Error in Star Seller "Message Response Rate" calculation. Buyers message reply to twice same day?

[HandbagLeatherHeaven]

Hi,

My star seller "message response rate" has gone below 95% for the 1st time ever but I believe this is due to a system technical issue/error and would like this to be corrected please. 

Please see the evidence below after researching this issue:

1. Message stats report indicates I received a message on 16/12/2022 (08:32:57) and didn't reply until 31/12/2022. This is incorrect, I replied twice on the 16/12/2022.

2. There is an email message from buyer at (08:32) but this does not show under the Etsy messages tab???

3. Our reply at 08:09 is in Etsy messages tab. Buyer then replied to us (08:39) and we replied back again (08:50) all on the 16/12/2022.

4. We replied to all messages from this buyer on the 16/12/2022. Therefore, there must be an Etsy technical issue/error which I would appreciate if you could correct please and restore our response rate to 100%.

Thank you. 

[CappuccinoLace]

Etsy will not correct stats.

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello @HandbagLeatherHeaven,

After checking in here, it appears that you responded to this message via normal messaging/order page. However, your buyer sent you a message via the Help Request option. Please know that messages from the same buyer will now be consolidated into fewer threads, but when a buyer reaches out via the Help With Order request, a new thread will be created which needs a response separately. This is because, Help Request are used by buyers to open a case.

These types of message threads need to be responded to in 24 hours to be counted positively toward your Star Seller score. New threads will now have notification badges showing if a message is a buyer’s first time contacting you, or a new help with an order request. For more information about this, you may check out the Message Response rate section in this Help Article.

We will take this as a feedback, that you wish for Help Request from the same buyer to also be merged with normal messaging. We will be sharing it with the team to consider for a future update. Please know that we take comments from the community to heart, and we make many changes to the site based on what we hear.
 

Thank you very much!

[TheArtfulTwig]

@HandbagLeatherHeaven 

I had the same thing happen to me, for the same reason, and lost my star seller status.   I had previously read:

"Please know that messages from the same buyer will now be consolidated into fewer threads," and assumed that replying from the order where the order information was, and the ongoing convo thread with the buyer, that my response would be counted as timely, but it wasn't.  It will be a few months before I get enough messages to correct this since I receive so few messages.

Also be aware that messages in the last 2 days of the month are not counted (from Etsy Star Seller Help):

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller-?segment=selling

"Messages sent on the last two days of the 3-month review period may be excluded from the current review period and counted towards the next period instead. This is to allow Sellers a full 24 hours to respond and not be penalized for messages received late on the final day of the review period."

This is the reason I lost my star seller status this month.  The star seller stats page clearly states that stats are calculated based on the entire three month period, for example, "Data based on current review period: November 1, 2022–January 31, 2023."  However, that's not true for messages.  It's unfortunate that it is not clearly stated on the star seller stats page, but rather buried in the help info.

@TonsOfPaper "We will take this as a feedback, that you wish for Help Request from the same buyer to also be merged with normal messaging. "

I do hope you will make note of these issues and consider them for future updates.  We are all doing our best to provide the highest levels of service to our buyers, and it's unfortunate to be dinged on technicalities.  Especially now that Star Seller is a highly featured filter in search.