Delivery Dispatch: Submitting Delivery Incidents (Refunds)
Table of Contents
Submitting Delivery Incidents
LB Delivery Dispatch works to get you access to the most reliable delivery providers possible, and these providers may employ thousands of drivers. Occasionally, your delivery will not make it to its destination, there may be delays in dropoff, or there may be issues with the delivery when it arrives. Those instances will typically warrant a refund from the provider.
The following information will help you gauge what qualifies for a refund, and what doesn't, as well as when to report an incident for a refund vs when reporting isn't necessary.
Important: The below are general guidelines. Delivery incidents must be reported within 2 business days from the scheduled dropoff.
Response times from providers will vary but typically will be provided within 14 days. You will see the refund reflected on your invoice once approved/denied.
Reporting A Delivery Incident
Things don’t always go as planned. Here are your options based on the scenario at hand:
If your customer still wants their initial order, you can re-enter the delivery to get the items to your customer as soon as possible.
Whether or not your customer still wants their order, how do you report the missing or damaged delivery? Follow these next steps to file a Refund Request. Please include as many details as possible and we will pass these details on to the relevant provider. Your refunds will be reflected in your next invoice.
1. From the Deliveries Dashboard, search for the delivery order that requires a refund:
Note: You can use any of the top bar filters, dates, etc. to find the delivery order needed.
2. Select the delivery order that requires a refund:
3. When the Job Details pop up, click on See details:
4. Click on the Report an Incident icon at the top of the page:
5. Select a Topic for the refund request:
6. Add Details, Toggle Do you need a refund to Yes, upload the order receipt, and click on Submit Request:
7. Your Request will be submitted and you'll see the Report an Incident icon change:
8. If you click on the "Report an Incident" icon, you'll see the Request Submitted:
9. To view all requested refunds, navigate to Settings and click on Refund Requests:
10. You'll see the list of Refund Requests, the status and refund amounts:
Refund Topics
Arrived Late
For deliveries where a driver arrives to pick up the delivery later than requested, or delivers the items later than requested, we encourage you to report the incident in these instances. Many, but not all, providers will refund a percentage of the delivery fee for orders that are delivered more than 30 minutes after pickup, but will not refund based on late pickups.
During peak delivery times, it can take longer for drivers to be assigned. If you have deliveries that are time-sensitive, we recommend utilizing auto-reassign through dispatch strategies to ensure that your deliveries are reassigned to another provider if the first is taking too long to assign.
Delivered Early
Use this topic if a delivery order arrives too early.
Delivered to Wrong Address
Similar to the Never Delivered category, the providers will review the POD, driver geolocation, and timeline. They will utilize maps with street views to determine if they can reasonably say the driver delivered the items to the correct location.
If the proof of delivery is clear, the driver geolocation is within range of the dropoff, and the timeline shows a standard advancement toward the dropoff, then the provider will not claim responsibility for the misdelivery. However, if one or all of those items are inconsistent with typical behavior, the provider will review the request and issue a refund based on their guidelines.
Note: Apartments, condos, or other multi-family residences can be tricky to deliver to. Putting clear instructions for access to buildings in the instructions of the pickup is a must! If drivers don't have instructions to access the building, and cannot get in touch with the customer when they arrive, they will leave the delivery outside the building. In this instance, the delivery provider is not responsible for the customer not receiving the delivery.
Missing or Incorrect Items
It is your responsibility to ensure all bags are properly sealed and closed to prevent tampering and that all items are given to the delivery provider upon pickup. Delivery providers will research missing items on a case-by-case basis. If there is no proof that the delivery was tampered with, then they will likely deny the request for a refund.
If your customer received the wrong delivery, the provider will research to see if the driver had multiple deliveries at the same time. If they find that the driver did have multiple packages, it's likely the deliveries got mixed up, and the provider will give a full package value, delivery fee, and tip refund.
For any delivery where the provider refunds the full package value, delivery fee, and tip, the LB Delivery Dispatch fee will not be incurred.
Never Delivered
Delivery status is Dropoff Complete but your customer reports not receiving the delivery
This is the most common scenario to report an incident. The provider will complete an investigation to check several things on their end, including:
Proof of Delivery (POD): Was there a valid photo taken at the time of the dropoff? (Or, if another validation such as a signature or ID scan was requested, is there valid proof?)
Driver geolocation: Was the delivery driver clearly within the range of the dropoff location?
Timeline: Does the status timeline show advancement at a typical rate, as opposed to showing all statuses being marked at the same time?
If the proof of delivery is clear, the driver geolocation is within range of the dropoff, and the timeline shows a standard advancement toward the dropoff, then the provider will not claim responsibility for the misdelivery. However, if one or all of those items are inconsistent with typical behavior, the provider will review the request and may issue a refund based on their guidelines.
Delivery status is: Created, Not Assigned Driver, Assigned Driver, Pickup Enroute, Pickup Arrived
If any delivery is canceled when in one of these statuses, the driver was never in possession of the delivery. There are no fees incurred to you, so there is nothing to refund. These requests will be denied.
Delivery status is: Pickup Complete, Dropoff En route, or Dropoff Arrived, and the provider has failed the delivery
In these instances, you will not be charged the delivery fee or tip because the provider canceled/failed on their end. You will likely want to refund your customer and re-make the delivery ASAP, so you may request a package value refund from the provider.
Poor Delivery Experience
If your experience, or your customer's experience, with a delivery provider, does not meet expectations, you can report this directly to the provider through the Poor Delivery Experience category. Some providers use this information as a way to coach their drivers to do better next time, while others will ban the driver from delivering for you in the future. These incident reports will not generate a request for a refund.
Other
If none of the above selections meet the criteria needed for your refund request, provide all details to support your request.