If a U.S. package is late, marked delivered but missing, or never arrives after you were charged, put your complaint to the seller in writing and save the order record. A credit-card purchase may also qualify for the federal billing-error process. If you use that process, your written dispute generally must reach the card issuer within 60 days after the first statement containing the charge was sent to you.

Genuinely unordered merchandise is different. The Federal Trade Commission says you don't have to pay for or return merchandise you never ordered.

Pick the right route

The payment method changes the process. The 60-day written procedure discussed here applies to credit-card billing errors. Don't assume it applies to a debit card, prepaid card, ACH payment, peer-to-peer payment, wire transfer, or another payment method. Contact that provider promptly and ask for its dispute or fraud procedure.

This information is for U.S. transactions. State laws, order terms, and marketplace policies may add protections or set different deadlines.

When the seller hasn't shipped

Check the order confirmation, checkout page, and shipping terms. Save screenshots of the promised shipping time before the seller changes the order page. Look for both the promised shipping date and any separate guaranteed arrival date; a carrier's estimated arrival date isn't necessarily the seller's promise.

The FTC's Business Guide to the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule says a seller must have a reasonable basis for the shipping time it represents. When no shipping time was stated, the FTC's prompt-delivery guidance describes a 30-day rule.

If the seller can't ship within the promised time, it generally must send a delay notice and explain your options. For a definite delay of up to 30 days, the notice may explain that silence counts as agreement to the delay in the circumstances described by the FTC. If you don't agree to wait, say so clearly in writing and request cancellation and a refund.

You can adapt this message:

I am writing about order [number], placed on [date]. The seller said it would ship by [date], but it has not shipped. Please confirm the new shipping date. I do not agree to the delay. Please cancel the order and refund the amount paid.

The FTC rule focuses mainly on when the seller ships the merchandise. It doesn't guarantee that a carrier will deliver on a particular day. When the seller shipped on time but the carrier is late, check the seller's delivery guarantee and marketplace terms. If the package never arrives, use the seller's missing-delivery process and, for a credit-card purchase, consider the billing-error process before its deadline expires.

A late delivery also doesn't create one universal right to extra cash. The official materials cited here address shipping notices, cancellation, refunds, and credit-card billing disputes; they don't promise an automatic payment for every late package. A retailer or marketplace may offer a replacement, credit, coupon, or refund under its own policy. If checkout promised guaranteed delivery or a specific late-delivery remedy, save that language and include it in your written request.

When tracking says "delivered" but the package is missing

Treat the delivery scan as evidence to investigate, not as the end of the complaint. Act quickly:

1. Check the delivery photo, location description, locker, mailroom, porch, garage, and other safe locations.
2. Ask household members, building staff, or nearby neighbors whether they accepted the package.
3. Compare the tracking time and location with your order details.
4. Contact the seller or marketplace through its official app or website. Ask for an investigation, replacement, or refund under its policy.
5. Contact the carrier if the seller or marketplace directs you to do so, but keep the seller or marketplace case open.
6. Save the tracking page, delivery photo, messages, case number, and every response.

Describe the problem precisely. Say whether the package was never at the stated location, went to the wrong address, arrived damaged, or contained the wrong item. Those are different facts, even if the tracking page uses the same "delivered" label.

A merchant conversation doesn't stop a credit-card billing-dispute clock. If the seller doesn't resolve a genuine non-delivery, make sure the card issuer receives your written dispute within the applicable 60-day period.

If an order appears in your account but you didn't place it, review the account and card statement. Change the retailer password through its official website and report any unfamiliar charge to the payment provider through its fraud or dispute channel.

Using the credit-card billing-error process

For a credit-card purchase, a charge for merchandise you never received can be raised as a billing error. The FTC's consumer guidance on billing errors and unordered products and its guidance on using credit cards and disputing charges describe the basic process.

The deadline

Your written dispute must reach the card issuer within 60 days after the first statement containing the billing error was sent to you. A phone call to the seller or issuer may help start an investigation, but send the dispute in writing if you want to use this billing-error procedure.

Follow the issuer's instructions for billing disputes, keep a copy of the letter, and retain proof of when it was sent and received. Include:

• Your name and credit-card account information
• The merchant's name, transaction date, and amount
• The order number and promised shipping or delivery date
• A clear statement that you never received the merchandise
• The steps you took to contact the seller
• Copies of the order confirmation, tracking history, correspondence, and refund request
• The result you want, such as removal of the charge or correction of the account
• The date the first statement showing the charge was sent

A concise letter could say:

I dispute the charge of $[amount] from [merchant] dated [date]. I never received the merchandise for order [number]. The first statement showing this charge was sent on [date]. Please treat this as a billing error and investigate the charge. I have attached the order confirmation, tracking information, and my communications with the merchant.

What happens after the issuer receives the letter?

Under the FTC's guidance:

• The issuer generally must acknowledge the dispute in writing within 30 days, unless it has already resolved the problem.
• It must resolve the dispute within two billing cycles, but no later than 90 days after receiving your letter.
• During the investigation, you don't have to pay the disputed amount or related finance or other charges. Pay the rest of your undisputed balance on time.

Some issuers may extend the 60-day period when a shipment is delayed, but don't assume an extension applies. Contact the issuer as soon as you know there's a problem and ask how it handles delayed shipments.

If the seller refunds the money after you file the dispute, tell the issuer and provide the refund date or reference number. Keep the records so you don't seek payment twice for the same charge.

This procedure is not a general deadline for debit cards, prepaid cards, ACH transfers, peer-to-peer payments, or wires. Those payment methods can have different rules and provider instructions.

When you receive something nobody ordered

Before treating a package as unsolicited, check the household's order history. It could be a gift, replacement, subscription shipment, or order placed by another authorized user. A package containing the wrong item is usually an order problem; it isn't the same as completely unordered merchandise.

For genuinely unsolicited merchandise, the FTC says you don't have to pay for it or return it. Don't send money simply because an invoice, text message, or package insert demands payment.

If you contact the company, find its phone number, website, or app independently through the company's official site. Avoid using a payment link or phone number supplied only inside a suspicious package. Keep the packaging, shipping label, order history, and messages until you know whether the shipment is connected to an account or payment problem.

If the delivery used a drone, robot, or AI-assisted system

The delivery technology changes the records you may need, not the first practical steps. Save the delivery notification, timestamp, photo, location pin, and any instructions shown in the retailer's app. Report the outcome in ordinary terms: the item wasn't received, it was damaged, it was left somewhere unauthorized, or the delivery record is inaccurate.

The Federal Aviation Administration's package-delivery guidance says commercial drone package-delivery operators use the Part 135 certification process and need an exemption or waiver for package deliveries conducted beyond visual line of sight. Those requirements concern the operator's aviation activity. They don't set a consumer refund amount or replace the seller's order terms, marketplace policy, or applicable payment-dispute process.

You generally don't need to determine whether the operator complied with aviation rules before reporting a non-delivery to the seller or marketplace.

If the first complaint goes nowhere

Keep one timeline with the order date, promised shipping or delivery date, charge and statement dates, messages, case numbers, and responses. Then escalate without letting one step consume another deadline:

1. Write the seller and state the remedy you want: shipment by a specific date, cancellation, replacement, or refund.
2. Open the marketplace's claim process if you bought through a marketplace. Save its deadline and case number.
3. Ask the carrier for a delivery trace when that could clarify the location, but don't treat a carrier phone call as your only record.
4. Send a written credit-card dispute if the merchandise wasn't received and the 60-day deadline applies.
5. Follow up in writing and ask for the decision, refund date, or reason for denial.

Don't agree to a new delivery date without saving the delay notice. Don't discard tracking records or delivery photos, and don't let a seller chat run past the card-dispute deadline.

The most useful next step is concrete: save the order page and the statement showing the charge, send the seller a written request today, and mark the 60-day date on your calendar if you paid by credit card.