. 

[WitticismsRus]

In my experience when a message is marked as spam it only spams that message thread. The spammer can send another new message in a new thread and it will go to inbox. You have to mark each message thread as spam, it doesn't automatically send all messages from that user to spam just the message threads you have marked as spam. It's annoying especially if the spammer just starts new messages each time. 

[audreytherese]

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018966753-What-to-Do-if-You-re-Being-Harassed

There's a link in there that says to contact them so they can investigate. 

"You may still continue to receive emails about new replies to that message. If you continue to receive harassing messages, please contact support  so Etsy can investigate."

[RileyPrintshop]

I have tried that link. It doesn’t work. I click on it and it takes me back to the main help forum. 

[JMHaglerArt]

Did you ever resolve this? I am having a similar situation and not sure how to handle it. Customer opened a help request with an order. Her initial message was insulting and her tone was aggressive, so despite the product being as ordered, and it being well past the return/exchanges per my policy, I caved and refunded her money. She is still harassing me over the order. I want to be helpful, but this has gone on well past customer service. 

[FunkyJunkyVintage]

@JMHaglerArt 

This link does work:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360018966753-What-to-Do-if-You-re-Being-Harassed

If it's not working for you, go to the help section and type in "Harassment" and it will take you to that page with directions what to do.

It is a bit of a corn maze to get to the contact page, I think this direct link should work for you to send them an email about that person:

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

Otherwise you'll need to go around in circles and probably choose a different topic for the email link to open. Like all things etsy it seems that they tell you to click on a link to report harassment but the options? None for harassment. The one I c/p above was for scams and suspicious emails, but it did open up an email option.

Also, remember to tell this person officially to stop contacting you, you actually have to do that for etsy to take action.

ETA that I have had to report a few people through the years for their ridiculous and abusive behavior, multiple messages that went WAY out of line, like you, past the point of customer service. All times it did work and I never received another message from those people.

[JMHaglerArt]

Thank you! I’ll try this out.

[LysAndRose]

It still doesn't resolve the issue with them buying from you again though... Yes, you can cancel again and again, but

1) Has anyone managed to prevent a suspicious customer from buying from your shop, instead? It would take out quite a lot of the unnecessary stress caused by these and any cancelations which may have been needed during the ordeal.

2) Also, do the repeated cancelations have an impact on your sales? Because, if they do, one could easily imagine a "pesky" customer to place an order, knowing it will be cancelled, in order to harm your shop... 

[DilayCa]

I don't think there is a solution for this right now. I receive dozens of fake messages a day and I just report them as spam. Now I can understand fake messages. I'm just worried about sending real messages to spam.