Etsy is About to Get the Axe

I’ve used an Etsy on line shop for about 3 years now, for selling my hand-crafted jewelry (to begin with) and then some of my vintage costume jewelry as well.  The meager success of that venture was never enough to make me feel eager to fully develop all of the “add on” options.  I experimented with one on a trial basis last September for 30 days and forgot to cancel it.  So from October until March I was paying 15.00 a month which I didn’t notice until I looked more closely at my Paypal ledger (i.e.; no monthly statements or receipts from Etsy).  I called on March 1 to cancel immediately and was told that charges were paid in advance and you could not cancel in an active month.  Since my charges were taken out of Paypal on the 1st of March, that 15.00 was gone and could not be refunded even though I was canceling on the 1st.  I didn’t like it … but I suppose rules is rules and “buyer beware”.  I was about ready to just scrap the whole thing but the nice lady on the phone persuaded me with sweet talk and a southern drawl to keep the account in basic mode in case I wanted to try it again.  Basic mode costs nothing unless you list something and/or sell it.

Today I got a bill for 15.00 for that add on … yeah … the one that was cancelled on March 1 and for which I paid in advance for the month of March and that payment could not be refunded …. that one!  They want me to pay for April!!

It has taken 10 emails back and forth (sorry sir we cannot call you directly) and the matter is still not resolved.  Although all the emails are very polite and express sorrow and regret over my frustration it’s getting harder and harder to believe that sorrow and regret are in their vocabulary in terms of cognitive understanding.  I write my emails in English … could that be where the communication breakdown is occurring?  I don’t know, but whoever is responding to my emails (Ashley are you listening?) either cannot read them, or is as dense as a London fog (they are, after all I believe, in Ireland).

Unless something stupendous happens I think I’m going to just kick the whole thing loose and be done with them and find another venue for selling my hand-made treasures.

End of rant.