Star Seller Score calculated incorrect when same person with two orders communicated

[TheLakehouseDesignCo]

The Star Seller Score has said I did not respond to a message but the same person ordered two things, needed me to cancel them both but they messaged me on both orders. I only communicated with her on one of her messages since it was the same person. Now the score shows I did not respond but I did communicate with her on the issues and refunded her orders as asked. Please adjust the messages score to reflect that I did respond to her. 

[ChillwolfArt]

I know this seems silly.  But we have to answer to ALL Messages.  Even if it's from the same person, on multiple different strings of Messages.  (I used to address everything in one Message if they were back to back.  Now I'll hit the first one then say, "Heading over to your other Message."

But that's how the Metrics work.  Any Message that is initiated by someone OTHER than you, you must always reply.

I know I've seen others post that you can go back and mark the one you didn't answer as spam (then you won't be dinged for it).  But just be careful of that.  Because I'm really not sure if that person Messages you again, that it will go through (I think it will, but not positive).

Hope this helps.

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@ChillwolfArt 

You can report a Message as spam to remove it from your Message inbox. However, you will continue to receive emails about new replies in that Message.

This doesn’t send a report to Etsy.

Since it doesn't send a message to Etsy it won't affect further communication from the person.  If you actually report a message as spam to Etsy, then further communication would be blocked.

---

[ChillwolfArt]

@NoFrogsAllowed 

Thank You very much for your post.  I always thought that if you Marked a Message as Spam (through Messages), that it WAS sending a report to Etsy.

[NoFrogsAllowed]

@ChillwolfArt 

I, also, thought it sent a report so when you said you were unsure of the outcome, I decided it was time to look it up.

[DesertChains]

“I only communicated with her on one of her messages since it was the same person.”

That’s the problem. You need to respond to every message or put it in spam.

Your rating is likely correct.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

It is correct, it's the way it works,

you have to reply to every new message thread, it doesn't matter if it's the same person, you still have to reply to each one.

It's a bot that checks that there is at least 1 reply to each thread

[WitticismsRus]

@TheLakehouseDesignCo 

Etsy is pretty clear about how the message response rate is calculated in help center here https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/4403058372503-How-to-Become-a-Star-Seller?segment=selling

There is a highlighted bit under message response rate info that says "The Message response rate only applies to the first message in a thread. Initial messages from both buyers and sellers on Etsy are counted towards the Message response rate. "

That means ALL messages. It also means each individual message thread so if someone sends you 5 different messages with 5 questions instead of putting them in the same message chain you need to respond to all 5 of them. The system is completely automated and doesn't know if the message is from a buyer a another seller. It just sees a message and calculated the response time. That's just how it works.

The info is also right there on the star seller page in shop manager. Just go to shop manager > star seller. Once there scroll toward the bottom until you find "Questions? We've got answers." Then click messages. The very first question there says

"What messages count toward the message response rate?

Your message response rate is based on just the first message in a conversation, not ongoing conversations. This means you just need to respond to the first message within 24 hours. This applies to messages both from buyer and seller accounts. Messages from Etsy staff do not count toward your response rate, and neither do messages that you mark as spam. You can also now find a breakdown of your message response rate score by downloading a CSV."

You can try marking the message as spam now and it should be removed from the calculation in a few days.