Message automatically sent to spam effected my score

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

So, I have been VERY meticulous about getting to messages within 15-30 minutes.  Usually this is on the phone app.  However, the other day I noticed that there was a message in my Spam folder.  I looked and it was a customer reaching out about a product.  I replied as soon as I saw it and then moved it out of my spam folder.  I have never deleted a message or moved it to another folder... Didn't even know you could do that.

Now my message response rate is 93% and the chat bot was no help.  Basically told me there was no evidence.  I've been SO crazy about emailing back and having the best customer service possible.  Come on ETSY!

[ChantillyAvenue]

Send it back to spam:/

[BagmakerSupply]

@AlchemyCookieCutters: "I replied as soon as I saw it and then moved it out of my spam folder." Was this after the 24 hour reply window had passed? Then Etsy will consider it answered late.

Be careful of advice to send it to SPAM to fix your Star Seller stats - unless Etsy has changed something recently a message answered late will not be fixed by sending it to SPAM, and BE WARNED that according to Etsy "You won’t receive any new messages from that member, and they’ll be unable to reply to messages in an existing thread." https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Scams-and-Suspicious-Messages

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

Yes, this was after the 24 hour window.  I never got a notification for it otherwise I would have responded using the app.  And when I sat down at my computer it didn't show that I had any messages.  I had to go into the messages folder to see I had something in my spam folder... so frustrating!

Thanks for the heads up!  I had thought about sending it to spam again but realized that it would likely not allow communication with that customer again.

[ZehOriginalArt]

This is definitely a technical problem with how Etsy is handling messages and sellers should not be penalized for it. The only thing we can do until Etsy fixes this is to check the spam folder daily. Chat bots are no help for things like this. Have you tried a callback? It may not help, but who knows. https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?segment=selling#issue_sell_manage_listings-callback

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

What do you mean by "Callback".  As in reach out to Etsy and ask for them to call me back to talk to a real human?

*Edit - oh, I just noticed the link, lol

[ZehOriginalArt]

Yes. See if the link I posted works for you.

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

If you missed it within 24hrs for whatever reason, you will be dinged for it even if it is a glitch or Etsy's fault!  Etsy never changes anything to do with Star Seller as it is wholly automated and it saw a missed message.

[pixiebell]

I had 2 messages go directly to my spam folder the day before yesterday. I was lucky to have caught them and answered them, though one of them appeared to be quite old so I'm not even sure if it was a new message or something caught in the system somehow. Today I have a new folder called "Order Help Requests" and it has a 13 next to it ..but nothing in there appears to be new ..all 44 pages of it. It's just weird, unhelpful and a potential disaster for star seller. 

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

agreed... I was on the phone with Etsy's "Help" line for about an hour and they basically told me to be sure to answer emails on time.  Well, how about be sure to send them to the right place and notify me so that I can respond?

At the end of the call they did say that there was a technical issue that they would look into but never assured me that my response rate would be fixed.

I like the fact that they are trying to "Help" by moving stuff to appropriate folders but not at the expense of losing a customer and ruining my response rate!

[pixiebell]

Exactly. In addition, twice this week I received emails telling me there were new messages, but I cannot see them from the app. It said "No messages". I have to visit my shop from my laptop to see them. What if that happens to someone who only uses their phone?

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

Yeah, I use my phone a lot and you can't switch folders using the app.  Not cool.

[BagmakerSupply]

@pixiebell @AlchemyCookieCutters : The consensus seems to be that a seller needs to check their shop for messages and orders at least daily via a browser (even their mobile browser) until these issues are resolved.

[JJewellerySuppliesUK]

You were on the phone for an hour over this?  

[OldTimeJarsEtc]

I'm having the same issues with the spam folder. Two landed this week. Didn't notice until 48hrs. Can the spam folder be deleted?

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

I cannot find any way to delete the spam folder.

[BagmakerSupply]

@AlchemyCookieCutters: There is no way to delete any of the Etsy created folders. Besides, even if you could that would not change which Messages Etsy flags as SPAM, they just would have nowhere to go and the result would be even worse because you would not know about them at all.

[GlassyFields]

So based on this thread and another that I looked at today,

some messages are automatically going to the spam folder w/o any notification

and some appear to be legitimate messages the deserve a response

so until Etsy fixes this recent glitch, the workaround is the check the spam folder daily.

 That really defeats the whole point of a spam folder since now I'll have to look at messages that once upon a time were to be ignored.

But since I'm planning on looking at the spam folder daily, if I inadvertently miss responding within 24 hours I can send the message to spam and catch any future communications in my daily spam folder check.

[BagmakerSupply]

@GlassyFields: "... if I inadvertently miss responding within 24 hours I can send the message to spam ..." This strategy will probably not work. If a message is in SPAM, according to Etsy "You won’t receive any new messages from that member, and they’ll be unable to reply to messages in an existing thread." https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000343128-How-to-Handle-Scams-and-Suspicious-Messages

[SensibleBeauty]

After selling for 8 years I was unaware there was a spam folder. When I saw my Star Seller  badge should have read 100% and it changed to 93 I took a look. There was no message that matched the one in the downloaded file. 

Now I have to look at the spam folder a couple of times a day  to find if Etsy moved a legitimate message that I needed to answer.

Now I have to wait three months to get my status changed. It's not playing fair and isn't helpful to any seller.

[CuriosityCabinet]

It happened to me too luckily I found it in time... I would be so pissed if I got dinged for Etsy's mistake.  I don't understand why the bots that are running this site would send an ongoing thread with a customer into the the spam folder, yet sketchy spam convos land in my inbox.

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

Yeah, I am a little ticked off because I don't get a whole lot of messages so it only took ONE message to drop my rating down to 93%.  After I talked with them they basically admitted they had some kind of technical issue but they didn't ensure me that they would remove that instance from my ratings.

[MathewandMarieCo]

Put up an automatic message that says that you will get back to them within ( )   Like an answering machine and never turn it off. This protects you from messages to spam, This is the 2nd time this month we have noticed the messages dumping into spam. Etsys IT team is the worst. my messages are 100%

[TylerGraceCo]

Oh my goodness! I saw your post and decided to check my spam, out of curiosity. I have a legitimate message from March 20th. An actual potential customer asking if she ordered, would something arrive in time. I seem like the rudest seller that never answered her. It's too late now. If I answer, I will get dinged. This is craziness!

[AlchemyCookieCutters]

Yep, this is exactly what happened to me.  I got dinged because I responded to an ACTUAL customer!  And, yes, it's frustrating because I have worked REALLY hard to keep my ratings at 100%.