August / September Star Seller status

[inkySpaceDesign]

Hi, just wanting to flag a situation regarding the recent change in my August Star Seller status. I am extremely pleased about achieving Star Seller over the past several months but sadly it’s looking likely next month won’t be possible. 

Here is why. A few days ago I received a request from a customer for a refund which I honoured immediately (well within 24 hours) with Etsy’s refund option and cancelled the order as well. At the time, I considered this to be an immediate reply to the customer. However, a few days later I was disappointed to noticed my 100% rating for Message Response Rate had dropped to 94% as it was deemed to be ‘no reply within 24 hours’.

As I understood, this was a refund request through Etsy’s Customer Service rather than a direct message and conversation in the thread; so I didn’t believe I was required to engage in a written response to the customer; refunding the customer would be all that was necessary.

If possible, could you please look into this and re-consider the situation as being a misinterpretation of the Message Response requirements and allow me to retain my Star Seller status? I hold Customer service a real priority in my store and my customer reviews will demonstrate this.

I believe there is a lot of ambiguity with Etsy's requirements and expectations of a seller in this particular part of Star Seller. Sadly, it seems we can only learn the hard way.

I sincerely look forward to your thoughts and reply and hope it can be easily resolved.

With thanks,

Suzi

[moonbeamgifts]

Unfortunately, you will need to contact Etsy Support directly as it's unlikely that anyone will pluck it from the forums to address the issue for you.

[inkySpaceDesign]

Thanks, yes I did and was told that pretty much nothing can be done unless there it is a technical error by Etsy. They supplied the URL for "Technical Support" which turned out to be the link to this forum!  
It was good to get everyone's conformation though - sometimes we have to learn the rules the Etsy way.  

[NoFrogsAllowed]

Etsy will do nothing.  Every first message must be addressed.  That is their rule. 

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@inkySpaceDesign  :  This is a seller peer to peer forum, not a way to contact Etsy, if that is your hope (although Etsy does sometimes post here). At least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered message as SPAM (even after the 24 hour deadline has passed) will cause your reply percentage to change in a day or two if the original message was within the current star seller period.

The FIRST message of a NEW thread must be replied to within 24 hours. It does not matter who sent it, the subject matter, if it is a duplicate or blank or anything else. If it is SPAM then it should be marked as such. Those have always been the rules. Help Requests always start a new thread. By the way, if you are creating a custom listing based on the message, you still need to reply to the message. Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory on those messages they consider to be a "new message".

[inkySpaceDesign]

Thanks for sharing, appreciate it.

[CarpetCollectionAU · Accepted solution]

@inkySpaceDesign It is an unfortunate that the Help Centre actually directs Sellers to post SSP issues in the "Technical Issues" section of Forums.

Whilst this may attract the attention of a "Community Specialist", it is more likely that your concern will remain unaddressed because Etsy is very clear about the Metrics for SSP and  they do "pass the buck" when they give this information

How to Become a Star Seller – Etsy Help

"Etsy Support can’t make changes to your Star Seller data or manually award Star Seller badges. If you think your Star Seller score was calculated incorrectly, you can let us know in the Technical Issues forum. "

[inkySpaceDesign]

Yes, so true! Exact same words! And here's me thinking I was receiving a personalised message!!  

[AzanaPhotoFrames]

I've had the same issue as @inkySpaceDesign I received a 'You need help with: I accidentally placed an order and request for a refund.

I replied within 29 mins and issued the cancel / refund at the same time with the message. I replied to thank the buyer for letting me know and to let her know the order is now cancelled and I even double-checked the message history as well.

My 100% rating for Message Response Rate had dropped to 95% and the report said 'no reply after 24hours' which is in fact not correct.

(Desktop - Firefox)
(iPhone app) the message clearly shows the arrow on the reply

[inkySpaceDesign]

Yes, weird! Thanks for sharing

[CraftyCornishMaids · Accepted solution]

you need to reply to every new message thread, whatever else you may do

and do it through a browser, as the app is fairly flaky with a lot of things, so don't use it to do anything important with your shop

[FallenAngelBrass]

I concur.

Apps are fun & convenient, but I would never run a serious business from an app. 

[inkySpaceDesign]

Thanks for helping out everyone, your support is really appreciated – it can be a hard and lonely slog sometimes this Etsy thing! Sticking to the rules is the easy bit. Sometimes though, knowing the rules is the hard bit – and where to go for answers! So thanks, it's been helpful.