BUG Message Reponse - Start Seller

[claycoyote]

I didn't get a Star Seller badge because a message wasn't responded to, but it was a refund request and we did respond and do the refund, but on the order, not the message. Since they're not tied together the message appears unresponded and we were penalized. But the person was contacted. I think this is a bug.  

Side note: we had 17 messages in the time frame, 1 (above) wasn't responded to in 24-hours, that gave us a 94%. We had a perfect score for on-time shipping and a perfect 5.0 for ratings. 

[NanaLetha]

Not a bug. You must reply to all messages or mark as spam.

[claycoyote]

Or we can encourage Etsy to connect the Order Messages to the Help Request. I consider this a fixable bug. It is REDUNDANT to reply to both.   

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

Not according to the rules of the game which is now almost 2 years old.

[CraftyCornishMaids · Accepted solution]

@claycoyote 

the reason the "help request" message is separate, is that is the one that starts the 48 hour clock for a case to be opened, you HAVE to respond to that,

from a customer service perspective, and from a refund point of view

[LynnsLittleShop]

I did the same thing shortly after we started with the star seller program. Yes, we sent a message from the refund page, but it wasn't the RIGHT message. Why call it a message then is my question. Sorry it's not a bug, just one of Etsy's idiosyncrasies. 

[claycoyote]

I am sorry you had that experience too. We can continue to encourage Etsy to connect the Order Messages to the Help Request.

It is REDUNDANT to reply to both. 

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@claycoyote: As mentioned, not a bug but intentional. The buyer probably asked for the cancellation via a Help Request and those always start a new thread because they also start the clock ticking on a possible claim. The first message of every NEW INCOMING THREAD must be replied to regardless of how else or where else you communicate with the sender of the message.

[claycoyote]

Except, that there should be a connection from the order to the Help Request (those should be considered connected). I consider this a fixable bug. It is REDUNDANT to reply to both.   

[CarpetCollectionAU]

@claycoyote Actually,, replying to a "Help Request" when processing a Refund is not redundant. The "bot" assessing the "Help Request" response has no way of actually "reading" what the "Help Request" is asking. The "Help Request" message is for you to work out what to do for the Buyer in order to resolvde the request and communicating this resolution.

There are many different actions which can follow a "Help Request", only one of which is a Refund.

The Refund process is an action not a Message (although you can add a Message to the Refund)

Usually, I reply to the "Help Request" with a message advising that the Refund will be processed immediately and asking the Buyer to look out for the "automated" Etsy Notification confirming that the Refund has been processed by the system as advised in the reply to the "Help Request".

[BagmakerSupply]

@claycoyote: Not really disagreeing with you, but how is the system supposed to know which refund belongs to which Help Request or message (if any). What if the buyer sent you two Help Requests? What if the refund is in response to a regular message that was attached to an existing thread and then the customer sent a Help Request about something else? How many complaints would there be that the wrong connection was made?

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Etsy marks new message threads in BLUE, so you don't miss them

you have to reply to each new message thread