Message Response Data is Not Accurate

[AvantDante]

My Message response score is down from a customer whom I was already in correspondence with immediately, who chose to start a new message thread to say thank you. That was the end of our conversation and I did not reply. Because she chose to start a new convo and not continue our thread, I am now dinged for not responding to my customers on time and might not get to keep my Star Seller status.  Normally one message wouldn't affect my score but my orders this month are down to a trickle so this one interaction is taking me down in Star rankings.

This is really a dumb metric if this can happen and the data isn't cross-referenced with people you've already been in contact with. It's not helping anybody if sellers just have to make sure they have the last word in every conversation to avoid being penalized. 

[BellaTreasuresByMT]

According to Etsy, you have to reply to EVERY single message or mark as spam to avoid losing the SSB. Their rule, not mine.

[LoreleisEmporium]

This exact issue has just cost me my star seller badge for this month, a customer sent multiple conversation threads and as one with only a picture didn't get its own reply I went down from a consistent 100% to 88%, a terrible shock to the system. 

[DesertChains]

Your rating is correct. New message thread = new reply needed

It doesn’t matter whether or not you answered questions or provided information. It doesn't matter if a message doesn't need a response. It doesn’t matter if you’re the seller or the buyer. It doesn't matter if the message you received is a duplicate. The system only determines whether or not you replied to an individual message. If you didn't respond or send a message to your spam folder, you are going to get rated down. That's how it works.

Right or wrong, the program has worked this way for nearly a year! The instructions for meeting this metric are clearly stated and easily accessible. Daily posts in the forums also discuss this exact topic.

Send the missed messages to spam. Your stats will update in a day or two.