The Etsy Ring Fiasco and The Seller from Hell

Hi there. So this is my first post. Something recently happened to me that upset me so much, I created this blog to get the word out about that experience.

I have been a seller and buyer on etsy for over two years. I need to start at the very beginning to get the whole story out. Last week, I saw a ring I liked on etsy. Under the description, it said "feel free to make me an offer on any item." I messaged the seller and got this reply:

Ok, I thought. I found another ring they had listed that I liked and purchased it. The next day I found myself thinking about the other ring I asked them to lower the price on. I decided I wanted it so I purchased it. Later that day while on ebay, I saw the same ring for 9.99 that I paid 42 dollars for. I also realized they were selling QVC jewelry as "vintage." I immediately sent a request to cancel my order. This is when it gets interesting. I get this in my email:

Hmmm......so I check etsy and I have a message in my inbox (etsy automatically sends a message when an order in cancelled to the buyer).

Right, at this point I am still a paying customer for my other ring purchase. The conversation continues:

Hmmmm....I am ticked off at this point and decide to just leave negative feedback and be done with it. This seller was clearly crossing a line in my opinion, to keep harping on me about their lost fees and a box. Now, I don't have a screenshot of the feedback I left them because etsy deleted it within 24 hours. It violated etsy's policy because I copied and pasted what she said to me in our messages to let other buyers know how unstable this person was. I would have taken a screen shot if I had known it would be deleted. I was under the impression etsy didn't delete feedback unless it contained profanity. I learned that lesson the hard way. Well, The seller left me retaliatory feedback as I suspected they would. It reads as follows: 

So remember that other ring I purchased that they told me they shipped? They lied. Just want to throw that out there. At this point I probably shouldn't have, but I sent them a message about the feedback they left for me that was full of lies.

At this point I threw my hands up and walked away. What is done is done, my feedback score was affected by all of this but at least other potential buyers know what a horrific person this is to do business with. Wrong.....etsy deleted the feedback I left but kept the feedback they left for me on my account. It makes no sense, I know. Etsy's logic is that I violated the TOS by posting a private conversation and they didn't violate the TOS, so my feedback remains and theirs goes. 

I wrote to etsy: The other feedback I left just said "see feedback below" and that was removed. Now this seller who called me names and harassed me over a box and a perfectly legal canceled transaction has a 100% feedback score and I (the buyer) have 99%. How can you justify that to me? How is that fair? Please explain.

Their reply? 

Thanks for your reply. I completely understand your continued concern regarding this feedback. However, as I noted in my previous email, this feedback is not in violation of Etsy's policies and is therefore not eligible for removal. We are unable to investigate the validity of feedback, only if the feedback itself violates our policies.

Best,

Eliza
Etsy Trust & Safety
http://www.etsy.com/policy/dosdonts
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So make of this what you will. I am done with etsy. I just had to get my story out there. If it were any other business a customer would never have been allowed to be treated the way that I was. But I guess etsy works differently. You can make up lies and harass buyers about lost fees, but don't you dare post a private conversation in someone's feedback. That is a big no-no.

Thanks for reading. 

Sarah <3