parcel audit

have any of you done this?

[wingslevel]

We have been approached by an outside firm to perform an audit of our parcel bills. We are talking UPS/fedex.

Its no charge to us - they audit our bills and check for ontime delivery etc. - then we split the savings

I suppose we could do this in-house too, although we are resource stretched.

Just curious if anyone has had any experience with this.

[jwolthuis]

Just keep in mind that UPS reserves the right to refuse your refund requests if they find out that the requests are based on information obtained by someone other than yourself.

My information comes from UPS Terms and Conditions for Ground Service, available on their website.

[ssgumby]

For UPS, if you ask your account rep they will set you up to be notified for every parcel that is late. You have to ask though. We have this and they do legitimately tell us each one that is late so we may make a claim.

I do not know all the details as my brother-inlaw handles that end of things, but we get nice size refunds from missed delivery times.

[Rugles]

be notified for every parcel that is late

You must be talking about the Express packages and not the regular Ground service. Because I don't believe those are guarranteed delivery times.

[wingslevel]

found this:

UPS Guaranteed Ground
UPS guarantees on-schedule delivery of UPS Guaranteed Ground Service packages to every address in the 48 contiguous United States. ...

UPS, at UPS's option, will credit or refund the shipping charges to the payer only...

The guarantee does not apply to shipments that are scheduled to be delivered between December 12 and December 25.

here: [ups.com...]

[edited by: lorax at 12:37 am (utc) on Dec 17, 2010]
[edit reason] Edited to keep the quote minimal - please see source for details [/edit]

[wingslevel]

we actually use the UPS API to generate our tracking numbers and estimated delivery dates - wondering if i could get it to push back actual delivery dates as well - would be an easy way to id late packages

[Rugles]

UPS Guaranteed Ground

I believe that is different than the regular economy Ground service. Which is the bulk of most shipments.

[wingslevel]

yes Rugles, confusing isn't it...

i am no lawyer, but at the top of that terms page it says:

Terms and Conditions of Ground Service
The following paragraphs contain the general rules and regulations under which United Parcel Service ("UPS") is engaged in the transportation of small packages in its own territory and jointly through interchange with an affiliated United Parcel Service company.

So, at the top of the page it refers to plain old "Ground Service". Then, when referring to guarantees, the call it "UPS Guaranteed Ground" - looking at my rate cards and the web site and can't find any separate rate for that, so, i think it may be a misnomer. I will ask my rep, but I think they do guarantee regular ground shipments.

[Rugles]

Don't get me wrong, I love the service we get from UPS but they really do have a knack for not giving us refunds ;-) .

[jwolthuis]

@Rugles; UPS guarantees delivery for "plain-old Ground" shipments (plus premium shipments too). You call them, give them the tracking number of a late shipment, ask for a refund (yes, you must ask... they will not offer it), and they refund the shipping cost to your account.

In order to request a refund, you must be the shipper, not the recipient, not a 3rd party.

There's no debate; if the shipment is late (during the non-Christmas season, not due to an act of God such as a hurricane), they don't question it.

[wingslevel]

thks jwolthius - i'll take a sampling of 100 packages and see what i get for a result - i'll try to report back

is anybody actually doing this? is it worth it?

[ssgumby]

Yes, this is for UPS Ground .. they let us know when something is late (I think we get a list of tracking numbers) and then we file a claim.