Mixed up 2 Orders

[svonburg]

Well I made my first mix up and I wanna scream!

I had four orders that shipped the same day and two had the same first day. Well I just realized that I mixed that two up. They are on their way to the wrong place! Neither have been delivered yet. What would you do in this situation? Go ahead and tell them that the wrong hats are coming to them before they find out for themselves? It just makes my stomach turn that I made this stupid mistake. I dont want my customers to be upset!!

Need advice!!

[TLCLyn]

We all make mistakes. Try not to beat yourself up.

Communication is key! I would absolutely contact them and let them know about the error before they receive them. Then I would arrange to have them returned and routed to the correct purchaser. If timing is an issue for them, you might need to provide priority mail service to make sure they get their items.

Good luck in changing things around....

[svonburg]

Should I have them return them to me and then I send them to the correct address?

[svonburg]

And "Same first name" is what I meant to say in the first post.

[TLCLyn]

Yes.... I would have them sent to me. This keeps things private between you and your clients. Sure having them send them on would be faster, but maintaining privacy is also important.

[svonburg]

I agree. Thanks for the advice. I just wanted to make sure that what you were saying.

[CardsbyJeweleighaB]

I did that before and shipped them new items and let them keep what they got by accident. Sure, it was only cards but it took time to remake the orders and then the extra money for shipping (internationally). They were both nice about it. I told them right away before their mail would have arrived.

Sorry that happened to you! Feels pretty bad:(

[svonburg]

That is a great idea. Unfortunately, one order was personalized with initials so they would most like not be useful to the customer. That is a great idea though.

[Former_Member]

Everyone makes mistakes. Its only human.

I would simply contact each customer and explain what happened. You can then send them a return address label so that they can simply readdress the package back to you at no cost to them.

[LoveJewelryByJ]

i have had that happen to me. Because i send with invoice, they knew it wasn't for them and who it was to go to. I agreed to reimburse both for shipping costs and they shipped it to each other and were happy.

[MyDistinctDesigns]

If you could reach them before they get the package they could actually mark the package "return to sender" and you could get it back unopened.

[ContempoJewelry]

I've done it, didn't realize until a customer contacted me. They were both super cool about it. One was a gift, so she ended up with a higher priced gift than what was purchased. She is a return customer, so I wasn't upset. they other customer sent me back my package and I sent her the correct earrings.

[vintagearcheology]

USPS has a Mail Intercept Form which will return the items to you before they reach the wrong addresses. Many people feel put out even though you send them a return address label.

Check online for this.

[svonburg]

Thank you! I will check on that now.

[svonburg]

One of the customers ordered custom personalized hats so I have to ask the one receiving those to send them back. The other, I am just going to tell her to keep the extra hat.

[svonburg]

I just checked on intercepting them. One is looking like it is going to be delievered tomorrow so Im not sure I will have time to redirect it but I think I will be able to on the other package. It has a lot farther distance to travel. Thank you for that info!

[PiecesOfMePaperCraft]

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so there's no mail. You might still have time.

I had to package up four orders this past weekend. I was so paranoid about mixing things up. I think I checked and double checked 10 times before sealing the packages! I feel your pain!

[SpangGangDesigns]

I've mixed orders up a couple of times - so humiliating, but we are human. My customers have always been extremely understanding. I went above and beyond and either let them keep the wrong item or remade and shipped the correct one with expedited shipping. I also refunded all shipping costs. It happens, admit your mistake, and learn from it.

[svonburg]

Its good to know Im not the only one. I just feel terrible because its a busy time of year and I dont want to add extra hassles for the customer.

[TheOrangeApp]

I did that once when I had a shop on another site.

I refunded return shipping for both items and sent them to the correct buyers by overnight shipping (free of cost) as soon as I got them back. I also included a small gift for both buyers.

One item was a present for the buyer's girlfriend whose birthday was the following day. Luckily it reached in time and the buyers were happy that I had taken the trouble to sort it out to the best of my ability.

Everyone makes mistakes, I think the important thing is how you handle them.

[MaxplanationPhotos]

I did that once :) you are not alone

[Former_Member]

That's my biggest fear and since most my itemy are OOAK and most my customers are international it might take way too long for shipping back and forth.

Everyone makes mistakes, it's how you handle and what you learn from them that matters!

I hope your customers will understand you're only human! Good luck.