u/HoneyBadgerPanda

Longtime lurker and reader and now I need a little advice.

My wife and I had a customer who reached out on Sunday afternoon asking if we could produce an order and have it to her by the following Tuesday (9 days). She reached out again Monday morning and I responded letting her know we could not produce/ship until Friday at which point her only option was Next Day Air. As well, she would need to purchase a Rush Order option to move up her production schedule to meet her deadline. The item is a made to order Cake Topper with 6 different colors and 3 layers so it takes quite a bit of time and effort to produce.

We shipped the item on Friday (as stated) and USPS scanned it in. She reached out Monday (Day 8 of 9) asking for the location of her item. I tracked it through USPS and the last update was Saturday in TN. I presented her the information and she said thanked me and that was it.

Her deadline has come and gone. Today, she left me a 1 star review scathing me for my lack of communication and the fact that her item did not arrive in time. In addition, she has requested a refund via a Help Request since she did not receive the item by her deadline and paid all these additional fees.

Normally, I'm understanding and would refund her, let her keep the item and file my dispute with USPS for a refund on the shipping.

We have almost 2,000 sales and 285 reviews with 283 being 4-5 stars. We have 2 1-star reviews - the current one and another from 2 years ago when my wife went into labor 2 weeks early.

With this customer, I'm tempted to post a response to her review with the intent of informing future customers (that read reviews) know I maintained my side of the agreement and USPS was responsible for her not receiving her item in time. Request her ship the item back to me before I will proceed with the refund. Thoughts?

I plan on disputing the review with Etsy as the basis for her poor review is USPS failed to deliver on time and nothing to do with our shop.