How to manage partially fulfilled orders and customer notifications?

[dazzled]

I have an order where 2 items were ordered..One was shipped and the other one was cancelled by the vendor..how do I change the status of the order on my order page, also, my customer was not notified of the cancellation..Is the customer charged the full amount or charged when there items ship? I see where the full amount was captured on the order page, does she need a refund?

[JoesIdeas]

You can change the status of the order on the order details page in the Shopify admin. For example, if it was cancelled by the vendor, then I would refund the item. This will change the order status + trigger a notification to the customer.

I would also send an email to the customer explaining why (for example, maybe the vendor was out stock, and it will be ready at a certain date, where you can notify them and they can reorder).

The customer orders from you, when they pay for the order they are charged. If you will not ship the product, then you refund them. If your vendor is just delayed, you can reach out to the customer and give them the information, and let them decide if they want to cancel the order or wait for it.

My advice for managing customer service: treat your customers like they are a member of your family, or think, "what would I want to happen in this situation". That should make the decision on what to do pretty obvious.

While your doing this, create an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) on how you handle interactions, how you want your brand to be, then when you hire a customer service person, they will have all this information on how to interact with customers as you would.

Good luck on your journey.