How to answer "where is my order?" without guessing
The most common question in a small store, answered from the order itself: no invented delivery dates, no reply to the wrong person.
"Where is my order?" is the question a small online store answers more than any other. It arrives by email, in the helpdesk, on WhatsApp — and every answer needs the same three things: the right order, its real status, and a reply that promises nothing the store hasn't confirmed.
1. Find the order from what you actually know
Search by the customer's exact email in the store (WooCommerce or Shopify) and the helpdesk (Gorgias, say) side by side. Be honest about what the search covered: a store API may only return the most recent orders, and a shared family email can belong to more than one person. A match on an email address is a match, not proof of who someone is.
2. Read the status now, not from memory
Order status changes. Re-read the order at the moment you prepare the reply — paid, fulfilled, refunded — rather than trusting a screen you loaded an hour ago. If the order has no tracking number, say that plainly.
3. Never promise a date the store hasn't given you
The fastest way to create a second support ticket is to promise "tomorrow" when nobody knows. A good reply states what is known ("paid and shipped on 18 September"), what isn't ("no tracking number yet"), and what happens next.
4. Reply where the customer asked, within the channel's rules
Answer on the same ticket, the same thread, or the same WhatsApp conversation. WhatsApp only allows a free-form reply within 24 hours of the customer's last message; outside that window you need an approved template. Check that rule when the message is actually sent, not only when it was drafted — approval can come hours later.
5. Keep the issue open until it is solved
Sending a reply is not the same as solving the problem. Keep a record per order — open, waiting on the customer, waiting on your team, resolved — with an owner and a due date, and let a person decide when it is done. If the same order comes up again, reopen that record instead of starting a new one.
How Medlar does it
In Medlar's customer view you look a customer up by email, see their orders, tickets and recent messages together, open a case for the order and prepare a reply. The order is read again before the reply is drafted, the reply waits for your approval, the WhatsApp window is checked at send time, and the case stays open until someone resolves it. It does not issue refunds, cancel orders or change stock.