Star Seller Status Lost Because Message Boxes are Not Linked or Accounted for Properly

[TreehouseCustoms]

I'm wondering if any of these issues are, or have affected anyone else.
This is a message I sent to Etsy support and was requested to post something here.
I feel that there needs to be a more direct access to issues that what is available to us.
Please excuse this long winded post...

José,

Thank you for your response.

If you are not seeing any technical issues with my score, you need to look closer.

I have attached graphics with the main issue I called about, and a couple other issues.

First off, let me say, I have, and use many “Snippets” daily.

I will not use an automated response because once an automated response has been used,

messages from customers are no longer highlighted as BOLD , in the message area

Which is how I keep track of messages that need to be addressed still.

I send a thank you message to every order that I process and if you look at my message box, you'll see that it is very cluttered with these thank you messages

Alerting customers that I have processed a mailing label and when will be sending out their orders 

( Along with a few other requests and a heads up regarding my UV coating and not to peel it off ).

My issue with how my case was calculated is, 

A customer that, allegedly was not contacted within the 24 hr period required,

WAS in fact contacted (Within 3 hours).

She had mistakenly ordered 3 items, but she only wanted 1 item, and had sent 3 separate messages, that I was under the impression when canceling

2 of the orders, and writing the the box that says

“Write an optional MESSAGE to your buyer” that I was in fact SENDING A MESSAGE!!!

( See my attachment Star Seller 2.jpg image of this box )

Apparently, I was not sending a message, because the Star Seller accounting does not see this as a message, even though the verbiage states }I am sending a message.

This verbiage NEEDS to be changed since the Star Seller accounting does not see it as such!!!

Furthermore, if you look at my next attachment (Star Seller 1.jpg)

You’ll see that I did indeed contact the customer within a 3 hour window.

I was not aware that ALL 3 MESSAGES REQUIRED ADDRESSING, And were not in the same message stream.

Again, the box in the cancellation window noted that I was indeed sending a message to the customer, but was not accounted as I did. 

One of my problems with the Etsy messaging system is that there are 3 Message “Areas” that do not seem to be linked together, 

and this Is something that NEED to be Fixed / Changed!!!!

There is a Messages link on our Shop Manager page ( I will refer to this as the MAIN Message box ).

Another on our Orders & Shipping page that does not seem to completely jive or properly link with the MAIN message box,

because not only does this box randomly include snippets that weren’t put there by me,

Also doesn’t allow a pasted URL link to show as it does when pasting into either the MAIN message box.

Or in the Cancellation Page Message Box.

Those pasted links remain as text and not links at all.

Which I’ve learned that our “Older Generation” or “Less Tech” savvy customers don’t understand how to copy and paste into

A browser to access where we’re trying to re-direct.

Furthermore, there is a “Send Seller A Message” Box on the order page that causes me fits when a customer writes anything in it, because

It isn’t linked to either message box and leaves an Orange notation on the Orders & Shipping page that during busy periods is sometimes overlooked,

Or  the customer is trying to “Skate” around my $10.00 customization charge.

Thus causing me to have to cancel the order, contact the customer and let them know why I’m cancelling the order, and 20% of the time losing the order,

Because the customer doesn’t want to deal with re-ordering. 

This is a 3 fold problem that I’ve been trying to get fixed for over 3 years now,

and part of the problem has now reared it’s head and caused me to lose my Star Seller status that I have worked VERY HARD to maintain.

If you look at my customer reviews, the majority mention how much they appreciate my communication with my customers.

As I mentioned to the agent I spoke with, I’m appalled that since I’ve generated over 6 figures for the last 3 years or more,

it is very frustrating that I am not able to actually speak with the proper “Powers that be", to resolve some or all of these issues

That cause me and Etsy extra unnecessary work.

And now have effected a status that I have worked hard to maintain and not because of something I did.

Granted I was ill for a few days and did actually miss the 24 hr respond window, but if the accounting method of the Star Seller program and

Absence of properly linking message areas were in place, I wouldn’t be writing this novel.

[BagmakerSupply]

@TreehouseCustoms: The "message" on a refund form does not count as a reply / message. The "message" on a cancellation form is appended to the default message thread you have with that (buyer) account. It does not append / reply to a Help Request. Help Requests always start a new thread because they also start the clock ticking on a potential case against a shop.

Did you not receive the warning / advisory (blue banner on desktop, and a blue dot on mobile) on the messages Etsy considers to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread". As it says right on your Star Seller page and elsewhere, you need to reply to the FIRST message of EVERY NEW INCOMING THREAD within 24 hours. It does not matter who sent it, the subject matter, if it is a duplicate or blank or anything else. If it is SPAM then it should be marked as such.

[TreehouseCustoms]

Thanks for the response.
I was not aware that even though I was sending a message it would not count as a response, because as mentioned, I was under the impression I was sending a message.
And since the customer had started 3 threads I did respond to 1 and feel that should have been sufficient.
Live and Learn right?

[Adorabilities]

I haven't found that using autoreply makes it hard to see which messages are new. 

Each new message thread needs a reply, as you have found out. It's frustrating if you don't realize that, but now you will know going forward. There are hundreds of sellers who are in the same position every month, judging by the number of similar posts here. 

There is only one message system that is being looked at for Star Seller. Any notes you write outside of the normal message system are not considered at all. 

[TreehouseCustoms]

And auto-reply has not worked for me due to the activity and custom requests.
The multiple message areas are very frustrating.

[Adorabilities]

I'm not sure what multiple message areas you mean -- there's only one message page. You can look at folders separately, but all the new threads and their replies will be in your inbox. The inbox is what opens when you click on "messages" in your shop manager.

[Adorabilities]

Are you trying to use the app? I don't use it, so I'm not sure how it's set up. But new messages are very clear on the shop manager in a browser/PC.

[VintageRescueSquad]

A help request message is linked to the case system, so it necessitates its own response. Etsy has made that clear. 

You're not the first person that has been caught up in it.

Losing star seller status is not the worst thing in the world. Now you know, and can regain it quickly given how many sales you seem to get.

[PartyHappier]

Had this happen to me somewhat recently, where I cancelled someone’s order and wrote in the message area, “I’ve cancelled your order per your request!” I, too, was under the impression that the buyer would get that as a “message,” only to lose my star seller status the following month because I never responded. By the next month, it was a non-issue as I regained the status. I completely agree with you about the frustration that those “messages” don’t count as a response. But I also recommend not wasting too much more time on it now that you know. It’s not worth your peace, and you should likely get the status back in a month or two regardless.

[dippeldiundscribble]

@TreehouseCustoms 

Go to your Star Seller dashboard and scroll down to the Q&A section.

https://www.etsy.com/your/shops/me/star-seller

Questions? We’ve got answers. -> Messages -> What messages count towards 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.

Questions? We’ve got answers. -> Messages -> What happens if I’m getting messages from the same user through multiple message threads?

If messages are appearing in separate threads in your inbox, then as it stands today you’ll need to respond to the initial message of each thread. One idea to help mitigate this in the interim is to set up an auto-reply or to create a Saved Reply for multiple messages from the same user that don’t need individual responses.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

You have to answer each new message thread - MESSAGE THREAD - they are highlighted in BLUE, so you can't miss them

It's a conversation in a messages,

spurious messages added to orders are nothing to so with the message thread or conversation.
(they are just about an order, not a conversation with a buyer)

....

I would stop sending out thank you messages, and telling customers you have processed the mailing label - etsy sends enough of these messages, without the seller doing it too, I mark them as spam, and make a note not to buy from that seller again.

[AnniebelloPaper]

@TreehouseCustoms I would second the 'stop sending thank you messages'. Not only are you cluttering up your message page and duplicating what Etsy does, if your buyer is also a seller... that's a new message they must respond to in order to keep their star. 

[HazelsSewingSupplies]

I also second not sending the thank you messages.  By doing so, not only is it redundant but it may cause another seller to lose their SSB.

Instead of sending that "thank you" (Etsy already does that and if you have a snippet on the label page your buyer gets a thank you) I would suggest keeping a post-it pad handy and handwriting a thank you instead.  It's more personal and probably takes less time than sending a message.