WWYD? Cookies didn't make it on time :( - Page 2

Wow, there's no way I would have mailed ANYTHING that was time sensitive with NO tracking number or insurance. What if they had arrived and had been destroyed in transit? You'd still be screwed! And why would you skimp on this? I'm assuming you're passing the cost of shipping to your client. If not, that's a big mistake. If you want, give them a choice between paying a guaranteed delivery & insurance cost or what it would be to send snail mail.
If they are given the option of the higher priced guaranteed delivery cost and they refuse, then it's on them if the item doesn't arrive on time. But regardless, you should always collect the money--including delivery fee-- up front before anything happens.

Lesson learned here. You're going to have to eat this one.

I am not sure that I would have gone to the expense and trouble of filling such an order without prepayment. Allowing someone else the responsibility of mailing an order without specific instructions on which service to use and not purchasing a confirmation number-which is less than $1.00 are good lessons for future transactions.
Hobbyist or not you have to look out for number one first. Sorry that this happened.

Then I would have to guess it's the means the package was sent and/or the routing it took.

One rate Priority is great, but even with that, make sure you do delivery confirmation. I had a package get lost one time, but because it had the delivery confirmation, they found it and got it to its proper destination within a few days. It was an ebay item, so not "as" time sensitive as this, but at least the package wasn't lost.

I hope you don't run into this problem again.

While disappointed she didn't offer you some money, I think she was more than gracious, under the circumstances. I'm guessing she ran out last minute to buy "something" that she could use. Not what she wanted, but money was spent. And frankly, it was your fault it didn't arrive on time. You were responsible for shipping it in a manner that would assure it arrived in time. You can never assume your package will arrive in the same amount of time as another unless you use a service that guarantees a time frame. I don't mean to sound harsh, but this is where you paid the least amount of attention. You sent someone else to mail it, without instructions or expressing concern to them about urgency. You didn't even ask him when he returned how he sent it, and you still don't know how it was sent. This one, I'm sorry to say, is on you.

I agree that the previous post could have been more diplomatic, but the point is a valid one...if you are providing a product for someone's important event in exchange for money, you are operating a business and need to ensure your customers are taken care of.

Luckily you had an understanding customer and this particular lesson didn't end up costing you too much, but I wouldn't rely on the "just a hobby" excuse in the future.

Ive never shipped perishables but I did ship something I sold online a couple of weeks ago and it took the USPS a whopping 12 days to deliver from Florida to Missouri which usually takes like 4 days. Thank God for delivery confirmation (which does give you a tracking number for like 50 cents) but still, the guy filed a claim with paypal and I was pissed thinking that he might get his money back AND get the goods eventually. Anyway;....lesson learned, hope sharing this experience helps...get delivery confirmation!

I don't think anyone is meaning to be mean or rude. As a hobby decorator myself, I completely see your side of the situation. You're doing this for a friend, not really businesslike. I honestly would feel exactly the way you do about the situation.

However, the advice coming from these other bakers are sound advice as one wades through the waters from hobbiest to business. You did ask for their opinion on the situation, and so they felt to give it. And although you did mention you were going to give the full refund, I think they want you to try to understand the business side of being a decorator.

Situations like these is one reason why I don't ever sell. I don't want to worry about the ins and outs of what should be done as a business.

But I really don't think these gals are trying to be mean, but just trying to open your eyes to the rules/handling of selling your items.

Keep your chin up. =)

Once again, I was not saying anything to try to hurt your feelings. I have reread my post and don't see anything wrong in what I said, only that it was a bit to the point. I don't think I have ever said anything hurtful to anyone in here, ever. My concern was to simply point out where I thought the problem lay since you still thought she should have offered you money, even though the day probably did cost her money for products she had to buy as replacement.

I am a hobby baker as well, and certainly make more mistakes than I would like to be making. Hopefully I learn with each mistake I make. I'm not a big business coming down on a hobby baker. But being a hobbyist, you have the same responsibility to their event, even if you were doing it for free for them. It's their day and something they plan out. For some reason you are feeling defensive, and that is not what I intended because when we get defensive we don't necessarily see the whole story of what is going on around us. You had concerns, no one knew how your cookies were shipped, and even you have changed your story in your defensive mode. You stated your husband has shipped all your packages. But in your original post you wrote, "The only thing I can think that happened (my husband sent them for me and I have the receipt so I know he did!) is that he miscommunicated when they needed to arrive and that maybe he wasn't clear about when they needed to arrive. I know when I've sent packages I can choose the cheapest option which takes about a week otherwise there's a 2-4 day option. I'm wondering if that happened, but I'm not sure how I would find that out anyways. So I will apologize one more time if I have offended you, that has not once, in any of my posts here, been my intention. And I certainly hope you don't run into this same problem again.

PS. When you accept $ for product, you ARE in business.

I will say this, this all brings up a good point about shipping. I have always been able to ship things across the country 3 days max., but I haven't been thinking about all the new changes the USPS is facing. That could very well change.

And no, I wouldn't give someone some money for a business transaction that did not come through just, cause they did the work. No one would, that's not even logical.

USPS cutbacks will mostly impact loss leader services like residential delivery to individual mailboxes (look for consolidating box locations and reducing days of service) and first class delivery. USPS priority mail should be unaffected.

I"m not sure if it works the same for USPS as it does for Canada Post, but something to keep in mind for future. I sent something Priority to a Florida destination. I sent it faster than I may have normally as it was a time sensitive document that had to arrive by a specific date. It took 2 days longer to arrive than the 2 day guarantee that is offered. Because I had a tracking number, and Canada Post was able to verify that it did take longer than their guarantee, they refunded my shipping costs. Because of that, when I ship anything that isn't going regular mail, I always get a tracking number "just in case".

Just something to consider when shipping in future.