Missed delivery dates – SOP?

[IndySales]

I know people have shared their SOPs (“standard operating procedure”) for things like returns and such, but I’m curious how to respond to buyers upset by missed delivery windows and the like. My last few instances of this have been more stressful than any high-dollar return since there’s seemingly no route towards “making it right” – the buyer is upset and they insist on just asking why it didn’t arrive on time over and over, then accuse me of not doing enough/not caring.

For the record, this has always been a mismatch of what eBay’s “estimated delivery” is vs. what tracking says once it’s been scanned. eBay gave my latest buyer an estimate that was 3 days off.

I’m prepared to keep rolling with the punches, but am curious if there’s other strategies I can follow.

[Anonymous]

Did you opt into “guaranteed delivery”? I briefly sympathize & send them a link to where they can request their $5 refund from ebay. As long as you shipped within your handling time, you are ok by ebay. The msgs they sent provide good cover with ebay if they initiate a return etc..etc.. However,if the sale was substantial & the buyer is petty, I would at least entertain giving them some refund on shipping if the margin is there. Or just ignore!

[IndySales]

I opted into Guaranteed Delivery a while back, but was removed after USPS failed to scan a bunch of packages earlier this year. Since then, my status has been “Not evaluated” despite always saying “If we evaluated you today: Meets requirements” just under that. Can’t tell if I’m 100% in it or not.

Is the $5 credit only for Fast-n-free?

[Anonymous]

$5 refund is only offered when the listing has guaranteed delivery attached to it. The dashboard is presently so goofy–you might be in it. Check some of your active listings & see if they mention guaranteed delivery.

Consider using the USPS scan form. Letter carriers/ postal clerks are required to scan it. One scan covers all associated packages.

[IndySales]

Ah! Looks like most of listings are in the program. Seems like there should be a way to view all of them at once.

[Jay]

We just send the buyer the tracking. It shows that we sent the item within our handling time. We stress that we packed and shipped in a timely manner.

If late, we sympathize but the tracking clearly shows it’s a USPS issue. If the buyer keeps complaining, we go silent. eBay will back you up on any issue if you ship within your handling time. Grumpy buyers are grumpy.

[IndySales]

I’ll just do this next time and hope eBay has my back. I get a bit nervous about not responding to messages since my only negative feedback was “earned” by taking the silent route, but there were more factors at play in that case.

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Another quotable Quote for the Archives, …. “Grumpy Buyers are Grumpy!” 🙂

[sonia]

When this happens to me, I do all I can to avoid the buyer opening an “Item not recvd” case b/c those count against you in Service Metrics, no matter if you ship on time or not. What I do is send a msg sympathizing with the problem, explaining that I shipped on time, and saying that this happens from time to time with USPS. I typically end with something like “Let’s give it another couple of days, and if it still hasn’t come (or tracking hasn’t been updated) by that time, I’ll open a missing item case with USPS.” If it still hasn’t arrived in a few days, I go ahead an open a case with USPS at this link https://www.usps.com/help/missing-mail.htm
and let the buyer know I’ve done that. I’ve never had such a request result in USPS contacting me back and letting me know they’ve found the package, but in my mind it helps b/c it makes the buyer think I care and am doing something about the problem. If it still hasn’t arrived a few days later, I will often send message like “Just checked tracking. I see it hasn’t arrived yet (ugh!) but that the package has started moving again, so that’s good news.”

All of this seems to help avoid the unwanted INR case. I think the buyer just likes knowing they haven’t been left high and dry.

[Jay]

Sonia’s way of handling late packages is A++++++.

[MDC Galleries & Fine Art]

Thumbs up Sonia. This is a new one for our SOP manual. Will type it up and add it to the folder.

thanks..

Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta

[IndySales]

Thanks Sonia. Great SOP and will add it to the repertoire. I assume that after the missing mail case is opened you just toss them a refund? By the time that usually rolls around my buyer has just started getting ever more PO’d and just wants the money back. Can’t say I blame them.

[sonia]

Good question. I didn’t have an answer ready b/c I’ve never had a situation where the item didn’t arrive eventually. Once tracking starts getting updated again, I keep stringing the buyer along with msgs like “good news – looks like the package has finally reached your state/town!” and noone has ever asked for a refund.

But I just found this ebay page:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/helping-buyers-items-not-received?id=4116

and it looks like sellers are indeed required to refund the buyer if the package doesn’t get delivered. I’m thinking that once I get to the point where I really have to do the refund, then I suppose I will then file a USPS insurance claim if the package is priority mail. But I just found this page

https://www.usps.com/help/claims.htm

and it tells me that I have to wait 15 days before being able to file an insurance claim. So…. I definitely want to drag out the process with the buyer as long as possible, b/c if the buyer receives the package AFTER I’ve refunded their money but before I’m allowed to file a claim, then I’m out a lot of money.

So it looks like shipping on time does not protect you from having to do a refund if the package is very late or lost.

[sonia]

Thanks for the kudos, guys. Made my day!

Jay – your comment made me laugh out loud (once I got it – I’m a little slow)!

[Author]

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