Keep a closure notice consistent with order promises

Define what closes before writing the notice

A closure is not necessarily the same event for order intake, packing, carrier handoff and support. Use the actual staffing schedule and fulfillment arrangements to identify which function pauses and which continues. If checkout remains open while dispatch stops, the notice needs to explain that distinction. If a fulfillment partner remains open but your support team does not, a blanket statement that the whole operation is closed may misdescribe the situation.

Record the start and end of each confirmed interruption, including the time zone where a cutoff depends on the hour. Keep a confirmed return to work separate from a commitment to ship all waiting orders. A staffing calendar can support the former without establishing the latter. Where reopening is not confirmed, describe the known interruption and the uncertainty; do not turn a hoped-for date into a promise.

Read the promises a visitor can encounter

Compare the closure record with product availability text, handling times, checkout shipping labels, the shipping policy, contact-page hours and support response claims. Include scheduled banners, order confirmations and automatic replies that will still run while staff are away. Record whether each message was actually observed or is known only from its configuration.

A general closure banner can coexist with a more specific dispatch or reply promise elsewhere. Record that conflict rather than assuming the banner explains it away. For each affected surface, identify the exact promise, the function it depends on and the person who can correct it. Unaffected functions should retain an accurate description of the service that continues.

The FTC's truth-in-advertising guidance calls for truthful, nonmisleading and substantiated advertising, including on websites. It supports checking the basis of these statements; it does not certify a closure phrase or establish that every notice meets a legal requirement.

Separate orders already accepted from new orders

Use the open-order list to identify commitments whose stated shipment timing overlaps the closure. Preserve what those buyers were told when ordering, along with any later communication. A revised policy for future orders does not establish what happened on an existing order, and an automatic acknowledgment does not establish that a buyer accepted a delay.

Where the FTC Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order rule applies, inability to ship within the applicable promised timeline triggers delay-consent or cancellation and prompt-refund duties. The precise applicability and required handling of an order need their own assessment. The useful operational step here is to flag affected orders for that process, with an owner and the original promise, instead of treating a sitewide closure notice as the whole response.

Keep the public notice map free of buyer details. Record that an affected-order review is complete or unresolved; maintain individual notices and buyer responses in the business's authorized order records.

Publish against the operating decision and retire against the facts

For a new-order notice, assemble only supported facts: the affected function, its confirmed closure interval, what continues and any reopening or dispatch commitment the operation can support. Assign someone to check the live wording across the affected pages and messages after the change. A scheduled edit is a plan until its published state is observed.

Assign a removal or revision owner as well. When staff return, check whether normal handling and reply promises can actually resume with the orders and messages waiting. A calendar date alone does not establish that the backlog has cleared. Keep any remaining limitation accurately described.

For a scoped Prism website-review consultation, bring the affected public URLs, the conflicting promises and a nonsensitive summary of the operating schedule. Ask which policy and checkout surfaces the review will cover. Agree scope, responsibilities, fees and follow-up before work; legal applicability and any order-specific remedy are separate questions.

Closure communication map

Complete this for one real closure, then repeat the surface comparison for each affected page or message in your own records. A match requires the notice to describe the affected function and supported dates. Mark uncertain dates or unobserved messages as unresolved; do not fill them with estimates.

Worksheet entries are not submitted by Prism’s worksheet and are not saved by the site. Use record types, availability, anonymized observations, or match/mismatch results. Do not enter government identifiers, customer names or addresses, customer messages, receipt-access links, card or bank details, passwords, or keys. Send sensitive documents only through the provider’s verified secure channel.

These are temporary notes. Leaving or reloading this page may clear them. Worksheet entries are not sent automatically. If you copy notes into the consultation message and submit the form, Prism receives them as part of your request.