WEIRD: Etsy’s old HQ address added to customer’s account, refund demanded for returned order

[CanningCrafts]

I have a very odd situation. A customer’s order was returned by USPS due to expired forwarding. When this happens, I send the usual message to buyer, this is the address you used & show the order receipt. I say if that was old/incorrect, I can send you an invoice to pay for reshipping to a new/different address.

Customer is angry now & doesn’t think she should pay for shipping again & is demanding a refund instead of the replacement (for a custom printed order).

Where it gets weird/uncomfortable: She has accused me and/or Etsy of getting into her account & adding this “wrong” address as her default shipping. She has never used or seen this address before.

The weird part: It’s ETSY’s old HQ address, the one on Washington street in Brooklyn. The receiver’s name was listed as “Etsy Gift Cards” which I did think was odd after I printed the label. But it was valid, I had shipped to Etsy many years ago, & I have gotten orders that don’t list a person’s name. Weird, but I don’t question.

How would Etsy’s old address get on this customer’s account? What type of security issue is this? Customers need to review/approve address when an order is placed & obviously she didn’t do that. But still?! I have no idea how to reply now.

I’m stuck with a custom order that I eat the cost of or pay to reship myself. I think I will elect to refund, but there is something odd here & am not sure what to say to this customer. Is this a security issue or just a Etsy glitch. 

[CanningCrafts]

Does Etsy automatically close cases if she opens a Not Received case & tracking shows delivered? It was delivered, but back to ME! I'm probably stuck on this one. So weird. I need to kraft a reply & am wondering if I tell her to contact Etsy, but they will say to open a case I'm sure.

[leinweberstudio]

What I would do is get ahead of the situation, do the one-step cancel which refunds her as well, and be done with that order, and not get Etsy involved at all. Sometimes you just have to walk away, and perhaps you can resell the item at some point in the future. Or write it off as a loss on your taxes.

Because Etsy will refund her anyway if she goes complaining to them.

And after you cancel/refund, send a message to the buyer that they are welcome to reorder to their correct address if they like; don't let the fact that they are angry influence your decisions. They are angry at themselves and taking it out on you.

[CanningCrafts]

These are labels printed with her name, no way to resell. If she opens a case for not received, she would be correct, she did not get her order!

[leinweberstudio]

That's why you want to cancel at once, you don't want her to open a case, not with the updated case requirements.

[AAANativeArts]

I've seen Etsy give refunds even though the tracking clearly shows delivered. If you let it go to a case, which is the next step for the customer, it will be recorded as a ding against your shop, and  you will likely lose the money anyway. The customer does not have the item, so they are entitled to a refund. I would just refund and be done with it.

[Adorabilities]

PPP cases (refunded from Etsy) are not counted against us. It's in the information you see when hovering over the service standards section on cases.

I would guess that Etsy would refund the customer just because she said she didn't receive it. The tracking status doesn't seem to matter.

[VogueVixens]

If they EVER had an order shipped to that address, then it will be stored on their account as a possible address, and can come up as a choice during checkout.

If she used Paypal, a stored address at Paypal will override whatever she has stored at Etsy. I know because it happened to me. Luckily it was my mother's address, so it was no big deal that the order was shipped to her.

[CanningCrafts]

Yes, I've had this issue with old addresses stored in PayPal before too. Can happen with ApplePay too. 

[EaDoVintage]

Be an ideal situation in which to call customer service. Oh wait- there is no customer service. She sounds like she will open case. Maybe send polite message telling whole truth and offer to split shipping with her. 

[CanningCrafts]

But what is the "whole truth"? She was adamant she never shipped to that address. If it was any address other than Etsy's old HQ address, I wouldn't be left wondering on this one. 

[TickleYourWitch]

I was thinking this sounds like something Etsy might cover out of goodwill. But the likelihood of getting an agent who understands the situation is virtually zero. 

[CanningCrafts]

@TickleYourWitch  Last time I chatted with Etsy, it took an hour for them to verify a customer's order issue. 

Years ago I chatted with an agent when a customer had an incorrect address issue. Etsy verified it was an address in their account they had shipped to before. 

I feel like I should tell her to reach out to Etsy due to a security issue, but I don't want to sound like an alarmist!

[michellepatterns]

That is odd.  I would try to work with the buyer to determine what to do about it and then approach etsy customer service about it as a technical issue since it seems like a glitch.  

[PWOriginals]

You said you have shipped to her before, right? Have you checked a previous order to verify this address was different? Just curious.

[CanningCrafts]

@PWOriginals  Yes, the address was different on prior orders. Not even the same state. I don't check prior order addresses before shipping though. People move, I use whatever is on the order.

[PWOriginals]

@CanningCrafts 

Yeah, I don't check addresses on previous orders either. This just clears up that she's never used the Etsy address on previous orders from you.

This is really strange.

[nineteen27]

this sounds like an issue.

with the buyer and etsy.

i would ask her to call etsy.

since the only people who have access to her account.

would be etsy... and her.

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

have her click on the:

have us call you.

and enter her phone number.

and after she speaks with etsy...

ask her to message you and tell you what etsy said about it.

so everyone can figure out what to do.

[CanningCrafts]

@nineteen27  When I click that link, it just has a chat option. Do you see a phone option? Are buyers even able to get a phone call from Etsy? I never heard of that before. I presume if she deals with Etsy chat, they will tell her to open a case against me.

[nineteen27]

@CanningCrafts 

i do see the call-back option.

if you click here do you see it?

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

and yes... that is how buyers contact etsy.

[CanningCrafts]

@nineteen27 I see the call back on the second link, but just the chat on the first one. She probably should contact them because this is very strange!

[nineteen27]

maybe you should get a callback first.

let the person know what is happening.

and tell them you will be asking your buyer to call them too.

because it is important for the buyer to realize that you cannot access her account to change anything.

and etsy will be able to see what the **** is going on.

[Duckwells]

 As the seller, it doesn't matter how it happened as it is out of your control.  It is curious though; I'm wondering if they used an (old?) Etsy gift card to pay for the order and the corp address became the shipping address.    Whatever you decide, refund or reship, let the buyer know that for their financial security, you have no access to account information and they will need to deal directly with Etsy if the problem persists.  

[GieseDeseiGns]

Yes this because the post said gift card.

[CanningCrafts]

Update: I did the callback & Etsy's hold music is awful!

And I was told to have the buyer open a case against me, but not to worry because Etsy had my back. rofl. The agent couldn't get into details with me, but she did say the customer used a regular payment method & not a gift card on this order. And that there is no way for anyone, including Etsy, to change the address & that all systems were SECURE. 

So I need to reply to the customer today as she would be able to open a case tomorrow over this.