SiftedAI Launch Day Demo - See What's New Register

Sifted logo

Are you missing refunds your carrier owes you?

by | Nov 22, 2019

4 min read

These days, it’s easy to set up automatic payments for your personal expenses like your mortgage, your water bill and, of course, that all-important new Disney+ account.

So why aren’t you doing that for your shipping invoices in your business? Automating your payments means you’ll never pay late and get stuck with costly fees that make your CFO crabby.

Oh, you always pay your invoices on time or even early, you say? While that’s admirable, what if we told you that paying your shipping invoices too soon could cost you extra as well?

That’s because when you pay your UPS or FedEx bill, you lose the right to any refunds they might owe you from that billing period. But if you time your payment correctly – not too early and not late, of course – you can ensure you have a chance to get those refunds and put money back in your company’s pocket.

 

Reasons you might be owed a refund

Finding all the carrier refunds you’re due can be challenging, especially if you don’t know what to look for. There are dozens of surcharges you could be hit with that might not always be accurate. For instance:

Overnight Delivery Charges: When you pay for overnight service – or the even pricier options that get a package to your customer by a specific time – and it doesn’t actually get there the next day, your carrier owes you that surcharge back.

Residential Surcharge: When you ship commercial to a location that the carriers designate as residential, they’ll charge you. However, if it’s a commercial office in a residential area, you can get that surcharge credited to your account.

Service Failure: Similar to an overnight delivery surcharge refund, if your package doesn’t arrive in the amount of time that’s in your contract, your carrier should refund that money.

The problem is that carriers aren’t exactly eager to give you your money back in these situations, so they don’t typically notify you when they occur.

 

Let software handle it

If hunting down carrier refunds you might be due on individual invoices, submitting the information necessary to get the refunds and then making payments at the right time sounds like a bit of a nightmare, you’re right. But you don’t have to tackle it alone. Parcel Pay can do all the dirty work for you.

  • It uses artificial intelligence and business logic to identify refund opportunities.
  • It pays your invoices on your behalf to ensure you don’t pay late or before you get refunds you’re owed.
  • Because Parcel Pay does all the heavy lifting, you won’t be doing hours of manual work and potentially making errors along the way.
  • It gives you a rebate on your invoice payments every month.

Mary Hayat, director of accounting at SimpleTire, struggled to manage all her company’s incoming invoices efficiently. But Parcel Pay brought consistency, order and productivity back to her processes.

“Before, invoices were coming in at different times, from different sources,” Hayat said. “And now with VeriShip Parcel Pay they’re coming in at specific times, in a consistent format with consistent data. The reliability of that is fantastic, plus it’s saved us several hours a day, which is a six-figure productivity gain for our group.”

 

How Parcel Pay works

How does this all work? First, we have an initial 15-minute call with you to identify your specific needs and confirm transfer of your carrier payments to VeriShip.

Then, each week:

  1. We give you payment files listing which invoices will be paid on which date for what amount so you can review and flag any payments you may want to delay or dispute with the carrier. We pay your invoices for you at the optimal time.
  2. We supply a consolidated payment and reconciliation file for invoices and payments made across all accounts and carriers. We’ll then general ledger code the post-payment file.

That’s it! No more missed refund opportunities, no more silly mistakes that cost you money unnecessarily. Just a smooth, consistent process with data you can use to improve your operations even more.

 

The bottom line

You have too much to do and too many things to worry about when it comes to shipping. When you tackle your invoice challenges in a new way, you’ll find funds you didn’t know you could get back – and time you didn’t know you could get back either.

 

Topics: Carrier Invoice Auditing, Contract Optimization, Surcharges
Topics

Check out related resources at Sifted.

Solving Supply Chain Puzzles: How Logistics Intelligence Connects the Dots

Solving Supply Chain Puzzles: How Logistics Intelligence Connects the Dots

Political instability, environmental disasters, pandemics, and even trade policy changes can destabilize global ...
Read More
PARCEL Forum 2024: Key Takeaways and Insights

PARCEL Forum 2024: Key Takeaways and Insights

In September, PARCEL Forum ‘24 brought top professionals from the small-package industry to Dallas. They discussed ...
Read More
Unpacking the (True) Impact: 2025 FedEx & UPS GRI Analysis

Unpacking the (True) Impact: 2025 FedEx & UPS GRI Analysis

As the summer temperatures start to cool down, the shipping world heats up. Peak season looms. Demand ...
Read More
Supply Chain Contingency Planning: Using Logistics Intelligence To Mitigate Risks

Supply Chain Contingency Planning: Using Logistics Intelligence To Mitigate Risks

Globalization is slowing down, and the world is doing everything to fix it and reduce modern-day supply chain ...
Read More
2024 FedEx & UPS Demand (Peak Season) Surcharge Guide

2024 FedEx & UPS Demand (Peak Season) Surcharge Guide

Please note: This article focuses on Ground and Express charges. For a full breakdown of international and other ...
Read More
The 2025 General Rate Increase (GRI) is Coming… What We Expect and How to Prepare

The 2025 General Rate Increase (GRI) is Coming… What We Expect and How to Prepare

As the 2025 General Rate Increase (GRI) approaches, businesses across industries are bracing for the potential ...
Read More
Invoice Auditing 101: How to Audit FedEx & UPS Invoices Accurately

Invoice Auditing 101: How to Audit FedEx & UPS Invoices Accurately

Did you know that on select days annually, both FedEx and UPS pause their money-back guarantees? These blackout ...
Read More
PARCEL Forum ’24 – Sifted’s Roundup

PARCEL Forum ’24 – Sifted’s Roundup

This September, the supply chain’s leading experts will converge in Texas for PARCEL Forum ‘24, the premier ...
Read More
Network Optimization 101: The Impact of Carrier Diversification on Supply Chain Resilience

Network Optimization 101: The Impact of Carrier Diversification on Supply Chain Resilience

FedEx and UPS had the same GRI for 2024 at 5.9%. Down 1% from 2023’s 6.9% increase. American businesses are facing ...
Read More
How To Implement Artificial Intelligence To Boost Your Supply Chain Operations

How To Implement Artificial Intelligence To Boost Your Supply Chain Operations

By 2027, the global last-mile delivery market is expected to soar past $200 billion, up from $108.1 billion in ...
Read More
How Amazon Is Using AI To Become the Fastest Supply Chain in the World

How Amazon Is Using AI To Become the Fastest Supply Chain in the World

Did you know that Amazon has been using machine learning and AI for more than 25 years? Yes, 25 years! That’s ...
Read More
Survey: Consumer Home Delivery Preferences

Survey: Consumer Home Delivery Preferences

In the eCommerce landscape, the way brands interact with their customers is evolving. While optimized store ...
Read More

How Sifted Works

Connect to
your account

Sync
your data

Power your
dashboards

Get Your Logistics
Intelligence Demo

Strategic ways to prevent loss down the line

Services you could be utilizing right now for savings

Ways to cut material costs without cutting quality

Shipping Insights & Alerts
Get updates and track the things impacting your business most

Decision Support
See how supply chain adjustments pay off before you pay out

Carrier Management
Streamline how you manage your carrier operations and contracts

Business Automation
Let software do what it does better than people can

Blog
Discover news, tips, and industry best practices

DIM Weight Calculator
See how DIM is impacting you

Podcast
Hear from industry experts on LeaderShipping

Case Studies
Learn how other brands use
Logistics Intelligence

Carbon Calculator
Calculate your CO2 Emissions

Guides
Download free reports and
expert how-tos

Demo
Get a personalized tour of our software

About Sifted
Get to know Logistics Intelligence

Unboxed Newsletter
Subscribe for parcel news, predictions & tips

Logistics Intelligence
For parcel shippers

Let's get you to the right place!

SIFTED DASHBOARDS
For parcel shippers

AMAZON
Redirect to Valence Intelligence Login

Not sure if you have an account? Email [email protected].