Thread: How To Claim Back Shipping Credits

Did you know that approximately 5 percent of shipments arrive late, creating up to $5 billion in shipping refunds that go unclaimed each year? Problems that can result in a shipping refund include:

- Packages that arrive after the guaranteed arrival time.

- Shipments that have incorrectly been billed to your account.

- Duplicate billing happens more than you might expect.

- Orders that are cancelled after a shipping label has been created. Unless you cancel the label in your shipping software program, you will be charged for a delivery that was never made.

Sounds incredible, doesn't it? There is plenty of money wasted in this area why do not businesses get smart and reclaim the money? Here is why.

Barriers to claiming a refund

First you need to determine if a shipment was actually late. Go to the website of each shipper that you use and print a U.S. transit time map from your shipping location. To determine if packages are late, track each shipment and compare them to the carriers delivery commitment from the map.

Unless you have an automated system, you need to key in each tracking number, record the delivery time and compare to the transmit map delivery time. (UPS does not guarantee delivery on residential ground shipping; FedEx does.)

If your delivery was late, you then need to be sure that the circumstances do not fall into one of the company exclusions, such as bad label, incorrect address, your business or your drop shipper (or fulfillment center business) is on credit hold and so on.

If you have a late shipment and there are no exclusions, you need to notify the company of your desire for a refund wihtin a certain period of time, usually fifteen days. You can apply online or by telephone. You will need all relevant data to be available.

The final barrier is a doozy; UPS can assess a charge if you request tracking on more than 20% of your shipments or if you inadvertently request a refund on a package that actually arrived on time. This is clearly an extra deterrent to filing a claim.

Beyond these structural barriers, many carriers will offer you a small discount in return for waiving the right to file claims for failure to deliver on time. Of course, you have to understand that the carrier is not going to offer you a discount that is bigger than the amount of money saved by not making shipping credit readily available. So, if the carrier offers you a 2% discount, you can bet that more than 2% of the shipments are failing to meet the delivery commitment.

Outsource the problem

Given the amount of red tape required, it's no surprise that so few businesses pursue their legitimate shipping credits. However, if you do not you are leaving money on the table.

One way to get around the significant barriers is to outsource the redemption process to a vendor who offers shipping audit services. There are a number of such organizations operating who are expressly organized to blast through the barriers and make the case for your refund.

These auditors receive your weekly invoices electronically, directly from your carrier(s). They analyze the invoices with their proprietary software, identify any missed delivery times then contact the carrier on your behalf and request a refund. The shipping company returns the refund to you.

In general, shipping auditors are paid a percentage of the recovered funds. You only pay if you receive shipping credits. This approach makes the service essentially free since you never would have secured the credits without the company.

Choosing an audit firm

Avoid any firm that charges a set up or initiation fee. You also should not sign a contract. You want to have the flexibility to move to another firm if you feel the need. Good audit firms recognize that you will remain loyal in exchange for a good job done and will not ask for a contract.

Be sure that your audit firm can supply you with a comprehensive array of management reports so that you have a strong sense of what your shipping profile looks like.

Summary

Do not turn your back on the money that can be recouped from shipping credits, but do not do it yourself. Leave this work in the hands of professional auditors.

Originally Posted by leahw

I think they were called Transportation Insight? Ever heard of them?

They seem totally legit. An independent profile is available at Transportation Insight, LLC: Private Company Information - BusinessWeek