If you thought there was a slow down in the mail service during the peak of COVID-19 around April/May of this year (2020,) the holiday sales kick-off season has proved to be even more challenging for the U.S. mail system.
As every major outlet is reporting and from talking to business owners, the biggest hurdle to get through right now is the delays in the mail system. What is most challenging about this is the customer service side of things.
“Where is my package?” “Why haven’t I received it?” “Are you scamming me?” “I want to cancel my order, give me a refund now!” “I don’t care that there’s delays, I want my order!”
You would think consumers can comprehend the issue at hand, but a lot of them don’t really care. So…this leaves businesses to scramble to see how they can provide the best customer experience possible for something that is out of their hands.
This is especially tough(er) for subscription business of whom consumers depend on those products, be it treatments, etc.
Here are the current issues I’m seeing on the mail side:
- Packages stay in-transit for weeks.
- Packages have a status of ‘Delivered” when customers say they aren’t.
- Packages have no movement for days.
Actions to take:
- Create site-wide messaging alerting customers of order delivery delays. Pop-unders, pop-ups, etc.
- Newsletter letting all customers know about delivery delays.
- Create a Facebook / Instagram post and BOOST it letting customers and potential customers know of delivery delays.
- Customer support teams need to stay polite on phone and explain as best as possible to customers that this is a nationwide problem and need to stay patient while the mail system gets through the holiday season.
- Customers need to wait around 2-4 weeks for packages, UNFORTUNATELY. Anything past that should be re-shipped after that time frame.
FROM USPS:
“We are completely focused on processing and delivering mail this week, one of the busiest of year,” read a statement sent on Dec. 14.
“We have taken steps to address issues caused by the pandemic as we approach our busiest weeks, including hiring seasonal employees and allocating employees to facilities that need additional resources,” read a statement sent on Dec. 7.
