Hiya,
I wasn't too sure on where to post this.
The other week I messaged a seller on Etsy about an item he had. He responded quite quickly and answered my question and I made a purchase for said item.
I messaged him a few days later about something else and I received an automated response that said it was out of hours, but he'll reply as soon as he can, which wasn't a big deal as I had messaged around 21:00.
I never received a reply, but I assumed he was busy and tried not thinking about it.
The other day, I was getting a bit curious about some other products he had and when I checked his shop it basically said the shop was no longer around. I was quite concerned as I never had a reply, no notifications to say the item was dispatched and I couldn't find any items from his shop. I did message him again to see if I could get an update and I received the same automated response from before.
I looked online and read some replies from others who had similar experiences, so they had to contact Etsy and their banks to get a refund.
Unfortunately, I couldn't find a human to chat with for Etsy, but I sent through wanting a refund, but it said I couldn't open a case until the 7th. I did contact my bank and spoke with someone about the situation and they said they will look into it on their end and will let me know how it goes in the next few days.
Today I received a message from the seller and he apologized about the delay in sending my item out (he said he has a family situation) and he said he can send it out on Monday, but he can refund me if I want the money back instead.
I checked his shop and it's back again.
I'm torn tbh. On one hand I feel bad if he had a genuine family situation and he's being honest and will send my item out, but then I'm worried he's just saying that and will try to get out of sending the item and will get to still keep the money.
I have ordered from different shops from Etsy before and have had no issues, so I don't know how to handle this situation.
Any advice?