inprnt shop (plus code!) - Etsy closed for now...
Added 2020-05-12 12:41:17 +0000 UTCThe Good News (tl;dr:) I've now got a shop with inprnt, where you can get prints in different sizes, shipped from the US. I've set up a coupon code for use of all Patreon supporters! AJTSE3H4 If you're missing any prints, please let me know, and I may add them. :) (The dormice are still on hold - I want to do something else with them.)
The shipping cost to Europe is pretty high, so those of you who are in Europe might want to wait for my Etsy shop to open again.
The Bad News: Yesterday I opened my email to find that an Etsy customer had filed a complaint against me because her pins hadn't arrived on time. I was notified I had three days to rectify that, otherwise they'd close my account.
Quite apart from the fact that maybe you should allow a bit more time for the post offices in the midst of a pandemic, maybe writing a message would have been a better first step... but maybe that's just me. :(
It's just a matter of time before someone else decides that they want their order NOW, pandemic be hanged, so I closed my shop for the time being.
Shipping to the US is as impossible as ever, but I was able to get out all the Canada orders yesterday. (Australia is still closed.) I'm terribly sorry for those of you in Europe, but this situation has become pretty much impossible to handle. I was still getting several orders a day from the US (from non-Patrons), all of whom were totally surprised to hear I couldn't ship. That meant a lot of emails, a lot of cancelled orders and refunds, and that just didn't work well with my stress levels. :(
School is weird. And will remain weird. There are no prognoses how long, but frankly, I'd be surprised if I would teach an entire class of 30 before Christmas. I wonder what this will do to school in general - and to Latin, which has been pronounced dead several times in the last century, but this pandemic with a Latin name looks to me as if it might be the final straw. :(
I've managed to restrict my workload a little, and I hope that, in time, I'll find some semblance of art inspiration again. Right now, everything comes out as a scrawl. But not in the good way. ;)
Anybody got an idea for tiny stuff to scrawl? Nothing more involved than a cactus or so? :)
Comments
And fear not, you have more supporters than complainers.
Kate Neville
2020-05-14 15:10:21 +0000 UTCToddler hobbits?
Kate Neville
2020-05-14 15:09:23 +0000 UTCI've heard of a help desk got a call about why the computer had stopped working. Many questions later, the owner said that he can't get light to look at something under the desk because the power had gone out. In the days before computers came with batteries. It is impossible to understand how incapable people are of drawing connections
Mary Catelli
2020-05-14 01:45:49 +0000 UTCThis pandemic and people’s selfishness has made me and my wife daydream about living in the middle of the woods and not having to see other human beings. I am so terribly sorry to hear of the horrible customer. However, since you asked, I noticed that my favourite art piece of yours, “The Hunt”, is not listed on Inprnt.
Christopher Cureton
2020-05-13 16:59:59 +0000 UTCOuch, poor caterpillar! XD Etsy didn't really take sides - it was an automated email. BUT I'm fairly sure that this person ignored the usual procedure of sending a message first before filing a complaint. When I cancel an order on Etsy, I always have to tick boxes that confirm I sent the person messages first, AND received messages in return. I can't imagine it's different when a buyer files a complaint. So apparently, she just ticked the box anyway. :/
Jenny Dolfen
2020-05-13 08:24:59 +0000 UTCCactus and flowers sounds like a plan, definitely! Teaching is going to be worse than that, I fear - I'll have my first lesson next week, but instead of a nicely small group, I will teach three small groups at once. They've split the course into three, and put them in three adjacent rooms, and I'll be running back and forth between them. I should re-instal my step counting app...
Jenny Dolfen
2020-05-13 08:22:20 +0000 UTCHow can customers not understand that the shipping conditions are particularly complicated and weird at the moment? filing a complaint without contacting you first is pretty insensitive tbh... Anyway, I think you have made the right decision ; better avoid more stressful situations!
Litsen
2020-05-13 07:55:07 +0000 UTCI"m so sorry for your experience with such a bad and inconsiderate customer!! And as others have said, Etsy should have looked into it better before taking her side. So disappointed with them. Please know that we love you and wish you the best. I will wait for as long as it takes. And maybe a caterpillar on a cactus?
Vivienne E Collins
2020-05-13 05:26:20 +0000 UTCButterflies? Ladybugs?
Mary Catelli
2020-05-13 00:59:20 +0000 UTCSorry to hear about the inconsiderate, impatient customer. The warning about delays is so clear on your Etsy - as clear as it could possible be, I'm sure - so I don't understand how anyone could miss it. As for scribbles – perhaps some of Tolkien’s flowers or trees you haven’t yet done?
elesianne
2020-05-12 15:01:37 +0000 UTCFor some reason, Patreon keeps eating my comment. Third time lucky, I hope? (If it shows up three times after this, I'm going to cry.) The customer's behaviour is appalling, but like Becca, I'm more apalled by Etsy. Are they somehow not aware of the global pandemic and its effects on postal services? Considering that you put the information about delayed shipping right there with the article description, the platform should perhaps realise that it's not your fault if the customer didn't bother to read! Hope you informed them of that, even if you still keep the shop closed for the time being. Teaching really is weird right now. I like the smaller classes - much easier to notice when individual kids lose the thread and need more clarification, as well as when they drift off - but it's a challenge to plan lessons so they get the essentials while we meet in person! And there's no chance of postponing things for tomorrow if something took longer than planned! (And of course, the handwashing rituals eat a lot of time at the end and start of the lesson). But it's better than nothing. I hope Latin-as-a-subject survives. The analytic skills it teaches are invaluable, and it's super useful with general grammar and loanwords, too. (Preaching to the choir, I know!) After the doormice, I'm tempted to suggest frogs - but they'd probably be too complex. So I have no idea for scribbles. Hmm... more small flowers - summer edition?
Lyra
2020-05-12 14:40:19 +0000 UTC*Sends hugs and good vibes* De-stressing is good, and as I have said before, I am perfectly happy to wait as long as needed for shipping to be safe and reasonable again.
Jennifer Tifft
2020-05-12 14:28:43 +0000 UTC:( People can be so selfish—and self centered! I liked being able to buy things to support you during this time; I don't care if I have to wait months, because it'll be even more exciting then (and a sign that at least part of the world is returning to normal again!) And Latin was always a language I wanted to learn, and never had the opportunity in school—I hope there's still a need for it. <3
IlexBerry
2020-05-12 13:59:55 +0000 UTC
