Red Label overnight shipping....how should delays be handled?

[lbhsbz]

Looking for perspectives and experiences here, as I need to create a policy regarding this. We have a lot of racers who likely have stuff overnighted quite a bit.

Situation came up yesterday afternoon where a guy in New York needed a pair of calipers today so he could get the car fixed for an event he's attending tomorrow. $150 for UPS overnight w/ Saturday delivery by noon. The package arrived at a hub in Kentucky at 2AM and now it's delayed due to weather and won't arrive until monday.

I've familiar with the "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine" thing, but I try to be helpful when I can be.

Since the delay was out of the control of the vendor, would the buyer in this case expect a partial/substantial refund for shipping?

Should the buyer get a partial/substantial refund for shipping?

I'm torn on whether or not UPS should issue a refund, after all....they did bust ass and get it as far as they could on time before it was either delayed by weather or they're lying about it being delayed by weather. One one hand, they should be aware of forcasts and simply not offer the overnight service if there is a good chance it will be delayed, but on the other hand...things come up that are unpredictable and out of their control.

In this particular case, I offered to refund the customer $100 of his shipping charges and likely just eating it because I have better things to do than deal with UPS on this issue, and he seemed OK with that, but I need to establish a policy moving forward as to how to handle things like this.

As a customer, or if you're a business who ships stuff....what would you be comfortable with?

I'm leaning towards a simple "We are not responsible for delays during shipping that are outside of our control (Weather, carrier errors, etc) and no refunds will be issued due to delays in customer requested expedited shipping" ... but if others do it differently, it may be a good idea to align my policy with that of others.

 

[Gramps]

disclaimer......................"shipper not responsible delays caused by weather, acts of God or democrats"

 

[joecfd1]

Looking for perspectives and experiences here, as I need to create a policy regarding this. We have a lot of racers who likely have stuff overnighted quite a bit.

Situation came up yesterday afternoon where a guy in New York needed a pair of calipers today so he could get the car fixed for an event he's attending tomorrow. $150 for UPS overnight w/ Saturday delivery by noon. The package arrived at a hub in Kentucky at 2AM and now it's delayed due to weather and won't arrive until monday.

I've familiar with the "poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on mine" thing, but I try to be helpful when I can be.

Since the delay was out of the control of the vendor, would the buyer in this case expect a partial/substantial refund for shipping?

Should the buyer get a partial/substantial refund for shipping?

I'm torn on whether or not UPS should issue a refund, after all....they did bust ass and get it as far as they could on time before it was either delayed by weather or they're lying about it being delayed by weather. One one hand, they should be aware of forcasts and simply not offer the overnight service if there is a good chance it will be delayed, but on the other hand...things come up that are unpredictable and out of their control.

In this particular case, I offered to refund the customer $100 of his shipping charges and likely just eating it because I have better things to do than deal with UPS on this issue, and he seemed OK with that, but I need to establish a policy moving forward as to how to handle things like this.

As a customer, or if you're a business who ships stuff....what would you be comfortable with?

In my experiance, UPS will refund your money. You didn't get the service as requested.

 

[Gramps]

FOB shipping point...................means shipper is not responsible once he gives the shipment to the carrier

"FOB shipping point (origin), freight collect: The buyer pays for shipping and freight costs, assuming all liability for the goods."

 

[Kachina26]

UPS gets their money back from freight carriers that don't come through. Customers should get their money back from them. Fun fact; if you pay for air shipping on a Friday with Monday delivery, they put it on a train and charge for air.

 

[Havasu blue label]

Red label Johnny walker

 

[lbhsbz]

UPS gets their money back from freight carriers that don't come through. Customers should get their money back from them. Fun fact; if you pay for air shipping on a Friday with Monday delivery, they put it on a train and charge for air.

Whatever gets it there on time

 

[185EZ]

I shipped a package over night with Fed Ex.
AZ to CA. 5 hour drive by car.
It didn't make it in time and they said no guarantee and no refund.
I asked what the problem was. They said weather related.
I check online and nothing weather related
Call back and they said there was a mechanical issue with fuel pump on plane.
I asked which problem are they going to stick with.
They refunded the money

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Well, AFA weather, the system that moved through the Midwest yesterday evening/today am was a m'fer, I still have guys out working and we are on the north end. It looks like the weather is lingering south of us so I don't think UPS is lying, at least not this time.

 

[Smupser]

The weather really wreaks havoc on stuff going/coming cross country this time of year

Even after all these years I’m really not sure how it works. On one hand you didn’t get what you paid for. On the other our company has become so tight as far as costs that they use any excuse to not to payout stuff. I.e. ” we couldn’t get it there due to the weather being out of our control, but we still tried.’ if they don’t issue a refund be persistent in continuously calling until they issue your refund. I’ve heard sometimes that’s what it takes. As far as you issuing a refund to your customer that’s up to you. It shows a high level of customer service if you do and will bring people back because you made good on somebody else else’s failure


I really hope you get your money back and they make good on our service. It’s the only thing that’s gonna keep us going for the long-term.

 

[JDKRXW]

I shipped a package over night with Fed Ex.
AZ to CA. 5 hour drive by car.

There's a high likelyhood your overnight package passed through Memphis.

 

[monkeyswrench]

A place I worked for had a simple statement that "...are not responsible for delays caused during shipment. This includes weather delays, customs delays and other associated delays in which we have no control over."

 

[Smupser]

There's a high likelyhood your overnight package passed through Memphis.

Doubtful.
Their air hub in Memphis is very similar to our air hub in Kentucky. When we pick up overnight stuff here on the West Coast, we break it into two parts. There’s eastbound air that goes directly to Louisville and get sorted from there based on the ZIP Code or country. then there’s westbound air that doesn’t have to go all the way to Louisville. This is would be all your overnight volume that stays pretty much about west of the Rockies. This volume goes through our smaller air hub in Ontario.

I can’t imagine that FedEx wouldn’t do this in a similar fashion but then again it is FedEx so if they didn’t, it might make perfect sense

 

[Done-it-again]

UPS will NOT refund the cost of the delivery fee due to weather as that is outside of their control. So you should adopt the same policy . Once the package is shipped you send the buyer the tracking number, and they track it to their door.

If a package is lost, I ship additional parts to cover the buyer and fight ups for the refund on the sale of the parts, not out cost.

 

[Smupser]

A place I worked for had a simple statement that "...are not responsible for delays caused during shipment. This includes weather delays, customs delays and other associated delays in which we have no control over."

Yeah, a lot of times if you read the fine print on the service, it’ll say stuff like this

 

[JDKRXW]

I can’t imagine that FedEx wouldn’t do this in a similar fashion but then again it is FedEx so if they didn’t, it might make perfect sense

Exactly

 

[mjc]

the other question is why did the guy wait so long to order the part? didn't he know he was racing that day?

 

[JDKRXW]

UPS will NOT refund the cost of the delivery fee due to weather.

If a package is lost, I ship additional parts to cover the buyer and fight ups for the refund on the sale of the parts, not out cost.

Exactly what I see - and fighting UPS for loss or package damage is a waste of time.

 

[lbhsbz]

If a package is lost, I ship additional parts to cover the buyer and fight ups for the refund on the sale of the parts, not out cost.

This is a problem I've been having with the USPS....they tend not to scan in packages until they arrive at their final distribution center. Example, I shipped a package to WA state on Wed. It showed "label created, awaiting package" until this morning, when it departed the Spokane distribution center. They lose shit between here and there, and I can't even file an insurance claim because tracking shows it was never dropped off.

And no, I can't stand in line at the post office for 30 minutes every night and even if I did, the lazy fat woman behind the counter isn't gonna scan each of my 20 packages every day. They don't lose enough of them for me to change the way I do things, but it's still annoying when it happens....and yes, I eat the whole order and overnight (if that's what the customer needs) a replacement on my dime.

 

[lbhsbz]

the other question is why did the guy wait so long to order the part? didn't he know he was racing that day?

Was getting the car on the trailer and saw a puddle at the rear wheel once it was on the trailer, is what he told me. It's just a 944, he'd be faster around the track with his tow rig and the trailer attached....I think this is just some sort of local get together and drive around thing....dunno, don't care.

Bit of a diversion here, but this is why I always figured out how to plate my race cars so I could drive them to work once or twice a week and find problems rather than deal with them at the track.

 

[Done-it-again]

This is a problem I've been having with the USPS....they tend not to scan in packages until they arrive at their final distribution center. Example, I shipped a package to WA state on Wed. It showed "label created, awaiting package" until this morning, when it departed the Spokane distribution center. They lose shit between here and there, and I can't file an insurance claim even because tracking shows it was never dropped off.

And no, I can't stand in line at the post office for 30 minutes even night and even if I did, the lazy fat woman behind the counter isn't gonna scan each of my 20 packages every day. They don't lose enough of them for me to change the way I do things, but it's still annoying when it happens....and yes, I eat the whole order and overnight (if that's what the customer needs) a replacement on my dime.

One of the reason I don’t ship USPS even though it’s less expensive. UPS has great tracking, even though the lose stuff time to time. Or they call it a weather delay in a delayed packed and won’t cover the shipping cost. But it’s 97% of the time scanned at every transfer point.

USPS is losing billions a year, you think those workers give a shit. We can’t even get our business mail delivered daily or they drop it off at night after hours.

Get ups world ship and a label printer, then you can do it from home and then drop them off at an ups store for free if you can’t set up a daily ups pickup.

 

[lbhsbz]

One of the reason I don’t ship USPS even though it’s less expensive. UPS has great tracking, even though the lose stuff time to time. Or they call it a weather delay in a delayed packed and won’t cover the shipping cost. But it’s 97% of the time scanned at every transfer point.

USPS is losing billions a year, you think those workers give a shit. We can’t even get our business mail delivered daily or they drop it off at night after hours.

Get ups world ship and a label printer, then you can do it from home and then drop them off at an ups store for free if you can’t set up a daily ups pickup.

about 80% of what I ship is under 10 ounces and goes in a 10x6 padded envelope....USPS gets that done (most of the time) for under $5. Cheapest I can do through UPS is $10, unless it's a neighboring state....only then does UPS make sense, and I use them when it's within $2 of the USPS. I spent about $35K with the USPS last year, that would likely double if I used UPS. They've only lost about $1000 worth of stuff last year, so it still pencils out.

Also, Priority Flat rate is a deal and it's 2 days to almost everywhere, even Puerto Rico where I seem to be selling quite a bit of stuff. UPS ground is 5 days to the east coast and FL/GA, where I also seem to sell a lot.

I try to do right by the customer and offer the best value shipping, and 99% of the time it works, but the few times it really needs to, everything gets fucked up lol.

 

[Done-it-again]

about 80% of what I ship is under 10 ounces and goes in a 10x6 padded envelope....USPS gets that done (most of the time) for under $5. Cheapest I can do through UPS is $10, unless it's a neighboring state....only then does UPS make sense, and I use them when it's within $2 of the USPS. I spent about $35K with the USPS last year, that would likely double if I used UPS. They've only lost about $1000 worth of stuff last year, so it still pencils out.

Also, Priority Flat rate is a deal and it's 2 days to almost everywhere, even Puerto Rico where I seem to be selling quite a bit of stuff. UPS ground is 5 days to the east coast and FL/GA, where I also seem to sell a lot.

I try to do right by the customer and offer the best value shipping, and 99% of the time it works, but the few times it really needs to, everything gets fucked up lol.

Do you cover shipping or pass that along?.

When you set up with UPS you get set up with % discounts off the list prices. I’m a not an advocate for ups as all shipping sucks.

My container from Germany got delayed 16 days because of the Panama Canal low water / congestion.

 

[lbhsbz]

Do you cover shipping or pass that along?.

When you set up with UPS you get set up with % discounts off the list prices. I’m a not an advocate for ups as all shipping sucks.

My container from Germany got delayed 16 days because of the Panama Canal low water / congestion.

On ebay I offer free shipping, and of course build it into the price. On the website, everything over $100 has free shipping....With few exceptions, the biggest package I ship on a regular basis is a 8x6x3 box, which if you smash the corners on one end with the side of the tape gun, you can squeeze into a padded flat rate envelope for $9.20 and it gets there in 2 days. I've got 9 or 10 of these going out today.

On occasion I'll ship a pair of a car set of calipers through UPS in a 10x7x7 box for $17 or a 13x7x10 box for $17 or $20 respectively through the UPS simple rate program.

If I go by package size/weight....my UPS prices are just stupid. With certain overnight stuff though, it's the only way. I've called about pricing and they cite low volume...well no shit, there might be more volume if they weren't 4 to 5 times the price of other options....and the volume that does happen gets purchased through eBay or Shopify so I get their discounts, otherwise I wouldn't use them at all because retail pricing doesn't work. I get about 40% off retail, but that's still shit compared to other options.

They make it difficult for the little guys

 

[Smupser]

On ebay I offer free shipping, and of course build it into the price. On the website, everything over $100 has free shipping....With few exceptions, the biggest package I ship on a regular basis is a 8x6x3 box, which if you smash the corners on one end with the side of the tape gun, you can squeeze into a padded flat rate envelope for $9.20 and it gets there in 2 days. I've got 9 or 10 of these going out today.

On occasion I'll ship a pair of a car set of calipers through UPS in a 10x7x7 box for $17 or a 13x7x10 box for $17 or $20 respectively through the UPS simple rate program.

If I go by package size/weight....my UPS prices are just stupid. With certain overnight stuff though, it's the only way. I've called about pricing and they cite low volume...well no shit, there might be more volume if they weren't 4 to 5 times the price of other options....and the volume that does happen gets purchased through eBay or Shopify so I get their discounts, otherwise I wouldn't use them at all because retail pricing doesn't work. I get about 40% off retail, but that's still shit compared to other options.

They make it difficult for the little guys

The company is trying to get away from more residential delivery, and I agree completely, little guy shipping costs are ridiculous. Yet someone can use a big guy‘s account( in your case ebay) and ship something for a 1/3 of the costs

 

[Cobalt232]

We will ship over $1M with USPS this year. Inbound 400-1000 pieces, Outbound 400-1000 pieces. It is amazing how well they actually do with getting items to every address in the US 6 days per week. If something is lost, its gone though.

We also ship with FedEx. Honestly, I think that USPS has a higher percentage of packages that arrive without issue.

 

[rrrr]

It's just a 944, he'd be faster around the track with his tow rig and the trailer attached....I think this is just some sort of local get together and drive around thing....dunno, don't care.

That's fuggin' hilarious.

 

[02HoWaRd26]

UPS gets their money back from freight carriers that don't come through. Customers should get their money back from them. Fun fact; if you pay for air shipping on a Friday with Monday delivery, they put it on a train and charge for air.

And the ds will always cause it to arrive 12-16 hours late unless said train is a U or Unicorn as it’s come to be called!

 

[CarolynandBob]

In my experiance, UPS will refund your money. You didn't get the service as requested.

They did not for me. A few years ago Oregon was having a lot of wild fires. My MIL lives there and was saying she need an air purifier cause the smoke. Wife sent her one overnight. I forget how much the shipping was, but I know it was more than $100.

Package didn't arrive for 6 days. So we requested a refund and they denied saying it was due to the wildfires. My response was you knew there were wildfires there when you sold us the shipping. No dice. I disputed the charge with the CC company and they sided with UPS. Cancel that card which we had for many years.

 

[Romans9]

I deal with overnight shipping every single work day. We ship absolutely everything next day.

I work on portable rock crushing equipment. When it goes down it’s ten’s of thousands of dollars a day down time.

The thing I have learned since COVID is if your package makes it “overnight” go out and set a truck tire on fire as on offer to the shipping gods…….

 

[Kachina26]

And the ds will always cause it to arrive 12-16 hours late unless said train is a U or Unicorn as it’s come to be called!

DS is out of the picture, it's all movement planner now. DS is just there for decoration now.