Star seller message badge problem

[IsabellaDayGoldsmith]

I was in communication with a customer who then started a new message thread but we had dealt with the issue in the old thread.  This was in November.  I have perfect scores for everything but this message and no other messages were a problem yet my January rating was affected by this one problematic message which was incorrectly scored as no reply.  

The customer was very happy and the problem was resolved in the ongoing discussion thread, she just raised the second thread to tell me she had returned the item as agreed for a larger size.  I don’t think this is fair, as a seller of upscale bespoke items I don't have huge amounts of sales or messages but they are high value. I shouldn’t have a message score carry over from another month.

I now see that you can search by star seller.  This means I am being penalised despite working hard and not doing anything wrong.  I would like this score amended please - I can show the communications.

[Adorabilities]

Star seller scores are based on the past three months of orders, messages, and reviews. Your message ding in November will stop counting against you for March's badge. Everyone is scored on the same basis -- we need to answer all new message threads. It doesn't matter what the message's content is, or if it's from a customer we've already been conversing with.

[NanaLetha]

You must reply to that last message or mark as spam.

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@IsabellaDayGoldsmith: Probably almost everyone on this forum can sympathize with you but a quick search would show you innumerable threads about your exact issue. As it says right on your Star Seller page, you need to reply to the FIRST message of a NEW INCOMING THREAD.

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. Those have always been the rules.

At least for the time being, it appears that marking an unanswered message as SPAM (even after the 24 hour deadline has passed) will cause your reply percentage to change in a day or two 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.

[TRPstainedglass]

Your silly message badge is broken! Fix it or get rid of it. Geez! Can’t be tat hard, Etsy. 

[LotusandCacti]

I am having a similar problem. My stats for the past three months are showing 100% message rate, 100% shipping and 4.9 for average review however, I got the notification that I did not get the star seller badge and I need to work on my messaging... HUH?

[BagmakerSupply]

@LotusandCacti: "My stats for the past three months are showing ..." If those are the stats showing on the 'previous review period' tab (that is where the stats for the September 1 star will be) then you should pursue it. But be warned that support and the virtual assistant seem to be trained to tell you to post in the forum as soon as they hear 'Star Seller' so may want to keep the conversation to being an issue with messaging.

As an aside, you need to include YOUR licensing information for any of the trademarked and copyrighted names and images in your shop in your listing, otherwise buyers (and Etsy) may conclude they are counterfeits. This is something that intellectual property (IP) owners seem to be pressuring Etsy crack down on. Including the licensing information will show that you are not selling those items illegally. 'Inspired By' is not a valid defense if you do not have the IP owners' permission to market your products using their intellectual property - particularly for trademarks.