The 9 Shipping Refunds A Parcel Audit Can Secure

THE 9 SHIPPING REFUNDS A PARCEL AUDIT CAN SECURE

Posted Tuesday, July 5, 2022 in News

THE 9 SHIPPING REFUNDS A PARCEL AUDIT CAN SECURE

Updated September 7, 2022

An audit can garner credits from lost or damaged packages and scan for invalid surcharges that are frequently assessed.

In the fiscal year 2020, roughly six million packages (on average) were delivered daily by FedEx Express (source: Statista.com). And while we receive the majority of packages without a hitch, every now and then one arrives damaged or late, or it just never shows up at all. (I’m recalling the time I came home to a package containing TiVo — remember TiVo? — sitting in a pile of snow in the yard.)

When the latter happens, business owners are owed. In my overview of BOLD Parcel’s audit platform, I explain how our Carrier Agreement Optimization secures shipping credits and refunds you’re entitled to when a carrier fails to keep its end of the agreement. In this article, I take a look at the audit process and drill down on the numerous ways you can save.

SHIPMENT AUDIT SOFTWARE

After years in the business of shipment auditing, we’ve come to learn a thing or two about the industry. We’ve leveraged that expertise into the proprietary software deployed by BOLD Parcel. Our software performs a comprehensive audit on every shipment, assessing each individual charge that is billed to a package to ensure accuracy. The disputes are handled automatically with the required critical information to return the refund to your business. The money coming back is posted to your shipping accounts and applied to shipping invoices in the form of credits.

STRESS-FREE CLAIM MANAGEMENT

If you’ve filed a lost and damaged claim before, you know that it’s a multi-step process that must be followed precisely to secure compensation. It takes time, yet not everyone has the time to devote to these claims in the necessary window indicated by the carrier. This is where BOLD Parcel comes in: We offer an intelligent way to automate the filing of lost and damaged claims, increase success rates, and accelerate payouts.

How do we do it? When a shipment is lost or damaged, BOLD Parcel is notified and takes action, automatically sending notifications, creating documents, and filing claims with the carriers according to the requirements specific to your business. Because our software is that good, each shipment is audited and refund claims are filed within seconds.

TYPES OF REFUNDS

You’re eligible for a plethora of credits; BOLD Parcel’s audit looks for the following:

Service failures. These include shipments that were delivered late for reasons related to carrier network disruptions.
Manifested, not shipped. Carriers charge for shipping labels printed, even when they are not used. These can be voided for a refund when not intended for use.
Invalid Saturday surcharges. Pickups and deliveries scheduled for Saturday are charged additional fees. These fees are recoverable in the case of no action on the scheduled date.
Invalid residential surcharges. Commercial addresses are sometimes charged additional fees reserved for residential addresses. These fees are recoverable when incorrectly applied.
Invalid delivery area surcharges. Rural delivery zones are charged additional fees that are recoverable when assessed in error.
Invalid fuel surcharges. Fuel surcharges are applied to shipments that are delivered to residential addresses and extended delivery areas.
Invalid dimensional weight surcharges. Scanned adjustments to shipments that increase the rated weight of the shipment.
Duplicate charges. Shipments billed multiple times to shipping accounts.
Lost and damaged. Shipments eligible for a refund from damage incurred during transit.

YOU CAN’T CONTROL THE WEATHER

Of course, there are plenty of late deliveries that aren’t eligible for a refund, and these are filtered out of the BOLD Parcel audit. Common reasons in this group are weather delays, scheduled holidays, customs delays, valid address corrections, signature not available at time of delivery, delivery change requests, and oversized and overweight shipments.

BUT, WHY BOTHER?

First of all, you’re entitled to it. Each shipment comes with a service guarantee. If the package doesn’t arrive by the prescribed time, or it arrives damaged, the carrier owes you. It was part of the agreement.

But if that’s not enough for you, think about this: A late, lost, or damaged package is bad for your company’s reputation. It’s more than reasonable to make the carriers accountable for their slip-ups. It stands to reason that when carriers are held accountable for their mistakes, they will try harder, and your customers will experience fewer delivery problems.

To get started, head to www.boldparcel.com; call 844-265-3777; or email info@boldvan.com.