Shanti Letter IND

What Is The Shanti Letter?

Amazon and other marketplace sellers use Shanti Letter as a scare tacit to buyers trying to scam them out of merchandise with the “it was not delivered scam.”

Someone named Shanti was getting scam monthly with the fraud “it was not delivered scam.”. So Shanti decided to create a letter to deter criminals from using the scam on him and it worked.

Shanti is getting about one claim a month from a customer that a package that shows delivered was not received. He always start by sending the message below. Nine out of ten times the customer writes him back (sometimes within minutes) to tell him that they “found” their package (husband put it in the closet and forgot – postman put it by the back door – dog pushed it under the bushes, etc.). A couple of packages over the years have been waiting for pickup at the customer’s post office (they missed the little slip). Only once, in eight years, have he had to refund a buyer because the package didn’t show up.

Some sellers have worried that the message might upset some buyers and lead to a negative or an a-z claim. That is not my experience, He have never received either from any buyer that he have sent this message to. But negatives and claims are always possible, on any order, and you should be aware of the concerns that some sellers have and weigh that when considering using the message.

The unfortunate reality is that while some missing packages really are missing… others are not. His post office tells him that the increase in false claims is alarming and the postal employees are blaming Amazon for that. They are a bit resentful of the Amazon policy because they feel that they are getting blamed for an awful lot of missing packages when it is really thieves taking advantage of Amazon’s liberal refund policies that are causing the increase.

Further proof that the increase in missing packages is related to buyer theft and Amazon’s liberal return policies (and not USPS incompetence) is the fact that ONLY Amazon packages go missing… He sell on a number of venues but no other packages ever go missing. Amazon accounts for about half of his total sales so one would expect, if this is carrier related, that half of my missing packages reports would come from Amazon and half from my other channels… but, nope, his missing package reports are exclusively Amazon.

We find that this message is strong enough to give someone who is making a false claim pause but at the same time kind and believing of the customer so that someone who really didn’t get their package is not offended but rather grateful that you are taking their concern seriously and trying to locate their package for them. While a refund will satisfy your obligation… your honest customer really just wants the thing they ordered… they don’t want to have to order it again and wait again so they are grateful that you are trying to find it for them.

LETTER BEGINS:
> +Dear Buyer,+
>
> +I am so very sorry to hear that you did not receive your package. If we are unable to find it I will, of course, issue a refund. I would like to try a few things that have successfully located packages in the past. I will call your post office and initiate a trace on the package. Sometimes the package is simply there, awaiting pickup. I will ask to speak with your post master who will check with your carrier.+
>
> +Please, do, ask your family and neighbors. Many a lost package was simply laid aside by a family member and then forgotten. And sometimes your postal carrier leaves it with a neighbor because s/he doesn’t want to leave it out in the weather.+
>
> +If these measures don’t work I will file a case with the postal inspector’s office. Many carriers now have scanners that are equipped with GPS tracking and the postal inspectors can find out exactly where the package was delivered. If your package was delivered to the wrong address they may be able to retrieve it and get it to you.+
>
> +I will let you know what I find out and, please, let me know if you are able to find it yourself. If we can’t find it within a few days, I will refund and let you know what the postal inspectors find out. Be well.+
>
LETTER END