Open the order and message from there. The store then sees which order you mean without asking, which removes the first exchange entirely.
Anyone can write to a store. The limit is only on a store starting a conversation with somebody it has no connection to. Can I message a buyer directly?
What to write
What is wrong, in one sentence. "The lid is cracked" before anything else.
What you want. A refund, a replacement, or to keep it with something off. Saying it saves a round trip and it is reasonable to ask for.
Photographs, if it is physical.
Nothing else. A short message naming one specific thing gets a faster and better answer than a long one listing grievances. That is not politeness advice — it is what makes a case decidable.
What to expect
Most stores answer the same day. A small store is one person who may be at work, so a day is not being ignored.
If it is a return, the store has its own window to respond before Metzee can step in. How returns work
When to stop messaging and raise it
No reply within a couple of days on something time-sensitive.
A reply that refuses something you are entitled to. Damaged, faulty, wrong or not as described comes back for 7 days whatever a store's policy says — a no to that is a case, not a conversation. What if the seller lied about the item?
Anything that feels off — a request to pay outside Metzee, pressure, abuse. Report rather than reply. Messages that are not from Metzee
What not to do
Do not raise it in the show chat. The seller is mid-broadcast, the room does not need it, and nothing there is attached to your order. Is the show chat public?
Do not leave a review first. Give them the chance; a store that fixes something willingly is worth a different review from one that would not.
Do not take it off Metzee. A conversation that moves to a personal number has no record and no route.
Before you buy, rather than after
Most of what this page is for is avoidable by asking before bidding — the measurement, the flaw, the dispatch time. A seller would far rather answer then. Five questions worth asking before you bid
More: how to raise an issue, how long a dispute takes, changing or cancelling an order after paying.