I think I've been blocked?

[#1]

I placed an order with a shop, had what I thought were very pleasant business related exchanges with the owner (I asked about the weight of the fabric I was ordering, and if would be possible to combine shipping for multiple items purchased). I placed my order, got my products, no problems. 

I then placed another order this week, and went to send the shop owner a message about when she could ship my items, and was unable to send a message and an error popped up telling me that I'd been blocked. If I go to the Help Center and try to open a case or request a resolution to a problem, it won't send the message. I've tried multiple ways to contact the seller about my current order, and am unable to reach her at all. 

The seller even sent me a message via Etsy to tell me that my address needed correction, and I've been unable to reply to that message at all to offer a solution. 

I feel quite at a loss. I've been blocked from messaging the seller, but not blocked from purchasing from her? And now if I have any issues I am unable to communicate them or open a case of any sort? Honestly I'd rather just cancel my order and take my business elsewhere, but apparently I can't even cancel my unshipped order without her consent, and am unable to communicate with her at all to request it.

[ModFabio · Accepted solution]

Hello, everyone! We're looking into this, thanks for the heads up.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

@ModFabio 

I really hope so,

because all buyers should be able to open help requests, whether the seller has blocked them because of a real issue they think they have,

not just because they forgot to reply in time, and the star seller badge is more important to the seller then than anything else .... because we know this happens

[GlassyFields]

yes please

might have made sense but w/o any advance notification it's a big problem

things work one way one day

and a totally different way the next

wow

[AnimalHeadVintage]

Also, just so your programmers know, the message that pops up that says “sender is blocked by reciepient” and the word recipient is spelled incorrectly. 

[MyGreenThumbShop]

Great,

Meantime my client is just sitting there thinking I'm ignoring their message about their order.

[MyGreenThumbShop]

Update

YAY, they fixed/turned my messaging back on. Said I got caught in the security features by accident. 
So thankful! 

[TADtees]

Etsy turned off my ability to message other sellers. I don't know how to get Etsy to turn my ability to message back on

https://www.etsy.com/shop/TADtees

[BagmakerSupply]

@TADtees: If you are getting the "Bummer, your messages have been temporarily disabled" advisory (and not to discount the fact that your messaging may have been disabled in error) generally it is because the system has detected that your account has been sending unsolicited non-transactional messages, such as sending a Message to someone who has favorited a shop's listing.

There does not appear to be a published time for how long messaging is muted and based on posts in this forum it can vary.

Again based on other posts, Etsy does not seem to view support requests based on user violations as a priority.

If the Message muting is in error, one of the Etsy Admins has been able, in several cases, to restore messaging. You may want to start a new thread, and hopefully they will see your thread and will check into it for you.

Also are you aware that other shops have stolen your pictures for the Pocket Mask which you hand make? You need to resolve that before Etsy thinks you are a reseller or counterfeiter.

[GroundZeroCreations]

@CraftyCornishMaids  That is actually a good question about whether help requests are considered messages. There are quite a few things happening on Etsy now that, to the best of my knowledge, Etsy did not send any communication out to sellers about it. So we are all sort of in a guessing game at times. I didn't know about blocking someone until recently. What is the rules today can very well change tomorrow, I guess. 

[hopeandjoystudios]

can you send a help message without a purchase?? You should not be able to block or spam a help message. as they are the only pathway to opening a case..and it has always been a bit irritating that they push the HELP message when the customer just has a generic question or request..so 48 hours later they get a "Do you want to open a case?" nudge. Yes a heads up about this would have been nice. 

[cutebutton]

I'm confused.  I've sent messages to spam (they were legit spam and not trying to save my Star seller badge)  and I just  went back and looked at the person's profile and they are not blocked on my end.  There is an option that says block this person but I thought that didn't do anything.

So now apparently if you send a message to spam it keeps them from being able to message you at all?  Before they could message you but it would just send the message to the spam folder immediately instead of the inbox.

I'm very confused here. 

[vintageNCtreasures]

@cutebutton Yes, from what the new rules state if you send a message to spam then that will prevent that sender from ever being able to send you another message.

It used to be if you marked a message as spam, the message just went in your spam folder and the sender could still message you (though the message would go in spam).

NOW the sender of that message is blocked from ever sending another message (Unless the seller changes and marks the message as NOT spam).

[PrairieCrocusStudio]

@cutebutton   In the profile, blocking the person only blocks them from seeing your favorites. This is different from spam messages being blocked. 

[audreytherese]

Blocking used to only block someone from seeing your favorites. 

Another shop blocked me this morning on purpose to test, I was not able to send them a message. I got a red 'sending failed' error when I tried. I had never messaged them previously so they didn't have the option to send me to spam. 

Blocking now apparently does actually block people from contacting you (but they can still buy from you). 

We're not entirely sure how it's connected because Etsy won't tell us, but it appears that sending someone to spam also blocks them at the same time, and even if you go into your spam folder and unmark it as spam, you still have to go to their profile and unblock them in order for them to be able to contact you. 

At least that's how it appears. I'm not getting programmers pay to test out their features, so that's as far as I got. 

[artbyjocelyn]

Probably Seller spammed a message in lieu of replying, maybe to correct a ding to their star seller rating, or maybe their own reasons, causing future messages to be blocked.

[FunkyJunkyVintage]

I found out about this from another seller, went to the help section and searched "block" and found the article

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Scams-and-Suspicious-Messages?seg... 

But where is the general announcement? 

Seems like a good idea for scammers but a bit overkill for anything else.

With etsy's own advice to send messages to spam to save your star seller status I see this creating a lot of problems regarding legit customer service issues.

[pennyemporium]

and.... ecommercebytes has picked up the story; here:

https://www.ecommercebytes.com/C/abblog/blog.pl?/pl/2024/2/1708051818.html

[GroundZeroCreations]

@pennyemporium Thanks for the link. Interesting read. 

[digitaldoodlebug]

So glad I would respond to each thread a buyer made rather than marking the extras as spam. 

[SingularityHacks]

I am in the same situation - but as the seller. A customer bought a digital product and left a bad review, even though it is my best-selling product with high ratings. He sent me an unsatisfied message, but I cannot respond, and he wants a refund, even though digital products do not necessarily have to be refunded. In the end, I have no solution other than to issue a refund, because I cannot write to him in any way. In some ways, I feel punished. And I think that the buyer did it purposely; he blocked me to keep both the product and the money.

[MurphyGardens · Accepted solution]

Hi everyone - we're sorry for the inconvenience and any confusion caused by the recent protections we put in place for messages. The issue reported regarding buyers and sellers being blocked from communicating about transactions has since been resolved. Thanks for your patience with our efforts to protect the marketplace!

[MazzyInk]

Hi,
I am still having this issue as a seller and cannot reply to any messages that come in from customers and potential customers. I have tried emailing many times and no response. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@MazzyInk: "I have tried emailing many times and no response." Not sure where you are sending eMails but have you tried Dashboard > Community & Help > Contact Us or https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new? 

Often the first response you get from customer support is an automated reply meant to weed out the people who contact support over common issues that can be easily solved.

Every eMail from Etsy support should have a link something like "I Still Need Help". Click on that link in each reply from Etsy (or actually reply stating that you still need help) to keep the report alive otherwise Etsy will assume that it is resolved. You may have to do this innumerable times, before anything is done but do not give up.

It has been reported in this forum that some shops seem to have been muted because of Terms of Service violations. "I've curated a whimsical collection" implies that you have not drawn these items yourself (therefore not allowed on Etsy) and you have not included your licensing information for all of the trademarked and copyrighted names and images in your shop in your listing. Buyers (and Etsy) may conclude they are counterfeits. Including the licensing information will show that you are not selling those items illegally.

[MazzyInk]

Hi @BagmakerSupply 
Thank you for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate the support. I have indeed been using that link to contact support, I have just sent a "I Still Need Help" note so keeping fingers crossed that works this time. 
Thank you also for the note on "I've curated a whimsical collection" - I have created all these pieces of art so I have changed that text to prevent confusion.