I needed some advice because this situation is stressing me out way more than it should.
I had an order where I created the label last week, had a small delay finishing it (reached out to buyer and they were cool with it), and dropped it off with USPS over the weekend. Since then, the tracking has been stuck in “pre-transit” with no scan at all.
I’ve had this happen before where packages don’t get scanned right away and only update later once they hit a bigger sorting facility (I live in a small town) but this buyer is convinced that’s not possible and is saying I never actually shipped it. I have a disclaimer on my shop because USPS loves to do this and I try to stay on top of tracking as much as possible but sometimes packages dont get scanned (I ship about 100-200 packages a week).
They opened a help request and have been freaking horrible. They’re asking for a full refund now and saying they don’t want the item anymore.
I understand why they’re concerned since there’s no tracking movement, but I also don’t want to refund right away and then have it get delivered and end up losing both the item and the money.
At the same time, I don’t want this to turn into a case or get a bad review over it.
I’m honestly stuck between just refunding to end it or waiting it out a bit longer.
What would you do in this situation?
TL;DR: USPS tracking stuck in pre-transit after drop-off, buyer thinks I never shipped and wants a refund. I’m worried about refunding and then the package still getting delivered. Not sure if I should wait or just refund to avoid escalation.