AIBU to tell an Etsy seller their grammar/ punctuation is incorrect?

[Lolabear38]

Looking at signs on Etsy earlier and one I noticed said ‘Dog’s welcome’. Obviously dogs doesn’t need an apostrophe here - looking at other items in their shop I also noticed things like ‘mum’s are magic’ and some others. I messaged the seller about something I wanted to buy but mentioned the incorrect use of the apostrophe - in a polite, what I considered to be constructive way - and got a very arsey reply!

Apparently they have ‘hundreds of very satisfied customers’ (and actually they have had hundreds of sales according to their Etsy stats) and nobody has ever complained before, therefore it must be me who has the problem and I should probably look at other shops if I’m going to be ‘a perfectionist about it’.

AIBU to have pointed this out? I genuinely don't spend my days seeking out grammatical errors to correct but why are people blasted for trying to help like this? I'm not claiming my own grammar or language is perfect, but neither am I selling signs with mistakes on them. It seems like anytime someone does point out mistakes they're labelled 'grammar police' and demonised.

YABU - you should have let them carry on using apostrophes incorrectly and looked at another shop instead.

YANBU - you were trying to help 🤷🏻‍♀️

As a ‘maker’ I would want to know…. I would want anything I sold to be 100% as much as possible, but, being a maker I also see things incorrectly made (letters not joined where they should be) as not everyone has a full grasp of the software used in making these items and, whilst it drives me dippy, I am guilty of not pointing it out!

I agree with you OP. The seller would probably have more customers of they made sure their products were actually correct.

MY thoughts entirely. Seeing it would be enough to make me leave the shop.

I just saw another misuse of a word that slightly irks me but I do understand that a lot of people haven't come across it, especially in more recent years. It's the difference between 'hanged' and 'hung'. People often get it wrong by saying a person was 'hung' for a crime. The correct is 'hanged'. Washing is hung from the line. I can tolerate an 'ordinary' person not knowing, or it slipping out in speech, but I get annoyed when I see it in print especially in a News article. Professional Writers don't have any excuses, in my opinion. However it's a grizzly topic so let's not dwell on it.

It's condescending. It was unnecessary.
I've noticed a lot of people pick up on spelling mistakes and have to comment or even laugh. Not nice.

Commenting on a post on here for example about SPAG is condescending and unnecessary.

Commenting that something is wrong on a business selling page is a helpful as their current wares have issues that would stop them selling and ultimately cost them revenue.

It depends on the circumstances though, doesn't it @Stewball01? A professional sign maker should really be getting spelling and punctuation right and needs to be told if they are not. Otherwise they are selling faulty goods to paying customers - who may be unaware of the error - and that's not fair.

I saw a lovely photo album in a shop a few years back but it said Photo's on the front and I just couldn't buy it! No way would I buy a sign with incorrect punctuation. I would have thought it helpful to have it pointed out in a nice way, they must be loosing customers.

Losing!

For those of us who know why aberrant apostrophes are incorrect, these errors are like biting on tinfoil. As I understand it, the OP was a prospective customer, not just messaging to be "helpful". I wouldn't have even considered purchasing and I'm sure the seller is missing out on sales from people like me. YNBU.

For those of us who know why aberrant apostrophes are incorrect, these errors are like biting on tinfoil.

Not me. I teach languages for a living. I spend a lot of time teaching people about grammar and how to write and speak correctly. I understand that not everybody finds these rules easy to understand or remember. I understand that a lot of what makes people good at speaking or writing well is sheer luck. Luck that they have the 'right' kind of brain. Luck that they had the 'right' kind of upbringing and the 'right' kind of education. Or perhaps luck that they now have the kind of life where they have the headspace and time to put in the effort to compensate for the lack of those other 'right' things. The vast majority of MNers who comment on other posters' poor SpaG need to check their privilege.

In my local dental surgery. It makes me cross every time I see it.

'Check your privilege' - more nails on a blackboard. I did not grow up in a wealthy family. I was fortunate to get a good education, courtesy of the state. I feel very fortunate to have had that, which is largely a matter of chance. I am not going to abase myself for having had the good luck to go a good local school rather than a sink school, while also coming from a home where we couldn't afford to go on a proper holiday every year.

Who asked you to 'abase yourself'? I said check your privilege. You did. You said it's nails down a blackboard -why?! What do you think 'Check your privilege' means? It means recognising an advantage you had. You admitted that you had a good education. You admitted you were fortunate. No 'abasement' necesary. I had a top grammar school education and went to Oxford. I know I was fortunate. I don't feel the need to abase myself either. I just recognise that not everyone had my advantages!

Well result. I had a reply from Olay. They didn't sound too pleased about the spelling mistake and they've amended it.

This sort of small thing makes me really happy.

Did they send you some cream as a thank you?

No cream as I haven't given them my address and they didn't ask for it. I already use their cream and it doesn't make me look 20 😀