Shipping Issue

[natalillyvalentine]

Hello!
I just found out that an order I shipped on July 11th is still in transit! It should have arrived early last week.
The order was made on the 7th...so I shipped on time (my policy is for 3-5 business days and also states that I can't be held responsible for items lost in the post)...but the buyer just notified me she hadn't yet received it and it was late for what she needed it for.
I had the item tracked...so I can see how USPS has handled it. I know this isn't my fault, but I feel badly about it and am a new shop...how would you handle this situation?
I've decided to send her a new order...expedited and with some extra goodies...it's a cost I'm willing to eat simply because I'm new and want to build a good reputation/customer base.
But I am curious how others would deal with this so I can get ideas about how to handle this in the future.
THANK YOU!!!
Natalie

[HoneyThistle]

Hi Natalie,

I had a situation like that a couple of months back where a customer paid for a shipping upgrade so that he would get it within the week... which brought shipping to $32! It was tracked and would provide delivery confirmation.

The package ended up getting there 5 days later than the delivery standard provided by the post office, and so I refunded him the shipping overages as he didn't get what he paid for and then filed a claim electronically to get my shipping fees back from the post office. He was more than happy with that resolution and left me a nice review :)

I don't send another package out unless it's likely that the package is lost, not late. At the end of the day, as a customer, having extra merchandise late doesn't really help the situation where there's a deadline and you paid for a certain level of service. However, that might just be me and others may really appreciate the thought you put in to send another package.

As long as the customer feels like they're being treated fairly, that's all that matters :)

[adfabinidaho]

One thing you can do is call the post office and find out from them where the item is. I've had a few packages that I have tracked and it didn't tell me correct information so I called the post office and they were able to better tell me where the package was.

I usually check my tracking on my shipments every day (try to) to make sure it is getting to where it is suppose to, I don't really trust shipping, so I have to keep up on them.

Sending her another order expedited would be one way to handle it and with the few extra goodies to say I'm sorry this has happened would be a nice gesture, even though it's not your fault. Most people know things like this can happen and it does, one way to better avoid this situation is to (if time allows) check the tracking on your shipments and notify the customer if there is a problem during shipping, I had to do it for a Christmas present, the customer was informed it may be late and that I was calling the post office to find out more information, luckily the package arrived just before Christmas and my customer was very happy, also thanked me for informing her of the problem.

Hope this helps :)

[StuckOnSilver]

Sorry this happened! Maybe you could have her refuse the package when it finally arrives. When you receive it, you can refund what she paid.

[natalillyvalentine]

Thank you for the advice all! I appreciate your input. :)

[SageNThymeDesigns]

If the order is more than 5 days late for USPS first class shipping you can file a 'delayed mail claim' with the postal service. You can call the 800 number or do it online. That usually kicks the package to get to the right place within a day or two. You had no way of knowing the package was delayed and could have been of more assistance to your customer if they're told you about the challenge BEFORE it was too late. Seems like they just want to complain at that stage of the game since there's really nothing you could do to rewind the clock.

I usually tell my customers that I'll file a claim with the USPS and they should contact their local post office about delayed packages. Then I follow up within an hour with the claim number and keep them posted. That usually makes people feel like you're a priority and really are trying to help them (which is what good customer service looks like!).

I do not refund for any reason and I would only offer a replacement item unless there is no other way the order could get there in time and I can make a new one and try reshipping for a timely manner. I would expect the first item would be returned to the shop if a replacement was sent.

You might want to make sure you have good shop policies in place and then stick by them.

With small handmade businesses we sometime mistakenly think that bowing to every request (real or imagined) is the only way to provide good customer service. Having two of the same item, both received after the need-by date isn't helping anyone. A sincere apology and a claim number go a long way towards making a happier customer.

[natalillyvalentine]

Thank you for all of the great advice.
The customer was very kind and extremely appreciative of my effort...I feel positive about how I handled this first snafoo, but will definitely be implementing these pro ideas in the future.
Thanks again all. :)

[Former_Member]

Same thing happened to me, shipped to a customer internationally in march and still hasn't been delivered. Called USPS to file a MRC request for missing packages, they found the item and are supposedly returning it to me.
For the customer i told her i'd replace the items for free if she wanted to place another order so i can ship them together to her. She kindly suggested to split the cost of remaking the new garment so i wasn't completely out of pocket.