What communication channels do these guidelines cover?

These guidelines cover all channels of communication between you and your customers. This includes the following channels:

• Customer Service Chat
• Responses to Product Reviews
• Physical Notes left in product packages

What is the "Customer Service Chat" feature?

To learn more about this tool, please refer to this article.

What are some best practices when communicating with customers?

✔️ Do the following:

• If possible, have a professional customer service team or personnel to provide necessary service to customers directly.
• Keep all records of customer communications confidential in accordance with our TikTok Shop Privacy Policy.
• Use the 'Customer Service Chat' feature to provide customer service where possible.
• Keep your communications on the platform, without directing customers to other websites.
• Respect data privacy - keep all records of customer communications confidential in accordance with our TikTok Shop Privacy Policy.
• Respect intellectual property rights - do not transmit texts, images, photos, software, or other materials protected by copyright or trademark rights.
• Respond to customer inquiries within 12 hours of the customer message being sent. This will affect your 12-hour response rate.

❌ Do not engage in the following:

• Harrasment and Bullying
• Sending unsolicited marketing (spam) to customers
• Illegal activities and the promotion of prohibited or counterfeit products. This includes incentivising customers to engage in gambling, frauds and scams, sending viruses, and any action that could potentially deceive customers.
• Pornography, nudity and sexual content
• Sexual content related to minors
• Soliciting feedback and incentivising or offering customers any form of monetary or non-monetary reward in exchange for a positive review or altered feedback. This includes but is not limited to offering compensation such as money, gift cards, free/discounted products, refunds, rebates or reimbursements. Examples include:
  • "I'll give you an additional voucher if you give me 5 stars."
  • "Only a 5-star feedback will get you a discount voucher next time."
• Abusive, threatening or inappropriate behaviour with the intent to get customers to act in the interest of the seller or prevent them from giving honest feedback. Examples include:
  • "If you don't give me a good review, I will block you."
  • "I know your address, so you better give me a good review."
  • "I'll make sure you regret it if you request a return/refund."
  • "I'll report you as a malicious buyer if you give me negative feedback."
  • "No return and refund for 1-3 stars. Change it now!"
• Tampering with TikTok Shop's 'Buyer Messages' feature or using plug-ins or unauthorized third-party tools/services to access our platform
• False, inaccurate or irrelevant information
• Changing return/refund conditions to terms less favourable to the customer after an order is placed.
• Diverting traffic to off-platform sites/ circumventing sales process
  • Sending any unauthorized third-party information to customers (e.g. links, QR codes, offline store addresses and contact information)
  • Offering customers an off-platform return and refund. All return and refund requests must be carried out through the TikTok Shop platform. Please see our Returns and Refunds guide to learn more.
  • Asking buyers to cancel an order

What should I do if I am facing issues with a customer?

If you experience any of the following situations from customers, you may file a ticket in Seller Center.

• Bullying or harassment.
• Obscene, threatening, or malicious communications.
• Requests or threats to the seller to offer unreasonable warranties, refunds, discounts.
• Advertisements or irrelevant messages.

When raising a ticket, you should submit relevant supporting materials such as historical communications with the customer. Once verified, these messages will be excluded from your performance evaluation metrics.

What happens if I breach these guidelines?

If you are found to violate these guidelines, you may have enforcement actions taken against your account. You should note that repeated offenses will result in more significant penalties.
Please see our Violation Reasons, Points & Enforcement Actions for Sellers article and Seller Terms of Service for more information. If you think an enforcement action has been taken against you in error, appeal via the Seller Center. Please read our Seller Appeal Guidelines article for more information.
Please click here to read our TikTok Shop Customer Service Guidelines.