What do you do when your customer claims to have never to recieved the item?

[MountainGoth]

Hi there,

I have had a couple of instances where the customer claimed never to have recieced the item.

One time even with delivery confirmation, the other without.

I have refunded the money rather than risk bad feedback. What do you do?

Secondly, I had already left positive feedback for these people. Is there anyway to change your feedback when your customer becomes a problem after the fact?

Thanks

[Former_Member]

If it happens again, ask them to check at usually un-used entrances at their house, with neighbors, and with the PO. Sometimes it will accidentally get delivered to the wrong address, or is sitting at the PO waiting for pick-up.

There isn't a way to change feedback. I don't leave it until a few days after the DC says the item was delivered, or I wait until the customer leaves it for me first or contacts me about any issues.

[MexicanNichosFolkArt]

I mail all the way from Mexico, and have now had 2 customers who claimed not to have gotten their packages....then a few months after the fact, I get the package back marked "unclaimed". I will be watching for answers to your question.

[Former_Member]

If you print labels with Paypal, you will always have delivery confirmation in the U.S. Always good to know. . .

[SleepingKnight]

I use PayPal for shipping with delivery confirmation. If the post office says it was delivered then there is nothing you need to do on your end. If the post office does not have delivery confirmation then you need to try and track it down. I always wait for the post office to scan my packages when I mail them so I have a receipt record of shipping.

As far as feedback goes, I have adopted a policy where I will not give feedback first on a sale. I wait until the customer provides feedback. This was because of a really nasty neutral feedback I got a while back from someone that apparently thought that stainless steel would turn her ankle green even though it was stated in the description that it would not tarnish or turn your skin colors. Silly peoples....

[TheSnapDragonsLair]

I usually don't wait at the post office for them to scan because the lines are too long. this bit me in the butt last week when a customer contacted me, saying she checked the tracking record PayPal e-mailed her and that the package was delivered to the wrong place. Well, off to the post office I go. Evidently, the post office employee "hit the wrong button on the scanner" and marked it delivered - to me! Fortunately, both customers that day received their packages but the tracking info is still incorrect.

[Former_Member]

I had an awesome customer report they did not receive my item sent from the US to Austrailia (one month after it shipped)... I made her a new one ASAP and shipped it again... Yes, a loss for me, but a solid reputation for great customer service is priceless. Now if I get several of these, I would consider doing something else..

[MountainGoth]

When shipping overseas I'm finding the delivery time can vary greatly. I have had items shipped to the UK take as little as 3 days and as long as 8 weeks.

[LillieRainDesigns]

You just never know with delivery times and unfortunately once it's dropped off at the post office it's out of your hands.
I will say that with all of my mail order businesses if there is delivery confirmation offered I use it. Once had a fabirc mail order business and someone tried to reverse the charge on her credit card claiming that they didn't receive the package. That little delivery confirmation slip was enough to hault the credit card reversal and save my profit. It doesn't cost that much to watch your own back so to speak. Figure it in to the cost of your item if your worried about your shipping costs looking too high.
As far as shipping out of the US, honestly I never have so I'm not sure what options are available in the way of tracking packages. But if there is an option, I would certainly use it just to cover myself. We spend far too much time an money creating and need to make sure we get paid :)

[MulberryCreek]

I have shipped outside the US. On all packages I always get tracking but when you ship outside the US the tracking number is only good until it leaves the US. Then according to my post office guy....there is no way to track it.

[Former_Member]

got milk- I had a similar situation. The po marked it as delievered, to me- I knew this was a mistake. We waited a day or two and it turned up at the buyers house. It was again marked delivered at their address, even though it said it was at my house the first day. It righted itself, but left the wrong info on there as well.

I've never had trouble shipping in US - but I did have one issue shipping overseas. There was of course nothing I could have done to prevent or to fix the situation-

[Former_Member]

I ship all my orders via USPS priority or express with delivery confirmation AND insurance. I require each buyer to have insurance on their order. Its only a few extra dollars and since all my work is custom made to order it covers the cost to remake the item if something happens en route to the buyer. Have not yet had a package lost.