Order is "Invisible" all of a sudden

[MamaBearBabyWear]

So I had an order for $207.00 placed 8/31 and due to ship 9/9. I was working on it and when I came back to fill the order it's invisible. My shop shows "14" orders open but only 13 show up. I tried typing in the order number (pulled from the email) and the buyer name and both show me there is "1 order" matching my search but no results show up. So I chatted Etsy support for 45 minutes. They say it's a glitch and they can cancel the order. I don't WANT to cancel it, I want to send the things I sewed up and sold! 

I tried to verify that there wasn't anything hinky with the buyer or payment and they said they couldn't tell me anything other than that it's a glitch and the engineering team is working on it and will get back to me. I know how THAT goes - good luck every hearing back from Etsy support.

So then I asked if it would impact my Star Seller Status if the order were shipped late because Etsy didn't fix the problem in time and the support chat person said "yes" and that my only option was to let them cancel the order. What?! 

So I have a few days before it's due, I'm going to see if they actually fix this issue, but if anyone else has experienced this or has suggestions please chime in. Hopefully they either get it fixed or I can actually get ahold of someone again to cancel it before it's overdue.

I've also located the person I believe is the buyer (shop name search) and sent them a message to hopefully work this out between us even if Etsy fails to address the problem. 

Thank you

[MamaBearBabyWear]

What's really scary is that if I hadn't seen the order before it disappeared I wouldn't even know about it and I'd have a ticked off seller and damaged rating because of something completely beyond my control and in Etsy's! 

[CryzalisDesigns]

a few weeks ago this was happening to sellers, they would receive an order but no details and they did not actually find out until the buyer contacted them or they suddenly realised their dispatch stats had dropped.

Are the funds for the order still showing in your revenue balance?

If you are in contact with the buyer, I would explain the situation and have Etsy cancel the order so that the customer can replace the order because you can not really do anything with out having a proper paper trail & receipts

[MamaBearBabyWear]

Yeah, I guess that is the only option. Etsy seems to be experiencing an increasing number of "technical difficulties" over the past 6 months or so. I've been selling here since 2009 and never had so many issues.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

So does that mean there is no hope that Etsy is going to fix their issue?

[SugarTaffySoap]

@MamaBearBabyWear  Of course you don't want to cancel the order but you can't create a shipping label for the $207 item. What do you mean that you will "work it out" with the buyer? I would just have Etsy cancel the order and ask the buyer to reorder the item. If the buyer really wants the item there will be no issue. 

[MamaBearBabyWear]

Well I was thinking if the payment still showed I could just ship it to the buyer if they wanted to send me their mailing address...

I guess it would be better to have Etsy cancel it so that I can have actual records? I've never experienced this before so I am kind of at a loss as to how to proceed...

[EDCCollective]

@MamaBearBabyWear  The shipping address shows up in the order confirmation email. If the money was in my account (better yet, already transferred to my bank account) I would think I would ship to the buyer using the shipping address in the email.

[SugarTaffySoap]

@MamaBearBabyWear  In response to your subsequent messages I know when things happen unexpectedly it can be a pain. I would not do anything outside the Etsy system so if it means Etsy to cancel and have the buyer (who I think you said is a seller as well) reorder, that's the best way to go.  I would not wait around in the hopes that Etsy fixes the glitch.  Cancelling and reordering will be much faster. Hopefully you'll hear from the buyer soon.

[MamaBearBabyWear]

So I was able to access the "cancel" option from my financials showing that incoming payment. Unfortunately, as I suspected would be the case, Chat with support was unavailable. I do see how shipping without a receipt of any kind could be dangerous. 

Still have not heard back from the buyer (probably because of the holiday, no big deal). My only concern now is that there is still an invisible order showing open in my shop. Shop says I have 12 orders to fill but there are only 11 showing. How on earth are sellers suppose to deal with a glitch like this?

I'm also mad because Etsy did NOT refund my listing fees after I cancelled the order. That means they made $1.80 off their mistake and I lost over $200. And on top of that they are going to hold me responsible for not filling an order they made invisible. I'm so frustrated with the lack of real customer support for sellers.

[EDCCollective]

@MamaBearBabyWear  Here is Etsy's help page on cancelling an order. If you do not get your fees refunded, you need to reference this when you follow up with Etsy. https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015587347-How-to-Cancel-a-Sale?segment=selling

[PrevntProducts]

This is most likely due to failed payments with customers usage of Klarna financing. Lot of sellers have been experiencing the "phantom order" overdue order warning on their dashboard. 

Please be sure to share if you have any advise for resolving these and I hope you get your situation sorted out

[MamaBearBabyWear]

It's not a failed payment issue. It's an Etsy issue.

My response from Etsy Support (apparently this is still not an important issue for them):

Juan

Hi Amy
 
Juan here from Etsy support! Hope this email finds you well. 
 
I totally get how important it is for you to make sure you can locate your orders and continue fulfilling them. 
 
Please know:
 
Our engineering partners are currently aware of an issue where some orders may not be accessible on the Orders & Shipping page. We've added your report to the ongoing investigation so the team can take a deeper look into what's going on.
 
At this time, we do not have a timeframe for when this issue will be resolved, but please know that we prioritize our technical issues by impact to our marketplace. In the meantime, it's possible you may be able to access this order via the Sell on Etsy app. If that is not the case, just let me know and I can cancel the order for you. 

Please don't hesitate to reach out with any additional questions!

Best Regards,

Juan
Etsy Support

[CandleScenes]

Oh gosh that's crazy.  Hope you get this straightened out.