Poshmark review: Very poor management of returns/refunds dispute resolution and escalations processes

Below is an email I sent to both the Poshmark Customer Support And specific members of its Executive team, including the CEO:

Dear Poshmark Executive Team,

I am contacting you regarding an extremely disappointing recent experience that has severely damaged my impressions of your Customer Relations Management team, as well as my business partnership with you as both an Ambassador Seller AND a repeat customer.

I submitted a request to return and receive a refund for Order Number 670202ef49438a9fef6a97cd because the size of the clothing item purchased is incorrectly labeled by its manufacturer and also incorrectly stated in the listing by the Seller. Per YOUR instructions, my Return Request (q.v.) provided indisputable photographic and descriptive proof of both of those claims. In spite of this—AND the fact that I was required to pay a mandatory "Buyer Protection Fee"--my initial and escalated requests were denied, based on completely irrational logic and irrelevant citation of your policy (refer to my correspondence with Gayathri, et al, for specifics). Given the fact that the labeling error in this case lies neither with the Seller, Poshmark nor myself, but with the manufacturer, a very minor loss-making "good will" resolution on the part of Poshmark is undoubtedly what the vast majority of both your buyers and sellers would expect, especially since there is no chargeback attempt involved.

As someone with over thirty years of experience in Customer/Client Support, Inside Sales, eCommerce, Order Fulfillment, Technical Support, Billing/Finance, Account Analysis, Data Collection, et al., in Leisure Travel And Tourism, Transportation, Meetings And Conventions, Association Management, eContent, Education Technology (EdTech), Publishing, "Big Data", General And Specialty Retail Sporting Goods and Medical-Healthcare/Consumer/Business-To-Business and Qualitative/Quantitative Market Research (including as a Customer Service Manager)—and who has, among other things, created conducted New Hire and Peer Counseling Training and created related Training And Development job aids--this is one of the worst incidences of mindlessly robotic customer-facing dispute resolution and Terms And Conditions application I have ever witnessed. It is absurdly unethical, blatantly deceptive and borderline fraudulent for you to collect, WITHOUT an Opt-Out choice, a Purchase Insurance fee when, in this case at least, you repeatedly refuse to honour a legitimate and substantiated claim. It is ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS for you to suggest that I recoup my purchase cost by re-Poshing the item when that would generate revenue for you literally coming and going, but would leave your customer with the proverbial short end of the stick. I am not expecting preferential treatment as a Poshmark Ambassador Top-Rated Seller--and, as the saying goes, It's the principle of the matter. What my complaint should convey to you, especially in light of the ill-advised recent pricing and fee structure changes that, not surprisingly and as I predicted, you were quickly forced to abandon before it injured your reputation AND your EBITDA, is that maybe you should focus more on identifying pro-active, user-friendly and value-oriented ways to improve your point-of-purchase and post-purchase Customer Experience, instead of resorting to nickel-and-dime shell games to pad your margins.

A Chicago apparel retailer once famously and correctly said, An Educated Consumer Is Our Best Customer. He can also be your biggest critic, with more online/social media channels than ever to do so. Even worse, he, and others, can potentially stop being your customer at all.

Sincerely,