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Email template to ask a seller where my order is

You ordered something online, the promised delivery date has passed, and either the tracking has not moved in days or there is no tracking at all. The seller is the one who owes you the item, not the carrier, so the seller is who you write to. A short email with the order number and the dates gets you one of three answers: a real delivery date, a replacement, or a refund. Writing rather than calling matters here because if the package never turns up, the dated email showing you asked and what they promised is what your card issuer will want to see if you later dispute the charge.

Before you send

  • Your order number, the date you ordered, the item, and the amount paid. Copy them from the order confirmation email.
  • The delivery date the seller gave at checkout or in the shipping notice. This is the promise you are holding them to.
  • The tracking number and what the tracking page currently says, including the date of the last update. "Label created" for a week means the seller never handed it to the carrier.
  • A quick check of your mailbox, porch, building's package room, and any neighbor who might have signed for it, so the seller cannot bounce the question back to you.
  • What you want if it cannot be found: a replacement sent by a specific date, or a refund. Say which.
Subject Order #[order number] has not arrived - status please 
Hi [seller name] team,

I placed order #[order number] on [order date] for [item name], total $[amount paid]. The estimated delivery date was [promised date], and it hasn't arrived.

The tracking number is [tracking number], and the last update was on [date of last update], showing "[what the tracking page says]". I've checked with [my building's package room / neighbors / the carrier] and there's nothing here.

Could you find out where the package is and give me a firm delivery date? If it can't be located, I'd like [a replacement shipped by date / a full refund of $amount to my original payment method].

I'd appreciate an update by [date, a few days out]. Thanks for looking into it.

Best,
[Your name]
[Shipping address on the order]
[Your phone number]

Everything in brackets is yours to fill in. Keep the rest as it is or change the tone to match how you write.

After you send

  • A responsive seller opens a trace with the carrier and gives you a date, or ships a replacement within a few days. A carrier trace can take a week or more; ask them to tell you the date they will act if the trace comes back empty.
  • A bad answer is "please contact the carrier." You did not buy from the carrier, and the carrier's contract is with the seller. Reply once and say you need the seller to resolve it.
  • If tracking shows "delivered" but you have nothing, say so plainly and ask the seller how they want to handle it. Many will reship; some will ask you to file a police report first for higher-value items.
  • If there is no answer or no package within about two weeks of your email, and you paid by card, ask your card issuer to dispute the charge for goods not received. Most issuers allow disputes for at least 60 days from the statement date, so do not let it drift.

Or don't send it yourself

Forward the job to myagent@standinfor.me and let StandIn run the whole thread.

StandIn is an email assistant that handles conversations with businesses for you. You write it one email saying what you need. It writes to the business, waits for the answer, follows up when they go quiet, pushes back on the number when it should, and brings the results back to your inbox for you to decide. You don't need to install an app or sign up. The first email you send is already the start of the task.

Hand this to StandIn opens an email to myagent@standinfor.me with the job already written out

To myagent@standinfor.me Subject Find out where my order is 
Hi StandIn,

Please chase a seller about an order that hasn't arrived and get me a delivery date, a replacement, or a refund.

The order: [seller name, order number, order date, item, amount paid].
Promised delivery date: [date].
Tracking: [tracking number, what it currently says, and the date of the last update].
Where I've already checked: [package room, neighbors, carrier, or "nowhere yet"].
What I want if it's lost: [replacement by a date, or a refund].

Keep following up until there is a firm answer, and if it drags past two weeks with nothing, tell me so I can dispute the charge with my card before the window closes.

Thanks,
[Your name]

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