Star Seller Badge: Message Response rate takes 72 hours to update

[JLSThreadsCo]

I've spoken to Etsy Support multiple times and they have assured me my messages up to 31st October will be counted towards my star seller badge. 

I was below the % rate for a while, because I didn't reply to another seller who contacted me to thank me for my purchase. I didn't reply because 1. I didnt know about star seller badges yet (I only just started selling a few weeks ago), and 2. when I did find out about the message response rate, I didn't think it would count as they didn't contact me about MY shop, they just wanted to thank me for my purchase.

Now I've received a lot of messages, most of which have come in the last day (30th October) and I have calculated that I will be able to reach the 95% response rate, and only now I was told that '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.'

Fair enough, if on the MAIN PAGE of the star seller page, it says 'Data based on current review period: 01 August–31 October, 2022'. So which one is it? Shouldn't it say from 01 Aug to 28th October to avoid being misleading?! 

I'm so upset, and they're saying there's nothing they can do about it! 

[BagmakerSupply]

@JLSThreadsCo: It appears that messages are assigned to the month in which the 24 hour reply window closes. And you have to keep in mind that end of month means UTC not your local time zone.

[Adorabilities]

Regardless of time zones, the updates can take way more than 24 hours. I think the first customer service people you spoke with were uninformed. We've noticed that the last couple/few days of the month may not count since the beginning of the program.

[CarpetCollectionAU]

You say "I only just started selling a few weeks ago". To qualify for a SSP Badge a Shop has to have been selling for at least 90 days. 

The qualifying period is always the immediate past 3 Months and is updated on the first of the next Month.

If you began selling in October, then your October, November and December statistics will contribute to your eligibility for a Badge on 01 January. For the Badge awarded on 01 Feb, your October performance statistics will drop off and November, December and January statistics will be counted.

Messages received on last day/s of October may not be counted in October Statistics if the 24 hour timeframe allowed for reply extends into November.

Please remember that a lot of what the first level Support representatives advise is limited or incorrect. They have no greater resources or system access than anyone else who can read the Handbook and TOUs. Often, they just do not understand the question, but pick up on the obvious "words" and reply to those. In your case, if you received 10 messages between 9 am and 9 pm on 31 October, the timeframe for replying to these 10 messages would be between 9 am and 9 pm 01 Nov, so these will not be counted. Also, whilst Sellers see messages in their shop in their own local time, Etsy uses Etsy Time (UTC) for the CSV report on which the SSP is based.

[TonsOfPaper · Accepted solution]

Hello @JLSThreadsCo,

We do apologize for any inconvenience you may have encountered. We have take note of your experience and we will share it with the appropriate team. Please remember that 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. For more information about this, you may check out this Help Article.
 

Thank you very much!