Star Seller Errors

[Norpine]

I have two dings against me on the star seller metrics and both appear to be errors. The first one is stating that I did not respond to someone's message in a timely manner. This conversation was ongoing for multiple days and the customer actually didn't respond to my last message for 24 hours and there was no reason for me to respond back but I received a ding because I didn't reply. Etsy specifically states that they only track the initial first message (which I responded within 24 hrs) and don't score on on-going conversation threads. The second error is that I entered in a tracking number on a customer's order for Fedex but it defaulted back to USPS and therefore I got a ding on shipping because it is stating I did not update tracking on an order. 

[BagmakerSupply]

@Norpine: Have you checked the applicable CSV file available on your Customer Service page to confirm which new incoming Message threads Etsy thinks were unanswered or answered late? Are you sure that the customer did not start a second thread - perhaps a Help Request?

The courier company changing has been reported before. Long before Star Seller was even thought of, we got into the habit of spending a few minutes daily checking the previous day's shipments to make sure that they were at least "in transit" so if something was wrong we could fix it within the 72 hour window we are allotted.

[BootifulLabels]

Etsy specifically states that they only track the initial first message (which I responded within 24 hrs) and don't score on on-going conversation threads

Not quite, Etsy counts the first response to ALL NEW MESSAGES.  If your buyer keeps the conversation in one message thread and keeps responding back in that one thread, then only the first response is timed.  However, if the buyer starts a new message thread at any point (and buyers who are new to Etsy may well do this because they don't immediately notice a reply button), then your first reply to that new thread is timed, even if it is logically part of the original conversation.  

As for the carrier issue, you always need to check before hitting save on the shipping details screen, to ensure the carrier is correct.  I also go straight back in and check it after saving to be sure.  The carrier sometimes defaults back to the most commonly used one. 

Etsy will not make changes after the badges are awarded, the best you can do is fix what you can afterwards so that the next month isn't affected, and that isn't always possible either.   Don't sweat it, Star Seller is not as important as Etsy would have you think.  It really makes little difference to buyers, the majority don't even notice it, and it doesn't come with a boost in visibility, just a pretty purple badge that for the most part, only other sellers will look for.