"Tracking hasn't updated": what it means and what to reply

Why tracking stalls

Most stalls are normal. Roughly in order of frequency:

• Label created, not collected. You told the carrier a parcel exists. They have not picked it up yet. Nothing will move until they do.
• Between scan points. Parcels are scanned at depots, not continuously. A long leg between two hubs can look like two silent days.
• Weekend or holiday. Many networks do not scan at all on Sundays.
• Handover between carriers. International parcels change hands, and tracking often goes quiet during the transfer.
• Customs. Can add days with no visible update at all.
• Missed scan. The parcel is moving, someone did not scan it. It reappears later, often already out for delivery.
• Genuinely lost. The least common, and the one everyone assumes first.

How long is too long

Rough working rules, and they are rules of thumb rather than guarantees:

• Domestic, 2 working days with no scan after label creation — check the parcel physically left your building. This is nearly always the answer.
• Domestic, 3 to 4 working days mid-journey — worth opening a carrier enquiry.
• International, up to 7 to 10 days — often still normal, particularly across customs.
• Past the carrier's own claim window — act immediately. Most carriers refuse claims filed late, and that deadline is yours to miss, not the customer's.

What to reply, by stage

Stage 1 — label created, no scan

Do not say "it's on its way". It is not. Say the label is created, the carrier has not collected it yet, and give the day you expect it to be picked up. Then actually check it left.

Stage 2 — moving, just quiet

Explain that carriers scan at checkpoints rather than continuously, so gaps are normal. Give the last known scan and location, because that is new information to the customer. Offer to check again on a specific day — naming the day matters more than the offer.

Stage 3 — stalled beyond normal

Acknowledge it directly. Say you are opening an enquiry with the carrier, give a realistic timescale for their response, and say what you will do if it does not resolve. This is where you decide whether you reship at day 7 or day 14, and telling the customer that decision up front removes most of the follow-up emails.

Stage 4 — declared lost

Reship or refund, then tell them it is done. Do not make the customer wait on your carrier claim. That is your process, not theirs.

The stalled-tracking reply, in structure

1. Name the order, so they know you looked at theirs specifically
2. Give the last real scan and when it happened
3. Explain in one sentence why the gap is or is not normal
4. State what you are doing about it
5. Give a date you will come back to them, and keep it

Five lines. The slow part is step two, because it means opening the order and the carrier page for every message. That lookup is what CaseKit removes.