Free Sample Never Arrived: When to Follow Up and What Information to Save
Learn when to contact the sender, what details to keep, and how to trace a late sample delivery.
If your free sample has not arrived after about two weeks, send one polite follow-up with your request details. Save your confirmation email, request date, address used, and any tracking number. Samples travel by regular mail and often lack detailed tracking.
A small file started on the request day keeps that check quick and clear.
Verification note: Program terms and availability can change. This page was checked against linked sources on October 01, 2026.
How long should you wait?
If the request form gave a delivery estimate, wait until that date passes plus a few mail days. If it gave no estimate, give it about two weeks. That pause covers normal mail delays.
The U.S. Postal Service tells Informed Delivery subscribers to allow up to a week for delivery before reporting mail shown in a preview as missing, as described in a sample Informed Delivery digest. For a missing item, the U.S.
Postal Service says to first file an online help request, then after 7 business days submit a Missing Mail search, as explained on the USPS missing-mail help page.
What information should you save?
Save proof the day you request the sample. The Federal Trade Commission advises online shoppers to print and save product descriptions, prices, online receipts, and copies of correspondence with the seller, as noted in the FTC holiday online-shopping tips. Keep those pieces together in one folder or email label.
Include the request date and program name, the name and address as you entered them, the confirmation email and any code, and copies of later messages.
How should you follow up?
Check your email first for a delay notice, shipping notice, or address question. Look in spam and promotions folders. Also review the request page for stated shipping times or household limits.
Then send one short message to the sender contact on the request page:
- request date and email or name used
- mailing address as entered
- confirmation or tracking details, if any
- a clear ask for status or reshipment
What if a paid order sample is late?
A free-only request and a paid order have different protections. The Federal Trade Commission requires sellers taking mail, internet, or phone orders to have a reasonable basis to ship within the advertised time, or within 30 days if no time is stated, as explained in the FTC mail-order merchandise guide. If your sample came with a purchase, cite the order number and order date in your message.
If mail itself seems lost, file the USPS help request with the mailing date and tracking details, then submit a Missing Mail search after the waiting period.