Online Order Never Delivered: The 30-Day Rule, Refunds and Chargebacks

How long does a seller have to ship an online order?

A seller must ship within the time it stated when you ordered. If the offer gave no time, the federal deadline is 30 days after the seller receives a properly completed order, or 50 days if you applied for credit from the seller as part of the order (16 CFR 435.2). The FTC rule covers orders placed by mail, phone and internet.

When the seller learns it cannot meet the deadline, it must contact you, without being asked, and offer two choices: accept a delay or cancel for a prompt refund.

• The notice must give a definite revised shipping date, or say the seller cannot estimate one.
• If the new date is 30 days or less past the original deadline, staying silent counts as accepting the delay.
• If the delay is longer, or indefinite, the order is treated as cancelled unless you agree to wait or the seller ships within 30 days of the original deadline.
• If the seller never sent a delay notice and missed the deadline, the order must be treated as cancelled and refunded.

A prompt refund means within seven working days for card, cash, check or money order payments, or within one billing cycle when the seller itself extended the credit (16 CFR 435.1).

What does California law add for undelivered orders?

Section 17538 of the Business and Professions Code covers anyone in California selling goods or services by phone, internet, mail order or catalog. Once a seller accepts your payment, it cannot let 30 days pass (or the time it conspicuously stated, if different) without doing one of these things:

• Shipping or providing what you ordered.
• Mailing a full refund, or crediting your account for the full amount.
• Sending a written notice giving the expected delay in days or weeks, or proposing a substitute of equal or better quality, and offering a full refund within one week if you ask. The notice must include a toll-free number or other cost-free way to ask for the refund.
• Shipping a substitute of equal or better quality, with the right to return it at the seller's cost for a full refund.

If you applied for the seller's credit plan with the order, the California period is 50 days. Online sellers must also show you, before taking payment, their return and refund policy, their legal business name and the street address they operate from (section 17538(d)). That address is where a written demand belongs. Whichever rule fits your order, the practical point is the same: after the deadline passes with no shipment and no proper notice, you can ask for your money back in writing and cite both.

What if tracking says delivered but you never got the package?

That is a different problem. The FTC rule treats an order as shipped when the seller places it in the carrier's possession, so its deadlines may already be met. Who bears the loss of a missing package then depends on the terms of sale and California's Commercial Code.

Under Commercial Code section 2509, if the contract requires the seller to deliver to a particular destination, the risk of loss passes to you when the goods are properly tendered there. If it only requires shipment by carrier, risk passes when the goods are delivered to the carrier. Those default rules can be changed by agreement, and a retailer's own terms or buyer protection policy may go further than the statute.

• Ask the seller for the carrier's proof of delivery, including any GPS scan or photo.
• Check with neighbors, building staff and the carrier's local office.
• Read the seller's or marketplace's policy for packages marked delivered but not received, and file within its window.
• If the item was stolen from your porch, a police report gives you a dated record.

Can you get a chargeback for an order that never arrived?

For a credit card, federal law gives you a formal dispute right. Under the Fair Credit Billing Act and Regulation Z, a charge for property not delivered as agreed is a billing error (12 CFR 1026.13). The card issuer must receive your written notice within 60 days after it sent the first statement showing the charge.

• The issuer must acknowledge your dispute within 30 days, unless it resolves it sooner.
• It must resolve the dispute within two complete billing cycles, and no later than 90 days.
• While the dispute is open, you do not have to pay the disputed amount or related finance charges, the issuer may not try to collect them, and it may not report that amount as delinquent.

Debit cards and payment apps work under different rules and the provider's own policies. For a side-by-side look, see chargeback versus demand letter.

Steps to get your money back for an order that never came

1. Gather the order confirmation, the promised delivery window, payment proof and every tracking update.
2. Work out the deadline: the date the seller promised, or 30 days from your order if it promised none.
3. Check whether you received a delay notice offering cancellation. Save it if so.
4. Write to the seller asking for a refund by a specific date, citing 16 CFR 435 and B&P section 17538.
5. If you paid by credit card, send the issuer a written billing error notice within 60 days of the statement, whether or not the seller has answered.
6. If the seller is a marketplace vendor, open a claim under the platform's buyer protection process as well.
7. If the seller still refuses, a formal demand letter is the next step, followed by small claims court if needed (up to $12,500 for an individual).

When an attorney-written refund letter makes sense

Your own written request and a card dispute are built for a single missed order. Larger stakes change the picture: a custom or high-priced order, a business purchase without consumer card protections, a seller that keeps promising shipment without delivering, or a pattern across several orders. Our guide to a refund demand letter for bad service covers related problems once an order does arrive.

For orders like those, Talk to My Lawyer works this way: a licensed California attorney writes your letter from your order records and messages, cites the shipping and refund rules that apply, and sends it on your behalf. If small claims court is on the table, a lawyer can advise on the strength of your records.