Talking the talk

We get private emails about Etsy, and what they fail to do. Lots of them. And most of them break our hearts.

These are the tales of how Etsy seemingly ignores abusive or non delivering sellers with numerous negative feedback. Unfairly shutting stores down without a word, or response. Things that etsy shouldn't have to expel one single brain cell to remedy. These are fixes o simple, a five year old will tell you how it should end. These letters usually have the same names, dates, details the writers have sent to Etsy without a single response. Without a clue they have even received it, other than the form letter that "they will look into it".

We've been at this game for going on two years now and it's these letters that get us madder than anything - because we can't do a goddamned thing about them.

We made a rule from day one, this is the blog to complain about Etsy's failures and missteps and trying to make them improve while under fire. We were NOT going to "call out" sellers - so these all letters haven't been published.We can only write back with compatriot misery and cuss because we know nothing is going to get done and there is nothing we can do it fix it.

That isn't to say we haven't broken this rule of ours. A couple times there was a huger issue than the seller themselves (ie: the huge bead scandal and Nazi flag for sale with hundreds of flags for months), but each was a hard decision to make. But, one thing was certain, shining the light on those instances got results out of Etsy. And fast.

In our talk with Rob (and I was one of the two EB he spoke with) we mentioned us getting these letters, and how many we get and how easily Etsy could fix these things but instead do nothing but send a form letter and look as if they don't give a shit. He expressed a genuine interest in seeing them when we got a good one.

So today we sent him pretty typical letter of Etsy fumbling the ball. We'll see if any results happen.

Many of Etsy's problems could be fixed so easily by simply making a customer service department with some real manpower. They have now 70 people and we're hard pressed to see more than 3 who do the same thing. They are all micro organized to such an extent it must be impossible to have any real picture what's going on, if they can see there is a problem at all since there is no oversight. We shouldn't see two names handling seller emails with a site this size, we should see 20. (They are only just now getting any sort upper management by hiring a CS Manager, and boy do we pity that person. They have no idea what a quagmire they are walking into.) Each of those 20 people should be set up with a phone line for direct followup contact. And a tracking system and... and... christ. I don't even work in Customer Service and I know what needs to happen! But I digress...

When a company's customers have to write to an site that is that company's main voice of dissent, knowingly in vain, to get help you know that company has some major ass failures across the board. Those failures need fixed immediately, not months down the road. but in Etsy's case it's YEARS later, and that's the saddest part. They don't even seem to know what is wrong, even when they say they do.

Many would say it's Etsy and Rob are all talk. I just think talk is all they know how to do.