Flex Friday: The Case of the Disappearing Wrap – And the Refund That Hurt 💔📦

Oh USPS… where do I even start? 🙄✉️

If you’ve been here a while, you know I take pride in getting orders out lightning fast ⚡ and packed like a little gift 🎁. I double-check addresses ✅. I add tracking 📍. I even whisper “safe travels” before a package leaves my hands.

So when a customer messaged me asking about her wrap—one that should have been delivered yesterday—I immediately checked tracking.

And there it was: "Arriving late." 😑

Which in USPS terms could mean:

• It’s sitting in a forgotten corner of a warehouse 🏚️.

• It took a detour to visit relatives in another state 🗺️.

• Or… it’s simply vanished into the abyss, never to be seen again 🕳️.

The Ouch Part 😣

I watched the tracking for another day, hoping for a miracle ✨. No miracle. So I did what a lot of small business owners dread—issued a refund 💸. Not because it was my fault, but because it was the right thing to do.

Here’s the truth: the customer doesn’t see USPS when things go wrong, they see me. And part of building trust in my business is owning the customer’s experience from start to finish—even when the ending is expensive.

The Surprise Ending 🌟

Here’s the part that makes me so grateful I do what I do—she gave me a 5-star review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ anyway. She didn’t have to. She could have been upset, or simply moved on. But instead, she chose kindness 💖.

And because building brand trust and relationships means everything to me 🤝, I gave her a discount on her next purchase 🛒. Not because I had to, but because I wanted to show her how much I appreciate her understanding.

Lessons Learned 📚

• Proactive beats reactive: I kept the customer in the loop from the first message 💬.

• Customer trust > short-term profit: The refund stung 💔, but her trust is worth more.

• Kindness is contagious: When customers extend grace, meet it with gratitude 🙏.

• Plan for the “just in case”: Lost packages are rare, but they happen. Build that possibility into your mental (and financial) game plan 🧠💵.

Running a small business is a mix of creativity 🎨, joy 😍, and the occasional “WHY USPS, WHY?!” moment 🤦‍♀️. This was one of those. But if a lost wrap can still turn into a happy customer who’s excited to shop again, that’s a win in my book 🏆.