Listing has processing time but SS says no

[FussyGeekWares]

I sold something last week, it had a processing time, the listing still does, but my SS stats say it doesn't.

Etsy Support can't show me how it's my fault, and they keep sending me here to get it fixed. I've posted about this issue twice now, and they keep deleting my posts. I CBA to keep typing this stuff up.

I posted 3 items on the same day with 1st Class Signed-For post. Two of the items were using the same shipping profile. All the items say they were delivered on Etsy, but on my SS stats one says it didn't have a processing time. I haven't edited the listing or the shipping profile. There is nothing I can change here. Etsy needs to stop giving me the runaround. There is clearly a bug here. I am a QA Technician, I test video games / mobile games for a living. This is not rocket science.

Etsy Support 1 - go to the forum.
Etsy Support 2 - there is an issue here, I will escalate and have it reverted. Check your emails.
Etsy email - We will help you, we can't help you. Go to the forum.
Etsy Support 3 - We don't have a tool to fix this. I will escalate it.

What a joke. Get an SS badge so you don't get reserves. Do everything you can, and we still won't give you an SS badge.

[NanaLetha]

Etsy support does not have the ability to fix anything related to Star Seller.

[FussyGeekWares]

@NanaLetha 

I didn't ask them to fix anything, but it is their job to report this issue to the Technical Support team. The second Etsy Support staff member I spoke to verified the issue, told me they couldn't fix it, but escalated it. Then the escalations team said not to worry, they will help me, they can't help me, please report it in the Technical Issues forum.

I work as a QA Technician. I've been doing this for 16 years. I have mostly tested games, but I spent nearly 2.5 years testing design software and worked on the company forum. They relied on customers using the forum to report bugs, but they used a ticketing service to log and reply to every bug reported in the forum. As Etsy do not have this kind of service, Etsy Support should report the bugs to Technical Support. This circular avoidance is just a way to make things go away, and not the way to get things fixed.

It's not my job to keep going round in circles. I should only have to speak to one person, and the framework should be in place for them to escalate this to the Technical Support team. Sending someone to the bugs forum is not the way to fix things when the bugs forum is unmanned.

[mommawhazelsquilts]

They certainly should fix the problems where a seller is dinged for not having a processing time.

We all know that it's IMPOSSIBLE TO PUBLISH A LISTING WITHOUT A PROCESSING TIME!

Yet, Etsy will ding sellers that don't have a processing time on their listings when we know the truth.  We put them there (there's no way around it) and then they disappear.

Any seller that gets dinged for that should yell loud and clear!

[FussyGeekWares]

@mommawhazelsquilts

Exactly this, I showed the second Etsy Support person that if you look at previous sales of the item, it had a processing time and the listing still does. They checked and believed me and escalated it.

Another Etsy support person said it doesn't matter if it had a processing time previously. But, as you say, it does. You can't remove a processing time or create a new listing without one.

Of course, no-one at Etsy in the escalations team will listen to logic and facts, though.

What really burns is that the order came in while I was parcelling two other orders up, so I dispatched in under an hour. It had the same shipping profile as one of the other items posted the same day, but that shows as having a processing time.

[ArtDollsbyJD]

@FussyGeekWares   If you talked through Chat they can't fix anything but report it.  The email you got back was the standard reply.

It's not that Etsy can't.  It is they have said they won't in the SS information.  Why? Because they would get too many requests and be overrun.  So Etsy made the descision they would not change.

When things happen to a few people and that few can be as few as a thousand, Etsy is not going to take the time to try to find the reason.  There are other things that sellers have asked about and they remain unsolved.  Why?  Because many times it is like looking for a needle in a haystack.  They just aren't going to devote resources until it becomes a bigger issue.

Certainly you remember when teh Bug forum was manned but over three years ago they changed the title to this and the admin that used to come and talk to us have either left Etsy or been  reassigned.  The intro to this area does state it is peer to peer.  Many of us get frustrated when support especially chat sends people here as we can't help.

[FussyGeekWares]

@ArtDollsbyJD 

Thanks for your reply. You may recall from my post that I said that I am a QA Technician. I have over 16 years experience reporting bugs and working with development teams to get them fixed. I know how it works as to how highly reported something needs to get investigated and I don't need reminding about 'the needle in a haystack bugs'.

I've also been on here since 2007 with my other shop and 2009 with this one, so I know how Etsy standards of care have declined too.

I have three points for you, though:

1. If Etsy is using a metric to score Star Seller and sellers are supposed to benefit from this, it SHOULD be correct. I don't care if it 'might only be 1,000 people' suffering from a bug. If you can't create an accurate metric, don't use it.

2. There are probably going to be less than 1,000 sellers that have listings that don't genuinely have a processing time now for these reasons:

a) With old listings, you couldn't edit a listing without updating the processing time. I find it hard to believe there are people that haven't edited listings for a price increase. Especially with the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
b) Once it's in, you can't remove it.
c) All new listings need a processing time, as it's a mandatory field.

My point here is that the processing time metric is now moot! Regardless if it affects 1,000 sellers or 100. This is not a metric that is required now. We don't need to be scored on this aspect as it's a mandatory field and not many sellers will genuinely have them missing any more. Think back to your comment above about - if it affects a few people, Etsy don't care.

3. Etsy Support are telling people to come here to report bugs, it is not my idea. I don't need anyone telling me how it works here. Anyone pointing this out to disgruntled sellers could reach out to Etsy and tell them their advice is bad. Reminding the seller that it's peer to peer is like shooting the messenger who is already upset - which basically means gaslighting.

[SmudgePlant]

I do think there is some issue with Processing times "sticking".

Where I live was supposed to get hit by a huge tropical storm last weekend. I set my auto reply and extended my processing times from 1-2 days to 3-5 days. I made a sale on Sunday and it showed on the order 1-2 days even though the listing still showed 3-5 days. Luckily the storm didn't really hit us and I was able to ship the next day. 

[FussyGeekWares]

 @SmudgePlant 

Ahh so glad you didn't have a huge storm, that's more than enough to worry about without wondering what will break on Etsy this week.

Oh and thanks to your advice I managed to get into my car boot and I got a new battery in the end. The first AA guy just charged it a little and should have replaced it, the second one replaced it for free.

[FussyGeekWares]

I have finally had a sensible reply from Etsy Technical Support, who have passed the issue on to the Engineering team. They reached out to me and said they are looking into the issue.

I sent them this:

1. The listing URL.
2. The order No. they say doesn't have processing time.
3. A list of 8 other orders for this item so far this year that did have a processing time.

I explained that once you add a processing time to a listing, it can't be removed as it's a mandatory field, and that you can't omit a processing time on a new listing either for the same reason. They've added all this info to the ticket and are tracking how widespread this issue is. This means the more people report it, the faster it will get fixed.

[GrainGrooveWoodworks]

Did you ever get anything resolved? I've had the same issue on 52 order from August and Technical Support has been no help what so ever.

[FussyGeekWares]

@GrainGrooveWoodworks 

I didn't, they don't care. This last message might have been more polite than my first ones, but they aren't interested.

As I said above, I am a QA Technician, I've done software testing and manned a bugs forum. I know the standard fob-off. They are too busy implementing ridiculous changes to fix important things.

I don't need the stress of worrying if they will fix Star Seller, and so I am now listing all my products on Folksy and Shopify. I'll keep my Etsy shop open, but I won't jump through hoops for Etsy. I'm not a performing monkey.

I do sincerely hope yours is fixed soon, as 52 parcels is going to have a huge impact on your stats. However, I'm struggling to get £200 of sales in 3 months over here, so I'm done with the dog and pony show.