The parcel hasn't scanned in three days, the customer is messaging, and the honest answer is 'I don't know either'. Most sellers handle this wrong — either silence (customer assumes worst) or hourly panic (customer loses faith). The delay-communication template that keeps the sale.
The proactive flip
Message the customer the moment YOU notice the stall — 'your parcel is delayed in transit, we're chasing it' lands completely differently than the same sentence after they've asked twice. Ownership reads as competence; discovery reads as chaos.
The update rhythm
One status message a day while it's stuck — 'still in transit, expected scan tonight' even when nothing changed. The customer doesn't need new information; they need evidence you're watching. Silence is what generates 'SCAM' reviews.
The decision-point offer
At day +3 past promised: give them the choice — 'wait two more days or we refund/redispatch'. Most customers choose to wait when the choice is theirs; the offer transforms a delay from something done to them into something they chose.
The escalation truth-telling
If it's genuinely lost (not just delayed), say so fast and redispatch or refund — the honest seller who loses a parcel retains the customer; the one who strings along loses both the parcel and the person.
Pure Parcel automates exactly this — the pipeline from order to AWB without the manual steps.
See how →The playbook
Message on your discovery, not their question
Proactive always — find it first, say it first.
Update daily even when nothing changes
The status IS the message.
Offer the choice at day +3
Wait or refund — their call, your retention.
Declare lost fast
A redispatched parcel costs less than a strung-along customer.
