HELP! Frustrated customer threatening negative feedback ?

[Former_Member]

What do you do when a customer orders and item wanting it by an expected date, you get it out with plenty of time to spare ( the tracking even said the item would be there before the needed time), and due to postal delays it arrives 2 days late and you are stuck with a customer threatening negative feedback?

Note: this was here in the U.S. It took my package 6 days to reach 4 states away and I even upgraded their shipping to priority vs. my usual first class!!!

How can I help ease the situation or what should I offer? What can I do if they end up posting negative feedback? I have worked so hard to build my shop up and don't want to see that ruined.

Help :'(

[Former_Member]

I say do not!!! Worry about it!!! :) You have a lovley shop!!

[Former_Member]

You did everything you could to get it there in time; you couldn't have known the postal service would screw up. If you really want to make it up to the customer, perhaps you can offer to refund the shipping charges?

[GildedXRoseXStudio]

I agree with Norma and Andrea...refunding the shipping charges would be a good option in making it up to your customer. There really isn't much you can do after you've sent off a package (in terms of how long it takes to arrive, that is).

[HoookedHandmade]

The obvious solution is to have the customer send the item back and give a refund. In the future don't make shipping promises because you can't keep them. You can only control when the item leaves your hands, the rest is out of your control.

[ValuableCr8tions]

Very frustrating.. But, refunding the shipping is a good choice, but if they are still not happy with that, then having them send the item back and refund the amount would be good. Shipping can go either way at times, get there in a few days or sometimes take over a week to the same location, I never understood that. But, I just let my Australia customer just know tonight that her item won't be completed until next week & shipped and I can not guarantee it will arrive before Christmas and if she is willing to pay additional shipping fees then I will look into a rush delivery for her, and right away she wants the upgrade. I definitely don't promise it will arrive in time and we learn everyday something new. But, I see you have some good advice here & I hope things turn out good for you. I love your creativity it is absolutely beautiful..

[Former_Member]

Sorry you're going through this. I agree with everyone else who said a good option would be to refund the shipping. Then if they're not happy, have them return the item for a refund.

I'm going through this with two customers on another venue right now. One demanded to know the exact date of delivery, otherwise he was going to file a dispute. I replied that I don't guarantee dates, as I am not in control of the postal service. I haven't heard from him since (but it's only been 14 hours), but I hope I don't - I'm hoping it's a case of him just not realizing that he was buying from someone in a different country on the opposite end of the continent until I brought it up when replying to his message.. it's happened once before.
The other one, I probably shouldn't have even gone through with the order.. they sent me a message bordering on nasty before he'd even ordered. I went through all my messages on that venue, all my emails, and had nothing from him, but yet got a message saying "I'm ordering this and you better follow through with it, seeing how I sent you a message a week ago with no response." ....then they ordered, and I wish I had cancelled, because this person is now threatening me with negative as well. Again, one demanding to know where their order is when it was shipped a week ago - and they're not in the same country as me so I know that it's just in customs or something simple like that.

The part that frustrates me most is that I only have 6 feedback on that venue so far, and if I get negatives from both these people I might be screwed on this venue.

Ugh. These aren't on Etsy though...

Sorry for the rant, it's almost 5am haha.

[Former_Member]

Apologize and maybe offer partial refund on shipping if you can afford to.

[Former_Member]

There is no way that you can control the speed of the postal service and no customer should expect you to either.

If someone requires something by a specific date and its being shipped via USPS Priority or 1st class mail, I will request that they allow a minimum of 2 weeks for the package to arrive when they place the order, even though the post office 'average' is usually a week.

If its required 'in a hurry' then I'll give the customer the option of Expedited mail before the package is shipped.

[Former_Member]

funny, I was swinging by to ask the same question. I'm in Canada, and our post doesn't offer quite the same services as are available in the US and I've had a couple instances where customer expectations are simply impossible. I always charge for surface in order to be somewhat competitive, as Canadian mail is very expensive. Everything is clearly stated in my shop policy, and I offer the option of expediated for purchase and yet still there are some who will want the impossible. I just got an email from a customer wanting to know where her order is after 4 business days, on an order I upgraded to airmail at no charge (I usually do this to help avoid frustration over delays) However to ship her $40 order in the 4 day time frame she seems to expect would cost me $75. (I charge 5.87!) Thats just not feasible. I am considering putting a statement directly in each listing that explains how the mail works instead of only in my shop policy. I will definately be contacting any December purchasers who don't purchase an expediated post upgrade to remind them of the option before sending out their orders.

[Former_Member]

Georgia - I was just taking a look at your shop. I'm fairly certain that posting a shipping upgrade as a separate listing is against Etsy TOU. You may want to fix this.
I don't know if you are able to list more than one shipping option yet, but if you are, that would be the most efficient way to allow buyers to upgrade shipping. The multiple shipping speeds is something you'll get if you join the Shipping Improvements Team here on Etsy. It may be available to others already, though, I'm not sure - I've had it for quite a while since joining that team though. I know I did read about someone else who was using it too.
For example, in my listings, I have my price for regular mail, then the options go up from there. Next up is the price for Expedited, and then Xpresspost. At this point, I just have the upgrades for North American customers in the listings - overseas buyers can request it via convo (I just have the regular mail price in the listing for overseas). It's worked soooo well for me so far - much less stress about having to wait on payments for upgraded shipping, etc., when the buyer can just select it in the check-out process.
No problems so far.

I wish other venues had this available too - definitely would have saved me the trouble I'm dealing with on ebay right now.

ps, I'm in Canada too, and I love your shop. Curious though - for your items, does it really cost twice as much to ship within your own country than to send to the US? Is it more expensive than overseas? I'm not criticizing, just curious... I ship small items, so I have never ever experienced domestic shipping being more expensive than international.. or are you automatically upgrading Canadian shipping?

[Former_Member]

Amanda -- thanks, I dont have multiple shipping options, other than country choices but will look into that team right away, because I would love to!
And yes, it really does cost that much! I was shocked, since my items fit into padded envelopes, but not through the 2 cm slot. I guesstimated my Canadian shipping when I started out and lost money on my first Canadian sale when all was said and done. The shipping prices in my listings are exact for surface! (I can ship to Australia for the 8.88 I quote for international, but not within my own province for less than the 10.36 you see there!) Needless to say, the only items I've sold to Canadians since that first learning experience have been pieces of jewelry, which is a quite secondary pursuit and definately not my focus, that I can fit through that slot! On my to do list for the new year is to look into vacuum sealing to see if I can get some of my items to fit under the 2 cm cut off because I would really like to be able to do business in Canada too! Very impressive sales record in your shop, you must be doing things right!

[Former_Member]

The Shipping Improvements Team stopped accepting applications for their prototype on November 1. Darn! I hope this becomes a mainstream option!

[Former_Member]

Oh my gosh, that's crazy that it's actually that expensive within Canada!!!! Wow! Like I said, since I sell jewelry, shipping is relatively inexpensive, unless the customer upgrades.
Either way, I'm really glad you increased the shipping to what it actually is. I lost a lot of money because of shipping in the beginning because I hadn't done the math.
I wouldn't worry too much about the Canadian sales - while it would be great to sell within Canada more, the postal prices aren't in your control. :)

And thank you! It's been quite a process getting to where I am now. :)

And aaah, sorry about the Shipping Improvements Team!! I hope they make it a mainstream option too! I feel like they will eventually, since I don't think they'd create the prototype within that team if they weren't planning on developing it enough to become mainstream eventually - still unfortunate that it isn't available for the holiday season!

[PiecesofMeCardsnMore]

If USPS tracking said it would be there before the buyer's deadline then it's unreasonable for her to threaten negative feedback. It's not your fault the P.O. delayed delivery. I would apologize profusely and offer a refund on shipping or let her return the item for a full refund (is it something you can try to sell again?).

I have this included in my shipping policies:
"The shipping times quoted are estimates only and are out of my control once the package has entered the postal system. "

(not that buyers read policies or anything...)

[Former_Member]

This has made me think, I'll be sure to add something about this everywhere on my shop!

[Untwistedsister]

I think it's quite interesting that listing for 'shipping upgrade' is against TOU and yet the amount of them has grown the past 6 months from 400 to 1500+.

I recently ordered supplies from a company, got their cheapest shipping like I usually do. It normally arrives in 4 or 5 days. There was something I needed for an order. 7 days and it STILL wasn't here. I checked on it and it was stuck across the country in a sorting facility. I had to reorder and upgrade the shipping. 2 days after the new order arrived, the first one got here.

I have an order I sent out that I know is delivered, because I heard from the customer, but tracking is showing it as arriving in their town and not yet delivered.

[Former_Member]

I have had a few contact requests asking if they can get there purchase by xxx day. My standard response to them is that I cannot guarantee a deivery date by the PO, but I can have the product completed and shipped by xxx day.

They have the option to go ahead and order, or request a refund. I typically bend over backwards for all my customers and the repeat ones know that, but you just can't guarantee something that is not in your control. If your customer leaves neg comments, just post a feedback explaining what you said here.

Sorry:(

[CreationsByCarrieD]

I was once contacted by my local post office by phone because I had e-mailed an inquiry about a priority mail package I had shipped and my delivery confirmation 9 days later still hadn't been posted. The p.o. Rep was extremely apologetic and offered a full refund of shipping costs. Maybe you can contact them....The customer knows you posted priority mail so I feel they should understand you did what they wanted. Maybe let her know you will be contacting the p.o. for a refund and will pass that on to her. I know we are suppose to accept unreasonable customers and make them happy no matter what. I get that but I also wonder since we are small business if there is a middle ground....

I will be updating my policies now so I have learned something.

sorry for your troubles. Hope it works out.