If a seller ships only part of an order, you can ask for a refund of the missing part, and a seller that cannot ship it owes that refund.
You ordered a bag and a matching purse charm, but only the bag turned up, and the tracking says your order is complete.
Contact the seller, name the missing part and ask whether it will send it or refund it. The FTC’s guide says that when a seller ships only some of an order, it must refund the difference for the items it cannot send. The rule requires sellers to tell you about a delay.
What the FTC says
- If a seller cannot ship an item in time, it has to tell you and give you the choice of agreeing to the delay or cancelling for a full refund.
- If it ships some but not all of the order, it must refund the difference between the total paid and what you would have paid for the items it did ship.
- Where a flat shipping fee is charged whatever the number of items, the seller need not refund the shipping when it ships part of the order. If the fee depends on the number of items, it can keep only the amount that fits the items shipped.
- A refund required by the rule cannot be replaced by a voucher.
What to do
- Compare the confirmation, packing slip and box contents.
- Photograph them together.
- Write to the seller: order number, missing item, and what you want.
- Allow a short time for a reply, and note the dates.
- If the item is never sent, ask for a refund of its price and any related charge.
Where this answer stops
The FTC rule covers items that a seller could not ship on time. If the missing part was never part of the order, the seller’s listing and policy decide what you are owed. This is general information for US shoppers, not legal advice.
Sources and further reading
Three more perspectives
Look at your confirmation, not the shipping label, to see what you ordered. Count the lines on the confirmation and then count the items in the box.
Check whether the missing part was listed as included. A strap or dust bag shown in the photos but not in the text may be treated differently, so save a screenshot of the listing.
Photograph the contents of the box next to the packing slip. Show that the order was opened soon after delivery, so the seller can see that the part went missing at its end or in transit.
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