Ugggghhhhh. Allergies.

In addition to a persistent headache, I've been having issues with my allergies since Thursday. Yesterday was the worst. I was taking 2 Benadryl at a time AND Sudafed and still didn't get much relief. I even ended up taking a nap as soon as Johnny got off work...a combination of feeling like crap and the Benadryl making me tired. I'm feeling slightly better today...but having a hard time concentrating with my head being all foggy. 

The earliest due date for my current orders is September 30th...so they're not overdue, yet. I was hoping to get the orders finished and out today, but I just couldn't get it all done before the last pick-up at the post office at 3pm. Every time I stood up, there was intense pressure in my head and then my nose would get stopped up again in addition to my arms and legs getting tired super easily...so it all really slowed me down. I got the sticker sheet and sticker orders cut tonight...but I still have the magnets to finish tomorrow. So while I'd hoped to get them out earlier, at least they'll go out on Monday.

I had my first experience of review extortion from a customer. She placed the order on September 8th and I shipped it via First Class Mail (regular letter mail) the following day. The tracing history for her order had a delivery update on September 15th. She sent me a message saying that she was home all day and they looked all around but nothing was delivered and she needed it for a birthday party that weekend. I sent her my "quick reply" because I get messages like this all the time. It explains that the order was sent in an envelope with her regular mail, so it isn't scanned delivered at her address like a package. The delivery update is only an estimate and it can take several days after to actually arrive. So far, I've never had one marked delivered that did not show up. So she said that she would wait until the weekend to see if it shows up. 

She sent another message on Saturday the 20th saying that she wanted a refund because she was on her way to the party and claims that it still hadn't arrived. My policies state that I do not provide refunds for lost, delayed, or damaged orders...I only provide replacements (it reduces the occurrence of people trying to scam for free stuff). However, Etsy has a Purchase Protection Program (PPP) that will provide a full refund to customers if their orders are lost or delayed. Since her order was for the party she said she was getting ready to go to and she'd already requested a refund, I sent her the instructions for getting a refund from Etsy's PPP. 

When she responded, she threatened to leave a negative review if I didn't just provide the refund myself...because she didn't feel like she should have to "go through hoops" and that sellers in the past have "always issued the refund." What I hear...is that she has a history of "not received" orders and getting refunds. Not to mention the "hoops" is nothing more than basically sending a message...which clearly wasn't difficult for her since she was messaging me. 

But I responded to explain that my policy clearly states that I only provide replacements and that the entire purpose of Etsy's PPP is to refund customers in this situation. I also told her that I would be reporting her messages for extortion and provided Etsy's link that explains what extortion is. 

She left a 1-star review saying that she didn't receive it and that I wouldn't issue a refund...after she'd already gotten her refund from Etsy. I responded to the review to explain the situation...including that she had already received her refund from Etsy's PPP. I'm not worried about her review considering it's only the second 1-star review I've received out of almost 800 reviews. But the following day she decided to message me again to say, "I never tried forcing you to do anything. I made a suggestion." Yeah...suggesting that she'll leave a negative review if I don't give her a refund is exactly what extortion is. 

I let her know that once Etsy provided her refund, our transaction was complete...that and she is no longer my customer, so she needed to stop contacting me. She responded to say, "No worries. I've found a replacement and no intentions of doing business with you." But wait...I thought she needed it for the party that she was on her way out the door to the day before? Now suddenly a replacement is acceptable? Hmmm. 

I have excellent customer service...but I'm not going to be bullied into giving someone a refund against my posted policies...especially when there is already an option to get a refund through Etsy's PPP. Any decent customer with a legitimate problem with their order isn't going to care who provides their refund, as long as they get a refund. There are so many sellers out there who will immediately give refunds just because they're hoping to avoid a bad review...even though that still doesn't mean that the customer won't leave a bad review. 

I also make it very clear that orders with free standard shipping are sent via letter mail. It's in a listing photo, in the description, in my FAQ, and is reiterated in the email that the customer automatically receives after they make their purchase. I also make it clear that they do not have USPS tracking, but that I offer upgraded shipping options if they want tracking. 

I've been really lucky, though. I've only had one other problem customer...and that was last month. That customer placed an order for 10 stickers on August 20th and they were shipped out August 21st (Thursday)...via First Class Mail which can take 1-5 business days in transit. She sent me a message on August 28th saying that she wanted a refund because she needed them by the 25th (Monday). So, again, I sent her the "quick reply" that has the information about how to file a case with the Etsy PPP (and my message is very polite and professional, because that's my customer service). 

Her response, however, was to say that she can't open a case until the 30th, "so what good does that do me"? Um...well if you want a refund, that's the "good" it does you. I didn't say that, of course, but that's what I was thinking. Her message went on to say that it didn't arrive "in the delivery window" and "its location hasn't moved or been updated since August 22. It's obviously lost." So I politely responded to explain that the "tracking" is not actual USPS tracking...it's based on information decoded by Pitney Bowes from automatic sort machines and it's not always reliable...and mentioned that I do offer upgraded shipping with actual tracking. Then I went on to tell her that I don't provide refunds for lost or delayed orders, I only provide replacements...and that if she wanted a refund, she'd have to use Etsy's PPP. I also stated that I don't have a way to speed up Etsy's requirements for the PPP...that their instructions state that the case can be filed 48 hours after the help request is sent. 

She responded--in all caps--that she needed them by the 25th and "they said they would arrive by then so I didn't feel the need to upgrade the shipping option." Oh boy. Here's how estimated delivery dates work: it's a range based on production time plus transit time. So the estimated delivery date range when she ordered was between August 25th-September 1st (1-3 business days in production and 1-5 business days in transit). My due date to send her order was August 25th (3 business days), but I sent it on the 22nd...the day after she ordered. So considering I didn't even have to mail the order until the day she claims to have needed them...yeah, she would've needed to spend $30 for Priority Mail Express which comes with a guaranteed delivery date of the 25th...AND send me a message to let me know about the urgency so I didn't wait until the 25th to send it. 

Considering the absurdity of thinking that an order that doesn't even have to be sent until the 25th would arrive by the 25th AND her "outrage" at having to wait 2 more days to get a refund (when it was already 3 days after she claims to have needed it AND she actually waited 3 days to file for the refund)...I assume this was another scammer. I think she saw that the "tracking" wasn't updated (as it often is not, since it's not actual tracking) and saw it as an opportunity to get her $47 order for free. OH! And when she filed the case on September 1st, she said (in all caps) they were gifts to ask guys to be in her wedding and that, "her shipping said it would be here by the 25th and I asked the guys on the 28th." So she "needed" them by the 25th but she didn't need them until the 28th? Again...hmmm. 

Those are the only two problem customers I've had...and I made a private note in their orders not to do business with them anymore at all. I've had a couple customers get snippy with me before, but it wasn't too bad and it was fleeting. I totally understand that people can get frustrated...I mean, I get that way myself at times. So that's no big deal to me and I don't take it personally. I'm just thankful for the hundreds of customers I've had who have been so wonderful. :) They really make it worth it. 

Aside from my unusually busy July and August, my September revenue is already higher than each of the first six months of the year. And as of the end of today, I have 3140 sales in my CandiMakerStickers shop. As long as I get an average of 120 sales each month, I should hit my goal of 3500 sales in that shop by the end of the year. :) 

I'm still working on my website. I've had to resize all my listing photos because my Etsy photos are too large for GoImagine. Luckily I am able to create a batch process in Paintshop Pro to automatically adjust the photos (since I have several hundred listing photos!). I'm definitely not going to be finished by the end of September...but hopefully by the end of October. :) 

Always working on something...

At any given point, there are no less than a dozen things I want to do...especially when it comes to work stuff. I want to make new designs, I want to make new products, I want to finish uploading all my existing products to my other sites...the list goes on and on. And that's just work-related stuff. There are also projects I want to do around the house, on top of all the household chores I already have to make time for AND filling CandiMaker orders. Not to mention all the things I'd like to do if I actually had free time to do them...like reading, writing, and even silly stuff like playing my Sims game. It feels like the days go by so slow...but there's still not enough time to do all the things. :P 

I have been trying to actually take some days off from work-related stuff, though. Sometimes it's taking the weekend off...sometimes it's just a random day during the week. I do have a hard time actually taking the break...because I think of the big ol' long list of productive things I want to get done. I'm typically pretty good about time management and efficiency...but with some projects, I still have issues with procrastinating. It's especially hard when I'm not feeling well...and I've had a headache for the last week.

Right now I'm working on my website. It's something that I've really wanted to get done, but kept putting it off because it's a lot of tedious work that I had to start from scratch to list around 300 products. But, now I've found a "groove" so it's going a little more smoothly. It's still taking a lot longer than I'd like--especially when GoImagine has glitches--but progress is progress. I was hoping to have it done by the end of the month, but I don't think that's going to happen. :P I did finally finish one section today, though, so I'll celebrate the little accomplishments. ;) 

Next week I have an eye doctor appointment. I liked the eye doctor that I'd been seeing for the last several years, but he retired. So I decided to try a new office altogether. Someone else in the area with Ehlers-Danlos recommended him, so we'll see how it goes. I know I need a new prescription for my glasses...and will likely have to pay extra for high index lenses because I'm blind. :P I'm also not a huge fan of picking out frames because I have a very small head so it really limits my options. But we'll see how it goes. 

Also, there's a new Sims 4 expansion pack being released next week. I'm getting that and another expansion pack for my birthday...so I definitely plan on taking next weekend off to play around with that. :) I think the "Adventure Awaits" pack looks really fun. The gameplay looks interesting and there's quite a bit more hobbies added. They also introduced modular play structures that you can put together to create custom playgrounds. So I'm looking forward to that one. The only other expansion pack that I don't have is "Enchanted by Nature" so I'm going to go ahead and get that one, too. At first I wasn't really that interested in it. It seemed mostly focused on introducing fairies...and I'm just not really interested in the supernatural gameplay. I don't have the vampires or werewolves game packs, so I wasn't planning to get this one right now, either. But, I was watching the trailer and there's more gameplay with houseplants and it also has some really cool build items...so I decided it might be fun to have. And eventually I'll probably get vampires and werewolves...also because they have some cool build items. Building houses and venues is my favorite part of the game. ;) 

But for now...back to work on my website! 

It was a loooong week.

Johnny spent the last week with his family near Seattle, Washington. His mom is in a nice senior care home not too far from his brother. He hadn't seen his mom since she moved out there in late 2019. so he wanted to spend some time with her. Since he was going to be out there for a whole week, I stayed home with the dogs and to work. I didn't want to lose the momentum I've had by putting my shops on vacation mode for an entire week. So this time only Johnny went out there. 

Since I wasn't going, we paid $100 more for him to fly first class...and he enjoyed that. He flew on a smaller ERJ-135. In first class, one side has two seats and the other side has just one seat. Johnny had a seat in the first row on the side with just one seat and he really liked that. He spent most of the flight taking video out the window. He also got a complimentary lunch on his way out there and breakfast on his way back...plus snacks and drinks. He said it was a little bumpy during take-off and landing, but other than that it wasn't bad at all. 

He did a lot of fun things with his brother. They went hiking, to an estate sale, salmon hatchery, and other fun stuff like that. He also sent me a lot of pictures and videos of the wildlife that show up in his brother's backyard. There are lots of birds, ducks, a couple types of squirrels, a weasel, and a larger grey animal that Johnny just saw a flash of in the dark and didn't know what it was. We talked about how Nova would LOVE it...probably a little too much. She's always obsessed with critters in the yard. 

I spent the week working and watching a lot of documentaries. I'd planned to get a lot of projects done around the house...but I've been having bad neuropathy for the past couple weeks and haven't been sleeping much. There have been nights when I haven't gotten to sleep until 4-5am. So I haven't been as productive with projects around the house as I was hoping to be. I think my lack of sleep really started to hit me after Johnny got home...because both Saturday night and last night I ended up going to bed before midnight. Saturday night I woke up a couple times but was able to go back to sleep until I finally got up at 9:30am. Last night I went to bed a little bit earlier and was wide awake at 4am. :P I may try to get a couple more hours of sleep before Johnny has to start work...we'll see how it goes. I never know if it'll make me feel better through the day if I just settle for the 6 hours of sleep or if it'll make me MORE tired if I go back to bed for just 2 more hours. So we'll see. :P 

I did get one project done while Johnny was gone that I was excited about! Mom came over on Monday and helped me cut our memory foam mattress in half. :) It was kinda nerve-wracking to get started with the first cut...but it really wasn't that difficult. We measured and drew the cut line and then mom just used a regular serrated bread knife to cut it while I tried to apply even pressure on both sides of the line to help it cut easier. There were three layers to our mattress, so we decided to cut each layer separately and I held the top layers out a little bit so she could see better. And then it was pretty simple to get it put in the replacement covers that I'd purchased. Then it was just a matter of making the bed and reprogramming the remotes...which was also pretty easy. I'm absolutely loving that both sides of the bed are able to adjust independently now. Johnny sleeps better when he raises the head of the bed, but he doesn't like raising the feet...where my back feels better having the feet raised. So now we can both adjust it however we want. :) So despite getting less sleep lately...I've been waking up in less pain, so I'm pretty happy about that. 

So...if anyone out there wants to replace their king-size memory foam mattress with two TwinXL mattresses (or resize their current mattress to a smaller size), it's very possible (and not that hard) to cut the current mattress down! Our mattress no longer had a warranty (since my grandma bought it for herself back in 2014) but was still in wonderful shape, so we figured we might as well try it and save having to spend at least $3k on new mattresses. I'm definitely not disappointed! 

It was really weird having Johnny gone for a whole week. It was the first time we've spent a night apart since 2015 when the girls were still going to school in our hometown. I'm glad that Johnny was able to spend some time with his family and had a good time...but the doggies and I were definitely ready for him to be home! Nova was SO excited to see Johnny when he walked in the door. Boz was actually nervous and stayed glued to my side, but after a few minutes he realized who it was. Bozley is just weird like that. :P 

Work is still going well. I wrapped up August with my second highest orders per month, revenue per month, and profit for the month since I started CandiMaker (last month is the only month that had higher numbers, largely because of my name label sticker sheets). And on September 2nd, I hit 3000 sales in my CandiMakerStickers Etsy shop. My goal for this year is to hit 3500...so if things continue the way they have, I should be able to hit that goal. :) I just need to average about 5 sales per day...which is doable. I hit 450 sales in my CandiMakerPlanners Etsy shop mid-August, but sticker sheet sales have slowed to a crawl now that kids are back to school. A lot of it is the fact that I only have 8 listings in that shop and don't work on it as much as my regular sticker shop. I have been trying to work on it more...but I just have so many things on my to-do list. 

I think my next point of focus is going to be to get my website up and running. I'd really like to have it done by the end of the month. There are a few quirks about GoImagine's infrastructure that bug me, though. My biggest complaint is that I was trying to bulk delete the listings that they'd pulled from my Etsy data upload (because it's going to be quicker to just start from scratch rather than edit 300+ listings). But after awhile, it started deleting the listings that were NOT checked in addition to the ones that were checked...including the template listing that I'd just created. So...I gave up working on it that day out of frustration. My plan next week is to make as much progress as possible with it, though. 

On that note...I'm gonna try to get some work done while I try to decide if I want to get a little more sleep or not. ;)