Thursday, June 19, 2008

Old Feedback to Bite the Dust

Yep, you heard me. On July 1 feedback that has not been left and is older than 90 days will expire. If you didn’t know this you’re not alone. Luckily some sensible forum watcher saw this thread which references a Storque article.

Another feedback change we'll be making soon: the ability to leave feedback will expire 90 days after the transaction date. That change will go into effect on July 1, 2008, so get your backlog of waiting feedbacks cleaned up before then.

The article is actually about the kiss and makeup feature and then throws that blurb in at the end. However, this blurb is no longer in the Storque article. So is it happening? Who the hell knows. But you should probably clear out that feedback while you can!

My thoughts on this – fucking admin never tell us anything. This type of thing deserves a notification to ALL sellers. Not just those who read every sentence of every article on their blog. And this information should be accessible to everyone, not just forum goers.

Edit Jun 19 4:00 PM EDT by Righteous: Well it seems that there is a Storque article where this is mentioned. It was mentioned among many other changes in the Dos and Don'ts and TOU. However, not every member received the email that should have been received by everyone. Relying on forum threads and the Etsy blog for information is a ridiculous thing to do. Also, the Storque article isn't found when searching for 'feedback', as I assume any reasonable person would do when looking for that information. But, hey, that's just me.


27 Comments:

Anonymous said...

Seriously, if it wasn't for outside Etsy resources reporting this stuff I'd never know what the hell was going on.

eclipse said...

It was mentioned in this Storque article from May as well
http://www.etsy.com/storque/article/1693/
And this UEN article

Anonymous said...

On May 15, I received an email telling me about upcoming changes and directing me to this Storque article where a summary of the changes were clearly set out including this:
"Feedback: We've outlined the specific situations in which Etsy will consider removing feedback for members. You have up to 30 days from the date feedback was left to contest feedback. Additionally, we've expanded Kiss and Make-Up to allow members to resolve neutral (as well as negative) feedback issues on their own. Another feedback change we'll be making soon: the ability to leave feedback will expire 90 days after the transaction date. That change will go into effect on July 1, 2008, so get your backlog of waiting feedbacks cleaned up before then."
http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/etsyNews/article/ch-ch-ch-changes-updates-to-etsys-site-policies/1693/

It was announced on the Forums:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5617154

And discussed at the end of a a very popular thread about feedback needing to expire:
http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5452190

And it is in the Etsy FAQ:
"I can't leave feedback for a transaction. What happened?
You have 90 days from the transaction date to leave feedback. After 90 days, the ability to leave feedback expires."
http://www.etsy.com/faq.php#feedback_missing

Not meaning to sound bitchy myself but people begged for Etsy to send emails whenever there were major changes. So they did, with a link to a very important article. And then no one reads the article setting out the changes?

Anonymous said...

Damn, the Storque link didn't come up correctly. Well, it's the same one that Eclipse linked to.

Impetuous said...

Well adam I am curious, what of the hundreds of thousands of members that have NO IDEA they need to sign up to be informed of these things?

What of the thousands and thousands of people who don't enter the forums and dig around for random information as you have done here?

I'll tell you what. Come July a flood of confused and bewildered Etsians will hit the forums and find out that they have missed the golden opportunity to deal with their feedback before it went ka-PUT.

But, I suppose because YOU know what is going on everyone else can just suck it?

http://tinyurl.com/3kvh23

Karen said...

I'm not sure why this would matter to Etsy - is it somehow clogging up their system or something?

Really, though, sellers shouldn't be waiting 90 days to leave feedback for their customers. And we all know that buyers only leave feedback half the time. A 90 day wait won't make any difference to them one way or the other.

Anonymous said...

Um...the email I got said this:
"Thank you for being part of the community and thank you for subscribing to our Etsy News Alerts, the fastest way to get just the important news delivered to you. Since a version of this email was sent to all Etsy users, you should be getting this news again through our separate site-wide system, which could take a couple days. (Turns out that sending thousands and thousands of emails takes a while!) If you don't get this email after a couple days, double-check the email address we have on file in your Account Info."

I therefore assume that it went out to ALL users. And in fact, I did receive a second email, worded somewhat differently.

Anonymous said...

The second email I received was on June 1, and in addition to mentioning changes and linking to that Storque article, it said this:
"You're receiving this because your email address is attached to an account at www.etsy.com. We only send out mass emails like this one when we have something really important to say."

I'm sorry, but all of the changes, including the change to the feedkback system, were pretty clearly communicated by Etsy. For once.

The Sneaky One said...

Funny, this is what I received on May 30. This is the ONLY mass e-mail I have received.

Dear TheSneakyOne,

Greetings from Etsy, your place to buy and sell all things handmade.

We've grown to over 150,000 sellers in 171 countries, and we're just
about to reach 1,000,000 members total. This is an exciting milestone
for us, and we've made some recent changes to help keep things running
smoothly.

Here's an overview of the changes:

*Search*

With over 1.7 million products on Etsy, we're trying to help buyers more
easily find what they are looking for.

As a first step on this path, we added three new search filters, like
so: Handmade Items, Supplies and Vintage Items. You can now select which
type of item you'd like to find /before/ you search. By default, we'll
look for handmade items. (Of course you can also search all items on the
site by selecting "All items" in the search bar drop-down menu.)

To read more about the changes to search, please visit:
http://www.etsy.com/storque/article/1684

*Terms of Use*

Our Terms of Use was updated to clarify the improvements we made to our
DO's and DON'Ts. This will mainly be of interest to sellers, and you can
read more about it here:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/article/1693/

We also created a new area to address our policies for online and
in-person Etsy meet ups.

*Onward and Upward*

OK, that's all for now! You're receiving this because your email address
is attached to an account at www.etsy.com. We only send out mass emails
like this one when we have something really important to say. Nobody
likes spam!

Thanks so much for being part of Etsy, and if you have any questions or
comments, we'd love to hear from you. You can just reply to this email.

Love,
Etsy

---------

Coming to you from Etsy Inc., located at 325 Gold Street, 6th Floor;
Brooklyn, NY 11201.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

No mention of feedback in that e-mail, and no, I refuse to subscribe to something that should be sent to every user, regardless of what Etsy considers Spam. And the storque is a piece of shit that gives normal people headaches.

That blows your little theory out of the water. My account is close to three years old, too.

radcow said...

i think I got both of those.

Impetuous said...

Sorry to burst your bubble adam but I received no such email. Just searched my mail and found nothing like this and I am signed up.

If people are saying they are not well informed, as many many people have, it is Etsy's duty to remedy it...even if adam selene is perfectly satisfied.

Anonymous said...

thesneakyone said...
Funny, this is what I received on May 30. This is the ONLY mass e-mail I have received.
--
*Terms of Use*

Our Terms of Use was updated to clarify the improvements we made to our
DO's and DON'Ts. This will mainly be of interest to sellers, and you can
read more about it here:

http://www.etsy.com/storque/article/1693/
-------

And that is the bit that includes the mention of feedback changes...included in the change to Terms of Use.

And for the record, I agree about not wanting to be made to go to storque or spend hours online looking in the forums and every-bloody-where else digging up stuff that should f'ing well be sent to everyone.

idyll hands said...

I got this in an email from Etsy and saw it all over the forums. Not trying to argue, just saying it was not news to me when I read it here.

Now - with that said, I used to always get emails from Etsy and now I don't. My coworker still gets them, but I don't. So, perhaps their email system is a bit touch and go?

idyll hands said...

And I'm glad it will expire. I've had a few transactions that went to crap because buyers can't read information in the listings. Etsy wouldn't cancel the transactions (another story all together) so I just sit and look at their feedback. Deep in my bones I want to post "READ THE POSTING BEFORE YOU ORDER" but I won't. I'll let it lie... but the longer those transactions sit there without feedback, the more chances I'll have to leave negative feed back for people who didn't know any better. Thankfully those will be gone soon

The Sneaky One said...

Right, and because its linked to the storque, I automatically think "Well, I really don't want to read a turd that's coated in rancid surgar..." and I avoid it all together. Had it been placed out in the e-mail and not linked to the piece of crap they call The Storque, I would have read it.

But because most everything in The Storque is pure and utter shit, I won't read anything on it to save myself the headache.

Anonymous said...

Adam, I have three seller accounts and not one received that email. I received the Etsy News email to the account I have signed up to receive those things.

Oh and the sitewide email for the change in search. Only two of my three accounts received it. I know that last accounts email is working and correct because my bills from Etsy arrive just fine. I also checked my spam box, its not there.

idyll hands said...

Well - the problem must by their system of email.

HEY - why couldn't they have just sent us all a convo about it? Sure would have been easier.

Anonymous said...

That is odd. They have an internal email system. Why can't system announcements/TOU changes/etc be sent via the convos. Even if you elect out of receiving them via the email account on file, they would be there when you next logged in.

THOUGH, then they'd get muted by their spam bot.

Crazy Cat Lady said...

Okay, for the record I only found this blog (and a couple others) last night.

However, I never even knew about the "news" emails etsy sends before this - I have to subscribe? Where do I do that? I will poke around, of course. But I also spend *some* time on the forums but c'mon...I'm a sahm and have a couple kids and a house and...oh yeah...a business to run. I can't spend 10 hours a day reading every freakin' forum post.

Stuff like this shouldn't be buried in Storque articles (I never go to Storque...it just doesn't interest me) or in forum posts with members speculating. I hate to say ebay did anything right, but whenever there was a change like this they did send out a message to every member.

Why can't etsy do that? Log in and see a convo with such messages. Some stuff is too important for members to miss.

/soapbox

Foxglove Studios said...

I therefore assume that it went out to ALL users. And in fact, I did receive a second email, worded somewhat differently.
----
I only got it on one of my accounts - the one that is subscribed to emails. So, if you're not subscribed, how do you know if you didn't get the email you might not have gotten? lol

All sellers should get news (real news, not Storque droppings) whether they subscribe or not.

AliciaMae said...

I never got that email either! I also have 3 shops and they all get their bills just fine, but none of the mass emails. And only one receives the newsletters. I searched around the Storque to help find the date when littleput asked a question in the forums and there is no mention of it in the Storque upon searching for "feedback". So unless someone has that link from the email they have no access to the information.

Just wanted to put that out there.

bencandance said...

To leave 89 waiting feedbacks or not....that is the question. (which can spark it's own debate I know)


Impetuous, why do the Etsy Angels suck anus again? I forgot. :P

I've been checking their blog but they haven't updated it. Too bad. I was hoping for a kind of across the board blog debate.

~B.Z. said...

Email vs Convo debate aside ...

I am GLAD that feedback will expire. I had a customer REQUEST I not give her feedback. I honored that request and there it sits ... yelling at me every time I log in.

So, if they can leave a nasty message about that feedback, why not put in text with the reminder that you have so many days to leave your feedback before it expires ? Easy peazy, no ?

Anonymous said...

I have only ever received ONE e-mail from Etsy (other than the odd random bill) and that was the one about the new TOU changes. It didn't say anything about feedback. I only know about the feedback changes because I read UEN.

The Righteous One said...

I've updated the entry based on the feedback here in the comments.

Thank you for pointing out the actual article and that there were attempts at notification, no matter how flawed they were.

SewCrazyDogLady said...

I didn't get that email either...

Ladies Auxilliary said...

I definitely had no clue about any of this, and I'm a rather obsessive receiver of email AND I'm signed up for the news alerts. As in, I'm on it all day, I check my SPAM folder several times daily, and I REALLY notice on the very rare occasions I've received email from Etsy because I'm so starved for proper site function updates. That's it, I'm scouring my emails...

I do think it's hilarious that we're supposed to see the Storque as some kind of Etsy Information Oracle, and yet...apparently it is not a reliable info source (re: the article that is said to have been changed).