My customer has claimed non-delivery but the tracking is showing as delivered. What do I do?
How will I know that the order hasn't arrived?
An automated delivery confirmation email is sent out to all customers three working days after the ETA (Estimated Delivery Date) given on the order page. The customer will be able to advise our Support Team through this, that although the order may be showing as delivered on the tracking, they have not received the order. The customer may also reach out to yourself via the messaging system or our Support Team via email to advise they have not yet received the order and for a further update.
Once the customer has reached out to advise that their order has not been delivered, the order will be placed on hold until we are able to confirm delivery.
What are the steps I need to take?
In such cases where customers advise non-delivery when the order is showing as delivered on the tracking, the first steps to take will be as followed.
Step 1
Our Artfinder Support Team will be in touch with the customer and advise that they need to carry out some checks. You can also advise your customer through the messaging system or direct phone contact.
We will first need to confirm the delivery address on the order is correct to ensure there were no mistakes with the delivery address when entered at checkout. In the event that the delivery address the customer inputted is still a valid address (just not their address), the package will be delivered to that address and it would be the customer's responsibility to recover the goods. Please see customers policy on incorrect delivery addresses here.
If the address is correct, we would advise carrying out the following checks:
- Check with anyone else at the address
- Check with any neighbours
- Check any safe places
- Check with the local post office
Step 2
We will ask you to provide the proof of postage/original shipping labels used to ship the artwork to ensure the address is correct and the order was indeed sent to the address the customer provided at checkout and which you can see on the order page.
Step 3
We will ask you to get in touch with your chosen courier/postal service and launch an enquiry in order to obtain a proof of delivery and ask where this parcel was left (unless the customer has already done so). The courier/postal service will often be able to confirm the GPS locator linked to the parcel, so this will need to be cross-checked with the actual delivery address.
Kindly note, that although you may have sent the item signed for, courier services have recently been unreliable in asking signatures due to COVID so there is a possibility they left the parcel on the front porch (contactless delivery), and it may have been stolen, but the courier will need to confirm this once they investigate.
Step 4
You will need to agree with the courier service on a date by which you will receive a response for your enquiry and communicate this to the customer as the deadline for us to obtain a response.
Step 5
We will then advise a discussion of potential solutions with the customer, which may be the following and let us know how you would wish to proceed:
- To refund them and claim the value with the courier yourself
- To send them a replacement artwork instead (which is likely to be an option for prints)
- To offer to create a commissioned piece instead
Step 6
In any case, we advise after the investigation of the courier to request a compensation if they are at fault. You can also claim the insurance from the insurance company for lost in transit items if you had the shipment insured prior to shipping. Depending on the service, the compensation claim could be taken either by yourself or yourself and the customer.
At Artfinder, our support for artists and customers is very important to us and we are of course happy to help at any stage of this process. However, as Artfinder is neither the sender nor the receiver, we will be unable to contact the courier ourselves as they will not release any information to us.