What happens if a shipment gets held up by the carrier?

Once a package has been handed over, it enters the carrier’s network. Things occasionally go wrong there: a shipment that gets stuck at a sorting center, an address that can’t be found, or a status that doesn’t change for days. You can see this in the dashboard, and you can contact the carrier directly through Cenfil.

Why You'd Want That in a Single Overview

If you ship with multiple carriers, without a dashboard you’ll have multiple track-and-trace systems, each with its own login and its own way of labeling statuses. Your customer service team will then spend most of its time searching instead of providing answers.

In a single overview, you can see the status of each order across all carriers at a glance. That’s the difference between a question answered in a few seconds and a ten-minute search.

What happens then

If a shipment gets held up, a notification is sent to the carrier. The carrier investigates and provides an update: the package has been found and is on its way, a new delivery time has been scheduled, or the shipment is permanently lost. Only in the latter case is a follow-up process initiated.

Why You Should Handle This Through a Single Provider

As an online store, filing a claim with a carrier you don’t have a contract with is a difficult process. You’re not the contracting party, so you’ll rarely be able to speak to someone who can actually help. If you go through the party that does have the contract, there’s a channel that works.

What You Can Do Yourself

• Check to make sure the shipping address is complete, including the house number
• Check to see if your customer has provided an email address or phone number, because that's where the carrier will send its messages
• Please provide any special delivery instructions before the shipment leaves the facility, not after

Communicate in a timely manner

Customers find delays annoying, but silence even worse. If you see that a shipment is held up, let them know before they find out on their own. That saves you an angry email and often results in more understanding than you might think.

What the Terms and Conditions Say

Transportation is provided by third-party carriers, and their terms and conditions and liability provisions apply. The terms regarding loss or damage are set forth in the agreement and the general terms and conditions. Please review them before you need them.

Look at the pattern

A single shipment getting held up is just bad luck. If you see the same thing happening repeatedly at a certain destination or with a certain package size, that’s a sign that you should discuss your choice of carrier for that group.