I had a custom order for an item which I finished and sent to a customer over three weeks ago. I must add that it actually wasn’t on Folksy, it was across the water, and the customer was from the US but I didn’t want to ask this question on their forum in case my customer read the post My question is would you ask her for feedback i.e. was it OK and did it meet the spec etc. or is that spamming ? The order was a complicated piece of sewing and we exchanged over a dozen emails discussing it. I took a lot of care and was personally quite pleased with the end result. Her last message to me was that she couldn’t wait to receive it but I have never heard anything else. She must have got it otherwise I would have heard by now. Do I just chalk this down to experience and move on or do I contact her and if so how long do I leave it. ?
I would not ask your customer for feedback asking for feedback often annoys people also it’s can be seen as spam.
As the site will send your customer a reminder to leave you a review so to get another one will very annoying for your customer.
Did you send the item with tracking if so you can look it up and see if it says delivered or not? Though from what I understand USA are a bit iffy with updating tracking information ie they don’t always up date it and sometimes they mark items as delivered when they are still siting in the mail van.
It’s a tricky one, isn’t it? I always have a little battle with myself and then end up deciding ‘no news is good news’. And feedback sometimes arrives way afterwards, one time the mother of the bride sent me some lovely photos of the wedding with my flowers about a year after the event
I’m with @EileensCraftStudio and @ffflowers on this. etsy already nag the buyers for feedback, it’s not worth potentially annoying them. understand the frustration though!
It’s frustrating for you, but it can be annoying for customers if they are ‘pestered’ for feedback. However you phrase it, that’s how it can come across. Maybe she’s just very busy and hasn’t got round to it yet? I’m quite sure that if there was a problem you’d have heard about it by now!
No, I wouldn’t ask, although I know how frustrating it is when you hear nothing. I wish there was a ‘confirm receipt’ button that buyers could use, without having to leave feedback, as that’s all I want to know usually. Some people hate leaving feedback on purchases but probably wouldn’t mind just acknowledging that they have received it safely.
Thank you all so much for your replies. I guess the consensus is forget it and move on .So I will just have to presume that no news is good news.
I’d say it depends on the kind of relationship you have with that particular buyer. Since you discussed the order a lot before hand, I think it would be perfectly reasonable to email to ask if the order met her expectations, making it clear that you are not asking her to leave public feedback. Be wary though - if she is silent because she didn’t actually like it you may stir up trouble for yourself.
I would not contact customer for feedback. No news is good news. It’s a bummer at first, but I got used to it. Some customers send me a convo saying they got it (which is great as now I know most of my stuff arrives to US within 5 days) and that they are very pleased with it and that is it. I thank them, but I do not contact them asking for feedback. Many buyers do not read feedback anyway. I doubt apart from sellers any do.
Know you have done a great job, the customer loves it and when she gets an email from Etsy reminding her to leave feedback she might do or might not.
I never ask for feedback either and I’m not overly fussed about being asked to leave it.
One thing I have noticed on the other side is that since the rating system replaced feedback I get far more thank you messages in lieu of on site feedback from international customers because etsy flat out refuses to believe that I can get an order to Canada in 4 days, so when a chuffed customer tries to leave feedback they’re unable to because they shouldn’t have received their order yet and have to wait for the “ratings window” to open … people like to do what they do when they’ve time to do it not when some arbitrary date by which it’s ok to have received your order has passed.
There could be a chance she couldn’t leave feedback when the order arrived and didn’t have time to do it when etsy told her she could:)
I have e-mailed customers in USA and Australia just to check it’s arrived. I personally think that since you had many e-mails back and forth there can be nothing wrong with a light hearted, just want to check it got there safe? This may or may not prompt feedback, but I certainly wouldn’t be peeved in a seller asked me something like that. Up to you