How to Handle a Late Order: What to Tell Your Customer

Short answer: tell the customer before the due date, not after they ask. Say sorry, give the reason in one sentence, and give a new date you are sure you can keep. Then let the customer choose: wait, change the order, or cancel with a refund. In the US, the FTC expects you to offer that refund when you cannot ship on time. This applies to orders taken online, by phone or by mail.

Every seller who makes things to order has a late order sooner or later. The fabric arrives a week late. You get sick. Three big orders land in the same week. The order itself is rarely the problem. The problem is the silence, and the customer who finds out on the due date.

This guide shows what to do the moment you know an order will be late. It covers when to tell the customer, how to pick a new date, what to write, and what to offer. It also covers the rules in the US and the UK. Last, it shows how to make the next late order less likely.

1. Tell the customer before the due date

The best time to tell a customer is as soon as you know. The worst time is after they message you to ask.

A message two days before the due date gives the customer time to plan. They can move a party, buy a backup gift or tell the person who is waiting. The same message on the due date gives them nothing to work with. It reads like an excuse, even when the reason is real.

Customers notice the difference. Locus, a delivery software company, asked shoppers about late deliveries in a survey reported in January 2026. 93% of US shoppers said that updates sent before they ask help make up for a late delivery. The survey asked 1,000 shoppers in the US and 2,000 in the UK. A software vendor ran it, so read it as a sign of what customers expect, not as an exact number.

Customers who are waiting also check often. We looked at 262 WISMO orders whose tracking link was opened. Customers opened each link a median of 5 times before the order was finished.

Median 5 opens

So the customer is already watching. If the date moves and nobody tells them, they will notice. It is much better if they hear it from you first.

2. Pick a new date you can keep

A second missed date hurts much more than the first one. So do not send the hopeful date. Send the date you are sure of.

To find it, work it out on paper:

• What is left to do? List the steps that are not finished yet, such as cutting, baking, a fitting, or the final coat.
• How long does each step really take? Use the time it took last time, not the time it takes on a good day.
• What is in the way? Count the other orders due before this one, and any supplies you are still waiting for.
• Add a buffer. Add one or two extra days for a short order and more for a long one.

Sometimes you are waiting on something outside your control, such as a delivery of materials. Then you may not know the date yet. In that case, say so. Then give the customer a day when you will write again with a firm date. “I will update you on Friday” is a promise you can keep.

3. Write the message

A good late-order message is short. It does five things, in this order:

1. Say sorry, plainly.
2. Give the reason in one sentence. Do not blame the customer, your supplier or the post office.
3. Give the new date.
4. Give the customer a choice.
5. Say when you will update them next.

Here are four messages you can adapt. They are illustrative examples, not messages from a real seller.

For other moments in an order, such as confirmations, deposit requests and ready-for-pickup messages, see our WhatsApp order message templates. They work in Instagram DMs, text messages and email too.

4. Give the customer a real choice

A late order changes the deal you made. So the customer should get a say in what happens next. Most of the time there are three fair choices:

• Wait for the new date. Most customers will choose this if the new date is clear and they trust it.
• Change the order. A simpler design, a smaller size or part of the order now can still meet their need.
• Cancel with a full refund. This includes any deposit they paid. The only exception is terms you agreed in writing before you started, if the law where you sell allows them.

Make the refund easy. Do not ask the customer to argue for it. A customer who gets their money back quickly may still order from you again. A customer who has to fight for it will not.

Should you add a discount? Only when it fits the problem. For a short delay, a clear apology and a date you keep are usually enough. If the delay cost the customer something real, a partial refund or free shipping is fair. Examples are a missed event, or a rush delivery they had already paid for. A discount is never a replacement for a refund the customer asked for.

If the customer paid a deposit, check your own terms before you reply. Our guide to how much deposit to take explains what a deposit should cover and why “non-refundable” may not hold.

5. Know the rules where you sell

Late orders are not only about manners. In many places the law says what you must offer. This section is general information, not legal advice. Check the rules where you and your customers live.

In the US. The FTC has a rule called the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule. It covers most goods that customers order by mail, phone or online. The FTC’s own business guide says:

• You must have a reasonable basis for any shipping time you state. If you state no time, you must expect to ship within 30 days.
• If you cannot ship on time, you must tell the customer before the promised date. The notice gives a new shipping date, or says that you cannot give one yet.
• The notice must offer the customer the choice to cancel for a full, prompt refund. A credit toward a future order does not count as that refund.
• A refund is “prompt” when it is sent within seven working days. Where the customer paid on credit from you, the guide gives one billing cycle.

The guide also lists what the rule does not cover. This includes services and cash-on-delivery orders. It does not list custom-made goods as an exception. So if you ship custom work that customers order online, by message or by phone, read the full guide.

In the UK. Section 28 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 says you must deliver goods without undue delay. If you did not agree on a date, that means within 30 days. If you miss the date, the customer can usually give you a further, reasonable deadline. If you miss that one too, they can end the contract and get their money back. Sometimes the customer told you before ordering that the date was essential. Then they can end the contract as soon as you miss it. A wedding outfit or a birthday cake is a common example.

The practical lesson is the same in both countries. Give the customer the news early, give them a real date, and make the refund easy.

6. When the date is the whole point

Some orders are only useful on one day. A wedding dress, a birthday cake or a gift for a holiday is worth very little the week after. For these orders, a new date is not a real choice. So think about what you can still deliver on the day:

• A simpler version. A plainer design that you can finish in time.
• Part of the order. The main piece now, and the extras afterwards.
• A stand-in for the day. The customer gives a card or a photo of the work in progress. The finished piece follows later.

Offer one or two of these together with a full refund. Then let the customer pick. Write the choice down in the chat, so you both have a record.

For orders like these, the best fix comes earlier. Set a cut-off date for each busy season and stick to it. Our guide to holiday order cut-off dates shows how to work one out from the carrier deadlines. For tailors, the wedding season guide does the same for fittings.

7. Make the next late order less likely

One late order is bad luck. Three in a month is a sign that your process needs a change. These habits help:

• Add a buffer to every due date. If an order takes five days, promise seven. Finishing early always feels better to a customer than finishing late.
• Limit how many orders you take. Decide how many orders you can finish each week. When that week is full, offer the next one.
• Keep one list, sorted by due date. A notebook, a spreadsheet or an app all work if you keep it up to date. Our free order tracker template has the columns ready.
• Check tomorrow’s orders every morning. It takes two minutes, and it finds problems while you still have time to fix them.
• Write down why each late order was late. After a few months you will see a pattern. It may be one supplier or one kind of order. That tells you what to fix.

For the full method behind lead times and capacity, see the made-to-order business guide.

How WISMO helps with late orders

You can do everything in this guide with a notebook and your messages. WISMO is one way to keep it on your phone.

Every order in WISMO has a due date. The order list sorts by due date, so late orders show at the top. The calendar shows each week’s orders. You can see when a week is full before you say yes to one more. At 8 a.m. in your time zone, WISMO sends you a reminder for the orders that are due tomorrow. That gives you a daily check point.

Each order also has a tracking link. Your customer opens it in any browser, with no app and no signup. When a date moves, you change the due date on the order, and the tracking page shows the new date. You can also add a note that your customer sees on the same page, such as “The fabric is here. I am starting the border today.” The link and the notes are free.

On WISMO Pro, your customer also gets an email when the order moves to a new stage. You can add photos to your updates too. WISMO does not send WhatsApp or text messages for you. You still send the delay message yourself.

Your first 30 orders are free. WISMO Pro is $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year. You can try Pro free for 7 days.