Buyer didn't pay, but I shipped. How do I accurately reflect this?

alltrightbricks

Here is the deal. I received an order paying by check shortly before I went on vacation. In order to get the buyers order in the mail before I left, I shipped it out before I received their check. I did not mark it as shipped or tell them that I had shipped it in hopes that they would send the check before they received the package. The buyer never sent the check, and never responded to any of my messages. At this point, I would like to keep this order as an active order so that I can declare it as a loss. But I can't figure a way to get it off of my Outstanding Orders. If I mark it as Shipped, it will show that it was paid by default. On BL I would be able to keep the payment status as None, and the orders status as Shipped.
Any suggestions on this? I'm tired of staring at 1 Order Awaiting Payment on my dashboard.
Katie

Teup

I'm having some trouble with the 'shipped = paid' assumption as well (though less than what you described) because on BL my routine is to ship out before payment is received. I'm yet to find a good routine on BO to accomodate how I work.. but it will just take some getting used to from my part.

As for your issue, how about order cancellation and not returning the items to your inventory?

alltrightbricks

I would prefer not to cancel the order, as it is really not a cancelled order. It was processed/packed/shipped/received. Just that the buyer did not pay.
That is probably my only option though.

As far as your routine goes, I would worry that someone would add or want to add to their order before they pay only to find you have already shipped it. Or what if they don't pay at all? Just a word of caution.

Katie

Teup

As far as your routine goes, I would worry that someone would add or want to add to their order before they pay only to find you have already shipped it. Or what if they don't pay at all? Just a word of caution.

Katie

Yeah, I ship them not right away but when payment is submitted. I let them mark them as 'paid', and when they do I ship out. I do ship immediately when people note that the order is finished. It's fine, never had any trouble with it. So many years on, the first one to rip me off that way is gonna be a 0.000001% overall loss Too bad though you had a different experience there.. it's pretty rare luckily.

pumbaugh

Just a thought, but advertising this is how you process your orders on the forums may lead to further issues...Just a thought, but unscrupulous people are always out there. Would not want to see you taken advantage of by someone without honor reading the forum.