How to handle lost orders and refunds?

[ecom_arthur]

Hey everyone,

Hope you are safe and healthy. Quick question: 

Out of 80 orders I had last month, it seems that 2 got lost in transit as I didn't receive any update from the couriers. It's coming from overseas to U.S via air. It has passed my "promise" to be delivered within 30 days max as well. Here is the dilemma... I reached out to customers 2x via email and additional 1x via phone but I got no answer from them. My guess is just to process refund and send both customers confirmation email for a refund and classic "We're sorry this happened" context alongside with it. Anyone had similar scenarios?

Best,

Arthur,

[Lana]

Hello @ecom_arthur!

This is Lana from Shopify. 

You have already taken the right steps in reaching out to your customers - communication in situations like this is key, and it is something that would be looked for in a worst case scenario, which may be a dispute opened by the customer when their item does not arrive.

Cancelling and refunding the order is entirely up to you - if you're sure that the items will not arrive then this is the best course of action. You should reach out to them after the cancellation to let them know you did this, and maybe as a gesture of good will it could be good to include a discount code just for the customer. If you're not sure, I have the steps on how you can create a discount code here.

You mentioned that you have a 'promise' of delivering within 30 days, so I was wondering if this is something you have included in your Shipping Policy? If you're not sure how to do that, you will just need to go to Settings > Legal and you will find Shipping Policy as one of the sections that you can edit, which your customers can then refer to for information like that.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks. -Lana