Star Seller status in jeopardy - I messaged directly via the order and not the Order Help Request

[SeamsFantastic]

I replied directly to a customer via their order instead of through the Order Help Request.  I responded within hours of the original inquiry from my customer but messaged them directly.  Now my Star Seller is in jeopardy.  How can I have this corrected?

[NanaLetha]

Respond via the help request 

[BagmakerSupply]

@SeamsFantastic: "How can I have this corrected?" Unfortunately there is nothing to correct. The Star Seller metric for messages is very simplistic and binary - either you replied to (or marked as SPAM) that first message of a new incoming thread within 24 hours or you did not.

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.

Help Requests always start a new thread because they also start the clock ticking on a potential case against your shop.

[audreytherese · Accepted solution]

If it's been more than 24 hours since the help request was sent, unfortunately there is nothing you can do to fix it. Etsy has said they won't manually make adjustments, and help requests can't be sent to spam. Just learn from it and make sure in the future you respond directly to the original message.