combining message threads does not work for refund messages.

[BeautifulArtPosters]

One main critique of the star seller message item was that different threads with the same customer count seperately. Etsy apparently solved that. But not totally.

Some customers ask for a refund after having bought an item. If you just do as requested and send them a message during the refund process, this message comes in a separate thread. Unfortunately, the first message of the buyer remains therefore "unanswered" what counts against you star-seller-wise, even if you refund within minutes.

It would be good if etsy could combine this messages during the refund process with the other threads too.

[BagmakerSupply · Accepted solution]

@BeautifulArtPosters: If the customer requested the refund via a help request, that always starts a new thread. How is Etsy supposed to know which refund is in response to which (if any) message?

Etsy is now putting a blue text warning / advisory (blue banner on desktop, and a blue dot on mobile) on those messages they consider to be a "new message" but should semantically be called a "new thread".

[LynnsLittleShop]

I learned this the hard way, too. We have an option to send a message when we refund a customer. The way Etsy has it set up, it's not the right message, as it doesn't count for star seller. I found this out before they started the help request and combining messages.

[TheArtfulTwig]

Yes, Etsy is channeling buyers through the help link which results in a new message thread.  I thought messages and order convos had been merged, too, and since the question I got from a buyer was about the order, I replied from within the convo thread within minutes, but got dinged for not replying to the new thread opened in messages.

It felt silly to reply to the buyer twice just to close out the new thread and stop getting prompts from Etsy.

Also, be aware, that while trying to get your message response rate back up to meet star seller status, Etsy does not count messages in the last roughly 2 days of the month.  I thought I had brought my stats back up after the one miss but I lost star seller status as a result of Etsy not counting the full third month of the calculation period.

I gave feedback just the other day to Etsy, since it clearly states on the Star Seller stats page that messages and orders are counted through the end of the third month. It's buried somewhere in the help section that messages from the last 2 days of the final month of the period are not counted.  And, there is no redress.  Etsy states that it will not manually change star seller status.