Messages from the same customer and the same order aren't alway put in the same thread! + overseas

[GoldfishMarmalade]

I got dinged for not responding to a customer within 24 hours. Being a star seller for almost a year in a row, I obviously do my best to respond to every message in that time frame. (The last time I was dinged was because of a customer message from Australia, so was over 24 hour response time calculated from THEIR time, not mine). In this case the customer wrote to me via help request, and ALSO via the order messaging. So I responded to the order message and not the help request. It seemed overkill to respond to the SAME situation, order, and customer twice so I responded to just one. Etsy has been telling us since the summer that threads from the same customer will be combined, so I assumed I didn't need to respond twice...but that doesn't seem to be the case if send a message via a help request. This is confusing to me. So anyone who reads this be aware of messages from overseas timing, as well as help requests vs. regular order messages. These apparently need to be responded to separately. Bummer because I'm probably losing my star seller status because of this, learn from me my friends! 

[audreytherese]

"The last time I was dinged was because of a customer message from Australia, so was over 24 hour response time calculated from THEIR time, not mine"

It's 24 from when the message comes in, as 24 hours is 24 hours, the time zone it was sent from is pretty irrelevant. 

Yes, help tickets are separate and must be answered separately. They also can not be sent to spam like other messages. 

[GoldfishMarmalade]

Thank you Audrey! The Australian one was confusing for me because I did respond in 24 hours my time but was still dinged. 

[audreytherese]

I don't understand. All messages that come to me show what time I received them (in my time). 

If someone in Sydney, Australia were to message me now it would be 8:30 am their time and 4:30 pm my time. I would have until tomorrow at 4:30 pm my time to respond. I just don't understand how time zones (my time vs their time) come into play - it's 24 hours from when the message is received, it doesn't matter what the actual time is. 

[SugarTaffySoap · Accepted solution]

@GoldfishMarmalade  - Respond to every message OR move message to your spam folder if a response is not necessary. Your percentage will eventually adjust.  

Etsy says:  "The messages from the same buyer will be consolidated into fewer threads. However, when a buyer reaches out via the Help With Order request, a new thread will be created. 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. "

[GoldfishMarmalade]

Thank you! It just seem redundant to have to respond to the same message from the same seller regarding the same order but in 2 different threads,  but it is what it is and lessons learned. Since Etsy said they were merging threads I didn't pay attention that it was a "help request" since it was from the same customer and I already responded to her. Happy new year!

[BagmakerSupply]

Also, if you look at the CSV file you will see that it is in UTC not your time zone so one can easily do the math by subtracting the date / times to see if it is over 24 hours.