When Your Parcel Doesn’t Arrive: The Side of Small Business Customers Don’t Always See.

There is a particular kind of frustration that comes with being a small handmade business.

You have designed the product, personalised it, made it to order, checked it carefully, packaged it beautifully, printed the address, paid for the postage and handed it over to the delivery service.

And then… it disappears into the postal system.

Recently, I’ve found myself increasingly frustrated by delivery delays. Not because I don’t understand that things go wrong — I absolutely do — but because when something doesn’t arrive, the frustration often comes straight back to the small business that sent it.

Once it leaves my workshop, I can't control the delivery

At Hickory Dickory Designs, every order is made individually.

There isn't a warehouse full of products waiting to be shipped. There isn't a huge customer service department.

It's me, making your order, preparing it and getting it on its way.

I take great care over every parcel because I know that the card inside might be for someone's birthday, anniversary, wedding, retirement or another really important occasion.

But

I can control how I make and dispatch your order. I cannot control what happens to it once it has entered the postal system.

The delivery service matters

Like many small UK businesses, I rely on Royal Mail to deliver my orders.

For small, lightweight items such as cards, the postal service is the only option for customers.

That means when there are delays, backlogs or problems at a sorting office, I am affected too.

The part people don't see

What customers don't always see is what happens behind the scenes when an order is delayed.

I check the order.

I check when it was dispatched.

I look at the tracking information where available.

I respond to messages.

I reassure the customer.

I investigate what I can.

And sometimes I find out that there is a backlog or disruption within the postal network.

And I completely understand why the customer is upset — particularly if their order was for a special occasion.

I made the item.

I packed it.

I sent it.

I wanted it to arrive on time just as much as the customer did.

Handmade businesses are not Amazon

This is perhaps the biggest thing I wish people remembered when ordering from a small independent business.

When you buy from a handmade business, you're not buying from a giant corporation with distribution centres, thousands of employees and fleets of delivery vehicles.

You're buying from a person.

A person who may have spent time designing your product.

A person who has physically made it.

A person who has carefully packaged it.

A person who genuinely cares whether you are happy with your purchase.

That doesn't mean customers shouldn't complain when something goes wrong.

Of course they should be able to raise concerns.

But sometimes the problem isn't actually with the person who made the product.

When I receive a message telling me to "review my delivery agent", when the delivery service is the same one available to me as a small business, it can be incredibly frustrating.

A little patience goes a long way

At Hickory Dickory Designs, every order leaves my workshop with the same intention — that it arrives safely and on time.

I can't control every part of the journey.

But I can control the care that goes into everything I make.

And I think that's worth remembering.

Please support small businesses. Be kind when things go wrong. And remember that sometimes, we're trying just as hard as you are to get your parcel through the door. 

Hickory Dickory Designs — Designed to Be Kept.