We frequently have customers who place an order and then email us soon after asking if they can to add items to it. We try to accommodate them, but it is always awkward to manage the additional order as it has to be processed without a delivery charge and combined with the first order. I sometimes create a single use free postage discount voucher for the customer to use or sometimes just ask them to send a separate miscellaneous payment. Either way creates additional admin managing the delivery charge, stock levels and discount vouchers etc.. I was just wondering if other people have this issue and if there was an easier way to deal with it and also if there was any way to integrate an addition to order option in the shopping cart.

Richard.

We move a lot of orders and, implemented a policy to not processes orders during business hours for 30 minutes - this gives the customer time to contact us with any changes.
After that, the order cannot be edited or added to.
We instruct the customer to place a new order.
If they insist on combining orders to save on shipping, we cancel the order - depending on what stage it's in.
We have to be very strict with this as these changes would often lead to errors on the order, in the past.

That's how we handle these.
Of course we warn customers on the thanks page and email receipt they only have a small window to cancel or make changes.

Thanks,
David

Its also a major headache for us. We do the same as David. If they contact us to add we email them this.

For security reasons, we do not store customers' credit card or PayPal information. If you would like to add an item to your current order, please place a new, second order as soon as possible. Once completed, if eligible, we will refund the difference in shipping charges from the combined orders.

IMPORTANT:

- The 1st order must not have already been shipped. Order status can be found here https://www.xyx/orderstatus.php
- The second order must use the same name and shipping address as the first order.
- The second order must be placed before 11 am Eastern USA time on the day this email was sent to be eligible for combined shipping.

Please keep in mind that shipping is calculated based on size and weight; adding large or heavy items will adjust the final shipping cost.

Thanks for your replies and suggestions. It's good to know I'm not the only one finding this issue a pain to deal with. Customers assume they are making a simple request, but it is a time consuming nuisance and has caused us to make errors with stock adjustments and shipping on occasions, not to mention the extra transaction and refund charges. The trouble is they get annoyed if we say it's not possible.

We don't display notice on our website about this as I was concerned that it may encourage more to want to add to their orders. I suppose it would be better to provide clarity so I may try adding a notice advising a limited time period and see if it helps.

Richard.

Hi Richard, I fully understand your concern, but even Amazon has the 30 minute rule - no changes after 30 minutes.
I would put some strong language on the thanks/receipt page and in the email receipt so you at least have something to point to when they complain.

We do make some exceptions here and there, but we warn them - this time only, and we place notes in their account so we know they were warned.

Thanks,
David