If your buyer’s package goes missing in the mail, you have a few choices for delivering excellent customer service and repairing a bad situation:
Go to a specific section:
- Make contact with the buyer.
- Open a claim
- Remove the item or issue a refund.
- Best practices for future orders
Communicate with the buyer
The first step in addressing any problems is to use Messages to communicate freely about the order status.
Any monitoring alerts or communications you receive from the insurer or insurance broker should be shared with the customer. To assist the buyer and carrier in locating the shipment, provide shipping documentation. This may include tracking numbers, copies of any shipping labels, or package-specific documents.
If the package was shipped, but the customer cannot locate it, suggest that they check with a family member or their office if it was delivered there.
If they’re looking for the shipment at their local post office, give them any shipping paperwork you have to aid in their search. Please encourage them to double-check with a friend.
If you should decide to file a claim with the shipping company, keep the customer updated on the situation.
Open a claim
As soon as the option is valid, the next move is to file a claim with the shipping carrier. In most cases, the seller acts on behalf of the buyer.
If necessary, contact the shipping company and open a missing mail search request. This could be your only option, provided the kit was not insured.
If a shipment is not covered but is reported lost in a missing mail scan, the shipping company may be obligated to reimburse the shipping costs. Be sure to review the carrier’s policy to see what choices you have.
If you didn’t buy insurance, see if the shipping form you choose automatically requires insurance or coverage. If this is the case, make contact the shipping company to file a lawsuit. (If you bought FedEx SmartPost postage on Etsy, you’d start your claim there as well.)
If the shipment were covered, the seller would need to file a formal claim with the shipping insurance company.
If you purchased insurance through Shipsurance and used Etsy Shipping Labels, you can start the claim process here:
- Go to You > Shop Manager on Etsy.com.
- Go to the Orders & Shipping section.
- Click the order with the insured label.
- Click the icon to the right.
- Select File Insurance Claim from the drop-down menu.
- You’ll be taken to the Shipsurance website to complete the rest of your claim form.
Check Out: Facebook Advertiser Support Live Chat
Send a replacement or refund.
Etsy does not hold sellers liable for lost or misdirected mail. Try sending a new item or a refund for the order if you’re able to. Customer satisfaction can be improved by sending a substitute or a refund, which can help the company prosper in the long run.
Read Also: Marketplace Buy And Sell Near Me | Locally Buy and Sell
Best practices for future orders
- Before shipping your buyer’s order, check any Messages you get from them. They may have changed your shipping address or tried to arrange delivery with you via another service. If you need to keep track of important information, you can add a private note to the order, or you can use progress steps in Shop Manager’s Orders & Shipping section to arrange orders that require changes.
- On listing pages and in shipping profiles, consider revealing the shipping carriers you use for your deliveries. Buyers may be aware that they have issues with some shipping carriers, and knowing this knowledge ahead of time will help them avoid problems later.
- Consider providing monitoring and protection for all your orders, even though it comes at an added cost depending on the delivery process and carrier used. If buyers know they’ll be safe, they’ll be more likely to place an order. If this isn’t a viable choice for your business, consider reaching out to customers who purchase precious products from you on a case-by-case basis to arrange these services.