Lost Shipment Policy? Credit On Account Or Credit Card?

[olimits7]

Hi,

I was just wondering how you guys handle lost shipments from customers that say they never received their item/order?

I guess two scenarios that I would like to see how everyone handles are:
a. orders with door-to door tracking information?
b. orders with NO tracking information available?

I currently have my customers wait a certain number of business days, and if the item doesn't arrive by then I issue them a refund on their credit card, but now I'm thinking if maybe just giving them "store credit" would be better than refunding their money on their credit card? Thoughts?

Also, do you refund "shipping costs" on lost shipments or just the product/item price?

Thank you,

olimits7

[jwolthuis]

Scenario a: If the shipment is shown as "delivered", you have fulfilled your obligation. Your continuing customer support would include helping them locate the missing package, but would not include refunds. You would likely win a chargeback case.

Scenario b: Refund their entire order amount including shipping. Note: Don't ship without a tracking number unless this outcome is acceptable to you, in a limited number of cases.

Regarding "waiting a certain number of days before refunding", pass that deal around and let everyone in on it. Once the word gets around, burning your money would be cheaper.

[olimits7]

I completely agree with you; I need to find a better way to ship my international orders so I can track them door-to-door.

[MrHard]

Lost package, you have to do a insurance claim and full refund. No insurance, you eat the loss.
Received package, restocking fee and customer pays all shipping.

[piatkow]

There will be some variations by country according to local consumer protection laws.

Depending on where you are the customer may be entitled to a refund by right and you may not be allowed to charge a restocking fee.

[HRoth]

I don't do refunds on lost international orders. I have this as policy on the site under shipping. Things sometimes do take surprisingly long to get somewhere not far away. My shipments to BC in Canada normally take at least two weeks from here in NY. There have been times they have arrived a month later. Once in a while I will get something back, like a bunch of stuff I sent to a customer in Iceland, seized and returned. Or twice to South Africa (why I don't ship there anymore--it took five months for the stuff to be returned by their customs department).

[olimits7]

HRoth, can you message me or post what your "lost international shipment" policy reads like? Maybe I can use a variation of this lost shipment policy on my site.

That's what I'm hoping for; if they are telling me the truth and they never received their order I should definitely get this product back in the mail, right or hopefully? I guess at this point I have to wait to see how long the product will take to get back to me; if it ever does!

That's a good idea, regarding insurance, I'll have to take a closer look to see what type of insurance USPS offers for international shipments.

Does anyone know if USPS offers insurance on international First Class or Priority Mail shipments?

Thank you,

olimits7

[samc]

I have not had good luck with USPS insurance. The fine print reads up to 6 months. there are services that allow you to insure outside of the service like USPS, UPS and FedEx. I've used one called 'Parcel Insurance Plan (PIP) with good luck and fast payments. The first $100 is deducted because of the carrier insurance on the first $100 is covered. I'm sure there are others.

[olimits7]

Hi samc,

What do you mean by "the fine print reads up to 6 months"?

I never heard of "Parcel Insurance Plan (PIP)" but I'll take a look at their insurance services and see what they have to offer.

Most of my products range from $15 - $85; would I "Parcel Insurance Plan (PIP)" still be able to use them for shipping insurance?

I see that you wrote the first $100 is covered by the carrier; so I wonder if a service like this would even work for me.

Thank you,

olimits7

[jecasc]

I was just wondering how you guys handle lost shipments from customers that say they never received their item/order?

We ship the ordered products again and ask the customer to either refuse the delivery of the second parcel if by chance both parcels should arrive or send the parcel that arrives last back. If I refund the payment for a lost parcel and it does not reappear I have lost the money for the goods. When I ship a second time I will not make a profit on this order but at least not loose any money or at least not too much.

When I sell a 60 EUR item for 100 EUR and the parcel is lost and I refund the money I loose 60 EUR. If I ship again I only loose 20 EUR.

We do not wait until DHL declares the parcel as lost but send the order again after "expected shipping time" + 7 days.

Orders usually are between 50-500 EUR and we sell consumable items and so it is very likely a satisfied customer will order again.

But we would probably have a different policy if we sold 2000 EUR Plasma TV.

[olimits7]

Hi,

Yes, that's a good way to look at it too.

I think I'm going to change my "lost shipment policy" to either:

Option I. No refunds will be given for "lost shipments"! - taking HRoth's approach.

OR

Option II. No refunds will be given for "lost shipments", but we will ship the same product out a 2nd time.

However, the 2nd time I ship the product they are going to need to scan their thumb print for delivery confirmation...haha.

Hmmmmmmm...which option to pick?

I definitely like "Option I", but I can hear the angry customers already! haha...