For US online stores

Store answering service, 24/7.

Every paid order starts a clock under the FTC's Mail Order Rule. An AI built for your store keeps it: the delay notice, the refund, the card dispute, the carrier claim. You set every date. It never guesses one.

Talk it throughSee the order clock

Sample Street Supply / Kitchen / Mugs

Stoneware mug set, four pieces

$38.00

Speckled glaze, 12 oz each. Dishwasher safe.

Ships in 3 days

Order 4409, delay notice due by Sun 18 Oct1d 00:30:00
A made-up listing at Sample Street Supply, a made-up store. The clocks are live.

Four buyers paid under this line. Each payment started a clock.

  1. 4409Elena V., paid Thu 15 Oct1d 00:30:00
  2. 4412Marcus T., paid Thu 15 Oct1d 07:05:00
  3. 4415Jun P., paid Fri 16 Oct2d 02:20:00
  4. 4418Priya N., paid Sat 17 Oct2d 23:40:00

Counted as three calendar days from the minute of payment, the strictest reading. How your store counts days is for you and your attorney.

You, on a bad morning: “It says ships in 3 days on the listing. It is day three and the box is not packed.”

Every paid order, against the date it was promised.

Press an order. Where one cannot ship in time, the notice is already written the way the federal rule reads. You type the date. It never guesses one.

Sample Street Supply, open ordersMade-up sample data

Order 4409, Elena V.

1 × Stoneware mug set, four pieces. $44.50, paid Thu 15 Oct, 9:30 am.

Delay notice due by Sun 18 Oct1d 00:30:00

Supplier email, Sat 17 Oct, 7:52 am: the mug sets reach the store in sixteen days. The wait-or-cancel offer goes out before the promised time passes. With no offer and no shipment by then, the order is cancelled and refunded. 16 CFR 435.2(b)(1), (c)(5), read 20 Sep 2026

From
Sample Street Supply, your own address
To
Elena V.
Subject
Order 4409: a delay

Elena, your order (1 × Stoneware mug set, four pieces) was promised to ship by October 18. It will not make that date.

The next sentence is yours: the new date, or that you cannot give one and why. Milo never fills this in.

Source for every clock on this board: 16 CFR Part 435, the Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule.

  • The offer to wait or cancel goes out "within a reasonable time after the seller first becomes aware of its inability to ship", and never later than the promised time.

    16 CFR 435.2(b)(1), read 20 Sep 2026

  • "Shipment shall mean the act by which the merchandise is physically placed in the possession of the carrier." A printed label is not a shipment.

    16 CFR 435.1(e), read 20 Sep 2026

  • "If you represent that you ship in 48 hours most of the time, you will be required to ship or provide notification of delay in 48 hours all the time." Civil penalties run "up to $53,088 per violation".

    FTC business guide to the rule, edited January 2025, read 20 Sep 2026

Yours, not the AI’s You decide the new date, you send the notice, you issue the refund. Working days here skip weekends and do not account for federal holidays.

Seven deadlines behind every order you take online.Open the rule, row by row

One federal rule starts a clock on every paid online order. When a shipment slips, the buyer's silence can count as yes once, for a short delay, and never after that.

Your ship-by promise

It starts:
A paid order arrives with everything you need to ship it
The deadline:
The time your site states. A promise to ship in 48 hours means 48 hours, even with "most of the time" added. No stated time means 30 days, or 50 if the buyer applies to you for credit.
Miss it and:
You needed a delay notice out by then. Without one, the order must be cancelled and refunded.

16 CFR 435.2(a)(1), (c)(5); FTC business guide, read 18 Sep 2026

The first delay notice

It starts:
You learn you cannot ship on time
The deadline:
Within a reasonable time of finding out, and never later than the promised date. It gives a new date, or says you cannot give one and why, and offers cancellation with a prompt refund at your cost.
Miss it and:
It breaks the rule, and if nothing has shipped by the promised date, the order must be cancelled and refunded.

16 CFR 435.2(a)(3), (b)(1), (b)(3), (c)(5), read 18 Sep 2026

The buyer does not reply

It starts:
Your first delay notice goes out
The deadline:
A new date 30 days or less past the original: silence counts as yes. Longer, or no date: you need a yes, or the order shipped, within 30 days of the original date.
Miss it and:
The order is cancelled automatically and the refund is owed.

16 CFR 435.2(b)(1)(ii)-(iii), (c)(2), read 18 Sep 2026

A second delay

It starts:
You cannot make the new date
The deadline:
A renewed notice before the new date passes. This time silence counts as no.
Miss it and:
Without a yes before that date, the order is cancelled and the refund is owed.

16 CFR 435.2(b)(2), (c)(3), read 18 Sep 2026

The refund

It starts:
The order is cancelled
The deadline:
Seven working days for card and most other payments. One billing cycle if you gave the buyer credit yourself. Store credit and vouchers do not count.
Miss it and:
The FTC can sue for civil penalties of up to $53,088 per violation, plus refunds to buyers.

16 CFR 435.1(b); FTC business guide, read 18 Sep 2026

Your records

It starts:
Every order
The deadline:
The FTC can go back three years to get buyers refunds, and five years for penalties.
Miss it and:
Records are not required, but without records of a working system the FTC presumes you did not comply unless you prove otherwise.

16 CFR 435.2(a)(4), (d); FTC business guide, read 18 Sep 2026

A card dispute

It starts:
A buyer tells their bank the order never came
The deadline:
The date on the dispute notice. It can vary by processor, and it comes from your merchant agreement and the card network's rules, not from law.
Miss it and:
You can lose the dispute, and the amount is your loss. For these disputes the guide says to tell the buyer in writing about a delay and the expected delivery date.

Card-network merchant dispute guide (June 2024), Condition 13.1, read 18 Sep 2026

A plain summary of 16 CFR Part 435 and one card network's merchant guide, read 18 Sep 2026. Not legal advice. The rule does not cover seeds and growing plants, C.O.D. orders, or subscription shipments after the first, and states may give buyers more rights on top of it. Card-dispute deadlines come from your merchant agreement and the card networks' rules, not from law.

You, on a bad morning: “The glaze batch is two weeks late. Which orders does that break?”

One supplier email. Which promises did it just break?

The rule's clock starts when you first know, and for a small store that is the minute the supplier's email lands. Pick an email and watch it read.

Dot, Kiln and Clay Wholesale, Sat 17 Oct, 7:52 am

PO 2291, bad news on the mug sets

Hi, bad news on PO 2291. The speckled glaze batch failed our QC, so the four-piece stoneware mug sets will not leave us on October 19 like we said. New date off our dock is October 29, so figure November 2 at your door. The kettles on the same PO are fine and went out yesterday. Sorry about this. Dot

A made-up supplier and a made-up email. The highlights are what the AI pulled out.

Read from it

Item
Stoneware mug set, four pieces (SSS-MUG-4)
Was
Leaving the supplier Mon 19 Oct
Now
At the store Mon 2 Nov
Basis for a new date
A dated commitment in writing from the supplier. Filed against each order it touches.

4 promises broken

Four open orders hold mug sets and the shelf holds none. All four promised dates fail.

  • 4409 Elena V.1 × Stoneware mug set, four piecesDelay notice due Sun 18 Oct1d 00:30:00
  • 4412 Marcus T.2 × Stoneware mug set, four piecesDelay notice due Sun 18 Oct1d 07:05:00
  • 4415 Jun P.1 × Stoneware mug set, four pieces, 1 × Walnut coffee scoopDelay notice due Mon 19 Oct2d 02:20:00
  • 4418 Priya N.1 × Stoneware mug set, four piecesDelay notice due Tue 20 Oct2d 23:40:00

The listing still says Ships in 3 days. Order 4418 was taken 48 minutes after this email arrived. Changing the listing is yours to do.

The notices are drafted on the order clock

Yours, not the AI’s You decide whether the supplier's date is one to stand behind. Where the supplier gives none, no date goes in the notice.

You, on a bad morning: “Item not received. I lost the sale, the goods and a fee.”

The bank says it never arrived. What can you actually show?

A dispute service can file a response. It cannot produce a delay notice that was never sent. The record has to exist first, dated, per order.

Made-up disputes. The respond-by date comes from the processor’s own notice, never from a rule of thumb.

The record for order 43395 of 6 on file

  1. On fileThu 17 Sep, 1:44 pmOrder confirmation with the promise shown at checkout: Ships in 3 daysWhat was agreed
  2. On fileSat 19 Sep, 9:10 amDelay notice with the new date and the free way to cancelThe delay was put in writing, and the buyer could cancel
  3. On fileNo cancellation received before shipmentSilence on a first, short delay counted as yes
  4. On fileWed 30 Sep, 4:40 pmCarrier acceptance scan, UPS GroundShipped inside the revised date
  5. On fileSun 4 Oct, 2:02 pmDelivery scan: front door, same street address as the orderReceived as agreed
  6. MissingSignature on deliveryNot requested on this order. The packet says so rather than hiding it.

“Provide documentation to prove that the cardholder or authorized person received the merchandise or services as agreed.”

Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants, June 2024, Condition 13.1, read 20 Sep 2026

The record answers the claim, piece by piece. Whether to fight it is still your call.

  • Federal billing-error rules count a charge for goods "not delivered to the consumer or the consumer's designee as agreed", and give the cardholder 60 days from the statement to write to the card issuer.

    12 CFR 1026.13(a)(3), (b)(1), Regulation Z, read 20 Sep 2026

  • The card network's own advice: "If merchandise is going to be delayed, notify the customer in writing of the delay and expected delivery date. Allow the customer to cancel if they choose to."

    Dispute Management Guidelines for Visa Merchants, June 2024, Condition 13.1, read 20 Sep 2026

  • One store platform's terms: a "$15 USD" fee per chargeback, returned if you win, and "limited time, usually 7-21 days, to build your response". Your processor's notice sets your date. It is contract, not law.

    A store platform's chargeback help page, read 20 Sep 2026

Yours, not the AI’s You decide whether to fight or accept, and you submit through your payment processor. Nothing here says a dispute will be won. Read: one card network's merchant guide and one platform's help page. Not read: the other card networks' rules, or any other processor's terms.

You, on a bad morning: “I reshipped it the same day. Nobody ever filed the claim.”

A lost parcel can be claimed, until the window shuts.

Each carrier sets its own filing window. Drag today forward and watch one close on a parcel that was reshipped and forgotten.

  • 4290Lucinda M., $44.50

    Stoneware mug set, four pieces. USPS Priority Mail, lost.

    No scan after day three. A second set was sent the same week. Nobody filed the claim.

    Open. 8 days left, shuts Sun 25 Oct

    Mailed Wed 26 Augday 60, Sun 25 Oct

    Packet: Label record with the insured value. Paid order as proof of value. Tracking history showing no delivery. USPS, File a Claim: file after 15 days, before 60, read 20 Sep 2026

  • 4380Odette F., $41.00

    2 × Walnut coffee scoop. USPS Ground Advantage, lost.

    Last scan ten days ago: in transit, arriving late. Too early to file, so the day it opens is on the board.

    Opens Tue 20 Oct, in 3 days

    Mailed Mon 5 Octday 60, Fri 4 Dec

    Packet: Label record with the insured value. Paid order as proof of value. Tracking history showing no delivery. USPS, File a Claim: file after 15 days, before 60, read 20 Sep 2026

  • 4352Caleb W., $44.50

    Stoneware mug set, four pieces. UPS Ground, arrived broken.

    Delivered five days ago. The buyer wrote the next day: two mugs broken.

    Open. 55 days left, shuts Fri 11 Dec

    Delivered Mon 12 Octday 60, Fri 11 Dec

    Packet: Paid order as proof of value. Buyer's photos of the damage. Photos of the box and the packing, which the buyer has not sent yet (still needed). UPS Tariff, section 55.3: notice within sixty days after delivery, read 20 Sep 2026

  • USPS, lost Priority Mail and Ground Advantage: file after 15 days and before 60. Damaged: "you may file a claim immediately but must file no later than 60 days after the mailing date."

    USPS, File a Claim, read 20 Sep 2026

  • UPS, domestic: "UPS must receive notice of claims within sixty days after Delivery of the Package or, in case of failure to make Delivery, within sixty days after the date of scheduled Delivery." Late claims "shall be deemed waived and will not be paid."

    2025 UPS Tariff/Terms and Conditions of Service, United States, section 55.3, read 20 Sep 2026

  • On some plans a store platform includes "up to $200 USD of shipping insurance on each eligible shipment", with claims filed by you "up to 120 days from the shipping date". That is its own window, separate from the carrier's.

    A store platform's label insurance help page, read 20 Sep 2026

Yours, not the AI’s You file the claim under your own carrier account, and you decide whether to reship or refund while it runs. FedEx's claims pages refused automated reading on 20 Sep 2026, so no FedEx window is shown. The UPS text is the 2025 edition, effective 23 December 2024.

What the clock does. What stays yours.

It prepares and it counts. Every date, every message to a buyer and every dollar moved is a person's decision.

It never picks a ship date, never writes to a buyer, never decides whether you are compliant, and never answers a tax, legal or product-safety question. Those refusals are written in code, ahead of the AI model.

What your store software already does

Packing slip, nothing billed twice

Deeplathe answers calls, books appointments, and handles reschedules, 24/7. Most order emails and label insurance are already in the store platform. The rows marked not found are the paperwork we would build.

  • bundled

    Order, shipping, delivery, cancel and refund emails

    Your store platform sends these from ready-made templates. None of the templates we read is a wait-or-cancel notice.

  • bundled

    AI that drafts replies to customer chats, and timed follow-ups

    Included with the store platform we checked, alongside AI for product descriptions and an automation tool that can wait a set number of days and then act.

  • bundled

    Insurance on the labels you buy through the platform

    On some plans, up to a set value per parcel, with claims filed by you inside the platform's own window. The carrier's own filing window is separate, and nothing we read keeps a clock on it.

  • sold separately

    An AI agent answering buyers around the clock

    Help-desk companies sell these, connected to the main store platforms. Deeplathe answers calls, books appointments, and handles reschedules, 24/7.

  • sold separately

    Building and filing chargeback responses

    Dispute services assemble the evidence and submit it for you. They work from the record you kept. They cannot produce a delay notice that was never sent.

  • not found

    The federal delay sequence, the supplier email matched to the orders it breaks, and the carrier's claim window, as one dated record per order

    Not in the notification templates, the purchase-order page, the insurance page or the pre-order app page we read. Not proven absent everywhere. This is the part we would build.

Questions at checkout

My store software already does a lot of this.

Order and shipping emails, timed automations, AI that drafts replies, and on some plans insurance on the labels you buy, all come with the store platform. Help-desk and chargeback services sell more of that paperwork. Deeplathe still answers calls, books appointments, and handles reschedules, 24/7. What we did not find is the federal delay sequence, the supplier email matched to the orders it breaks, and the carrier's claim window, kept as one dated record per order.

Does this rule apply to a store my size?

The rule has no size threshold. It covers goods ordered online, by phone or by mail, however the buyer pays. It does not cover seeds and growing plants, C.O.D. orders, or subscription shipments after the first. It is federal: 16 CFR Part 435. States may add rights on top, and we have not surveyed them.

Will the AI decide the new ship date?

No. The rule requires a reasonable basis for any revised date, and only you hold it. Where your supplier has put a date in writing, it shows you that date and you decide whether to stand behind it. Where there is no date, the notice says none can be given and why. It never guesses one.

My orders ship from a fulfilment house. Isn't a late shipment their problem?

Not under the rule. The FTC's own guide answers that question with the seller who took the order, not the company that packs it. So the clock runs from your order, and the delay notice has to come from you.

Does it plug into my store, and who have you done this for?

What it can read depends on what your store platform, your inbox and your carriers let an outside tool see, and we check that with you before anything is built. We have not done this for a store yet. You would see it working on your own orders before paying anything, and you can stop at the end of any month.

What it would cost you.

Move the sliders to your store. Every figure comes off the published price list, and where the honest answer is custom it says so instead of guessing.

Fits Standard, $749 a month.

StandardYour answers

Website + an AI order clock built for your store

Starts at

$749/mo

  • minutes on the phone450
  • emails3,400
  • text messages1,200
  • documents read2,000

No setup fee. Or $6,741 for the year, 3 months free.

Pro

Full site with SEO + an AI order clock built for your store

Starts at

$1,499/mo

  • minutes on the phone1,300
  • emails8,500
  • text messages2,500
  • documents read5,400

No setup fee. Or $13,491 for the year, 3 months free.

Enterprise

Custom site and custom agent, scoped and run as one

Starts at

Custom

  • no ceilingscoped to you

The number does not exist until the scope does.

  • You see a working demo before you pay anything.
  • One monthly fee covers the demo, building your version, and keeping it running. No setup fee.
  • Stop at the end of any month.
  • 30 days money back from go-live, prorated for the days it ran.

Estimated from the published price list, not a quote. What gets built is different for every store, and that is what the fifteen minutes is for.

Finish pass

Ring the number. That's the product answering.

+1 (646) 212-0980

00 · Any time

That number is Deeplathe's own line. We build custom AI inside the tools a business already uses. Milo, in the corner of this page, is the one built for a store like yours. Ask him which orders need a notice today.

Free · 24/7 · Hang up any time

01 · A set time

Rather book than ring? Take an open slot and Michael runs the call himself.

Book a 15-minute call →

Prefer email? michael@deeplathe.com — it reaches Michael, not a helpdesk.

Then we build it, show you the finished thing on a call, and you decide. $0 setup · nothing paid until you've seen the work · 30-day money-back from go-live.

Store answering service

Custom AI, built inside the tools the store already uses. It keeps the ship-date clock on every paid order. Send the unpaid invoice reminder, summarize the thread before you reply, and strip private details before an order goes into a chat.

Guides