Star seller badge is incorrectly calculated

[SewWriteCreations]

Hi.  I got a cancellation/refund request from a customer.  Using that Help request, I cancelled her order and fully refunded her money, within a couple hours of her original request.  I even wrote her a note, from inside the refund form.  But, I didn't REPLY to the original message thread (even though I issued the refund from within the message).  So, technically, according to Etsy's programming, I didn't reply within 24 hours, and it has negatively impacted my status.  Tech support says they cannot modify my data manually.  This should be programmatically changed, so that actions taken count as a reply.  

[GieseDeseiGns]

You would have to take that up with Etsy, they are not here, and we as sellers can commiserate with you, but cannot help. They probably told you to come here but it really does no good.

[vintage4creations]

Most customers will looks at reviews not if you have a star seller badge.

[BootifulLabels]

As far as Etsy is concerned there is nothing to fix.  The rules clearly state ALL new messages require a response.  

Since you actioned the Help Request, but not the inbox message, you can try marking the inbox message as spam now, and it should adjust your stats within a couple of days.  However, be aware that spamming a message can mean that future messages from the same user may also be treated as spam and you may not see them if that buyer has a question or issue down the track.  

[BagmakerSupply]

@SewWriteCreations: "This should be programmatically changed, so that actions taken count as a reply." Not disagreeing with you and the process is a bit confusing. As best as we can tell, a note entered on a refund form does not get included in the Message flow. The message in a cancellation form is appended to the default message thread you have with that (buyer) account. It does not append / reply to the Help Request most likely because there could be multiple Help Requests and it might "reply" to the wrong one.

It is hard to be certain from your post which thread went unanswered, but 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.

[WitticismsRus]

The optional message bit added to refund page when you issue the refund is linked to the financial system. A Help Request or other message in the messaging/convo system is in the messaging system. While it seems logical that adding an optional message on the refund page would count as a reply to a Help Request or message it doesn't because they are two different systems. It's lame but its just how it works. Etsy could do a much better job of making things like this clear for sellers somewhere in the help pages but sadly they rely on us sellers to relay the info. 

[SewWriteCreations]

Exactly. Thank you for your reply and empathy.

[SewWriteCreations]

Thank you for further clarification.  Sucks to discover it after the fact.

[SewWriteCreations]

Thank you for your clarification. Sucks to discover it after the fact.