I've officially had my first terrible etsy transaction. (To be completely honest, I have a second kind of bad one also happening at the same time, though this second one does appear to be the fault of the USPS).

When loml and I discussed marriage/engagement/rings, I asked him if he would wear an engagement ring as well. He is promising the same level of commitment to me that I am to him, so if a ring = ownership, then we own each other. He agreed, we found a ring pretty quickly on etsy and I purchased it. This was on December 5.

The store in question had a stated 3 week lead time. Though she was also, at that time, not taking any orders to be fulfilled by the holidays (makes sense as they were basically three weeks away). So I was imagining getting a ring some time in early January. We still have not received it. That makes almost 9 weeks.

I emailed the seller multiple times: through etsy and through her normal email (you receive the seller's email in the invoice when you place an order). I never received any response at all.  Not even an "I'm behind, so sorry, it will be 4 more weeks". I started to research the situation and the seller had closed a previous store for dubious reasons ('split business' though making the same rings + new ones?). And it appeared at the old store there were quite a few disgruntled customers. So now I have no ring, I'm out a substantial amount of money and it appears this seller is...not all that reliable.

Next step...researching etsy's issue reporting. They have a "non-delivery report" which is basically a mediator - etsy sits in the middle and tries to resolve the issue.  However, since I paid via paypal, the only way to get a refund is to go through paypal.  Which has a deadline that issues must be reported prior to 45 days post purchase. 45 days had passed. So I open a non-delivery report. The issue mediation says it can last up to 5 weeks - I figure after that time, I can go to paypal and beg for my money back.

Three days after my non-delivery report, I got an email from paypal that my item shipped. And a few hours later, a sob story email from the shop owner that the holiday season was tragic for her family, she asked someone to help her respond to emails/they clearly didn't, etc. I feel heartless now giving her a negative review, but I think I have to. She non-responded to all my emails, which were sent after her store had reopened (she closed/didn't take new orders for much of December). Even if you are behind, a 3 minute email explaining would have done wonders (and you clearly can write emails as your novel of an apology attests). I wouldn't be disgruntled had I received a new time estimate. She could have written a quick form email and sent it to all her waiting customers - and clearly it was necessary.

Because this review just showed up in her shop:

I placed my order November 30, 2011 and paid for this ring. It is now Feb. 6, 2012. I have yet to receive this ring for my husband and I have yet to receive a reply to my emails on when I can expect this order to ship. I was told back in December it would ship within 5 days. My husband really loves this ring and I was really hoping to have it by now.

Worst customer service experience I've had in a long time. And I imagine the ring is going to be beautiful. I guess this is a lesson many people never learn: no matter how good you are at your job or the quality of work, if you don't sell it/treat people well, you may as well be producing crap.