Star Seller Weirdness

[rdboyer]

I just realized that I didn't recieve star seller this month and I can't figure out why. The one message that is flagged as less than 24 hour response time is to a customer that I actively chatted with on the day of their purchase. The messages are associated with their order but don't seem to show up in the messages thread.

From what I have read there seems to be little chance of any recourse to this issue and no way to flag what seems like a bug to me except writing a note here. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[JDTotesnDolls]

The only messages that count for star seller are the messages in Messages.

The messages in the order or refund area do not count.

So all messages that are new in Messages need to be answered.  Even if only to say I am providing the answer on the order message or by spamming the message in Messages as you are talking to the buyer in their order,   

[BagmakerSupply]

@rdboyer: Is it possible the buyer started a new thread by opening a Help Request? Help Requests always start a new thread because they also start the clock ticking on a potential case against your shop.

"I can't figure out why" Have you checked the applicable CSV file available on your Star Seller page (previous period for January Star)? When you look at the file remember that that the dates / times are in UTC (not your time zone), only the first message of a new incoming thread is included (all that counts for Star Seller), and usually a new incoming thread is not included until after the 24 hour reply window has passed regardless of when you replied. Star Seller stats (and the CSV file) seem to be updated only once per day so there may be an additional day's delay. There is also a link to the actual message thread so you can verify if the data is correct or not.

"... little chance of any recourse ..." If the unanswered new thread is not a Help Request, at least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered new thread as SPAM (even after the 24 hour deadline has passed) will cause your reply percentage to change in a day or two (but not retroactively) if the original message was within the current star seller period. Note that subsequent messages from that account may go directly to the SPAM folder.

[rdboyer]

@BagmakerSupply I think the issue is in the vein of your "Help Request" suggestion. The conversation was actually initiated by a help request (change of address issue on their end) but I think that I may have respnded to them through the order page or something of this nature. There are essentially two separate threads of conversation (all on the same day) showing that I responded to and solved the customer issue within 24 hours. I don't think this will change my status for star seller (for 3 months!), but it at least helps me understand how to avoid this issue in the future.

It's an unfortunate oversight in the messaging system in regards to this star seller metric though if I can respond to the customer in a timely manner but not have it matched to the specialty help request message. The metric doesn't match the truth of this instance.

Thanks for taking the time to respond

-Robert