etiquette ?

jl&jl

I made a nice homemade cloth diaper gift pack for a newborn for my cousin's wife (she does cloth with the older ones, but didn't have the $$ to spend on newborn stuff, so I made her a nice gift pack-i'm blogging about it on Thursday if you're interested in making one too).  I didn't buy INS or get delivery confirmation, as I figured she'd tell me when it arrived.  Well, she hasn't and it should have gotten there a week ago.  How long should I wait to ask her if it arrived? 

I had a similar scenario last year with two gifts.  I sent a housewarming gift and waited a 2 months to hear if it arrived before I asked.  It never arrived (I contacted the company and they resent it).  I also sent a wedding gift, waited a month and a half to ask the recipient if it and it had arrived (since my last gift had not) and it had.  I guess if I just got delivery confirmation, it would be a lot easier knowing if it arrived.

mrscjwatts

I would just ask.  Say something like you said here....that you have had another gift in the past not make it to the recipient and you were checking to be sure she got something from you.  Sometimes companies have a time frame where you have to let them know if it was not received, for them to be able to do anything about it. 

jd72878

I always say something like, "I'm so excited for you to receive a little something in the mail, especially not a bill!"

 

I just recently did this and it turned out the recipient was out of town.  She was excited to get home and collect her mail.

jgreg29

I've used an approach similar to Jess to signal that a surprise gift is coming/on the way/should have arrived.  

mjellison81

I don't think there's any harm in asking in a way that lets the recipient know you're just making sure it got there safe, like PPs said I would explain that you've had some delivery snafoos in the past so you're just double checking. How far away was it going and what service did you use? From past experience if I'm shipping cross country using USPS it can take a bit longer, but if it's nearby I would guess it should be there by now. 

danieleandwayne

I agree with pps. Nothing wrong with checking in (either by explaining that you've had some delivery issues or that you're excited to share that she has a surprise on the way). I certainly wouldn't be offended by it...

(And for future reference, delivery confirmation costs less than a dollar, I believe. It was only $0.80 for the two textbooks I've sent out this past week. Totally worth the piece of mind.)