Message Responses STILL not counted -Stats dropping

[tildeathstudios]

There is a bug / glitch with the messaging stystem not logging first replies from sellers. I reported this in March 2024 ('Message Response Glitch' here in Technical Issues). The thread was closed by mods as it was supposedly an 'older & resolved issue'. Clearly it isn't.

The blue 'send a reply within 24 hours' banner keeps reappearing, even after the green 'nice work' acknowledgement. This is affecting Message Response Rate stats.

I tried speaking to Etsy chat last week as my stats were dropping due to this & after an hour of waiting, 'Paige' told me there was one message that fell outside the 24hr response time (correct) & that this was what had caused my stats to drop to 95%.  This simply isn't true. I send HUNDREDS of replies to new messages over the 3 month review period. If ONE late response caused a 5% drop, that would mean I only send 20. The maths isn't adding up.

She refused to acknowlege the glitch, ignored my offer of screenshot proof of the blue banner in ongoing conversations & refused to escalate the problem or transfer me to someone who cared, despite my asking. I've just now emailed Support asking for basic data (ie how many convos occurred & how many fell outside the 24 hr mark). Hopefully I can make them see that it IS a fault in their system when I'm not at risk of being cut off (as has happened twice in previous chats). 

We've been shouting about this for months. Why is nothing being done? 

I honestly don't care that much about star seller any more, it's the implications of falling below their basic Customer Service Standards & losing visibility (ergo, sales) & possibly my shop due to (one of many) faults in THEIR system, not in MY customer service & the salt in the wound being completely ignored, twice now, despite trying my best to explain the problem & get help.

Sorry for everyone else going through this & PLEASE do something about this, Etsy.

Mods, this is a months long ONGOING ISSUE & as yet it is NOT RESOLVED

[juliegarland]

I'm having the same issue and it's definitely annoying to still see the blue banner after I replied within 15 minutes to the original inquiry and have had numerous follow-up messages. I hope this gets fixed soon! 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

Do you receive hundreds of new message threads from different people in 3 months?

Etsy only counts the whole message thread once, not every reply in the message thread.

If you download the csv, you will see each new message thread, and the one that is the problem,

are there hundreds of lines, or just 20?

is there more than one message thread highlighted?

........

at the last calculation, I still had the blue writing on the message at the calculation, and I had replied, the star seller calculated it correctly, and it was not counted against me.

[CatsWhiskersCurios]

I’m still getting the blue ‘first time’ notification after replying to first messages and it’s had no impact on my ratings. Have you downloaded the CSV to see which one(s) Etsy thinks you missed?

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@tildeathstudios: "I send HUNDREDS of replies to new messages over the 3 month review period." So are you saying that each of those hundreds of replies was to the first Message of a new incoming thread and that only 20 out of several hundred new threads are reflected in your CSV file?

Based on the numerous threads about this (as well as personal experience), the new message banner not going away appears to be only a user interface glitch which is not affecting any stats such as Star Seller. There have, however, been reports about other Message issues that are impacting a shop negatively.

[tildeathstudios]

Ohhhh well now I feel very stupid & embarrassed.

The way you worded that made me realise my misunderstanding, "the first Message of a new incoming thread"

I thought all first messages from customers were counted, so when I send order updates & they reply, I saw that as "first message from a buyer" but now I see what people have been trying to tell me.

I don't know how I had such a blind spot! Thank you very much for explaining in a way that FINALLY got through my skull haha. 

Thanks everyone & apologies to Etsy for the unwarranted rant!

[Adorabilities]

@tildeathstudios 
Don't feel stupid! Happily, there is a logical explanation to your question -- that's a good thing.

[TheRusticHome]

It IS affecting stats and mine has been dropping even without new messages.  Etsy continues to ignore the issue 

[tildeathstudios]

@TheRusticHome My stats continued to drop even without new messages too because the percentage of messages missed increases if the total received decreases. Not sure if that's what you're referring to? 

Have you downloaded your CSV like others advised me to? If your stats are being calculated incorrectly (which wouldn't surprise me knowing Etsy), then you have proof there in black & white. Or have you already done that?