# When "overnight delivery" fails



## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

What happens when overnight delivery fails to arrive the day it was supposed to.? Do you get at least a partial refund, or get charged for 2nd day rates?
LtlWilli


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

What do you mean by fails? Doesn't arrive that day, but does the next? The sender is the one who pays, of course, so who gets charged for 2nd day rates?


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

It fails to arrive the next day, but comes on the 2nd day. I did not get what I paid for. Do I get a partial refund on what was paid out?


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## Michael Palmer (Dec 29, 2006)

With express mail from the USPS, if it doesn't arrive by the guaranteed time, you get the shipping cost refunded.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

Thank you, Michael. I appreciate the info.
LtlWilli


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Michael Palmer said:


> you get the shipping cost refunded.


But, the sender, not the reciever, right? If the receiver wants something they have to get that from the sender.

IMO, if the queens arrive a day late, but in good shape, I don't go after any refund. How much are we talking about anyway? A few dollars? Or a cpl of tens of dollars?

I had a case with UPS next day air from California to SC and the queens actually went to NY instead, the supplier getting things mixed up. So, calling the depot in NY and explaining the situation they got them down to SC the next day. No cost to me. I don't know if the supplier got billed or not. I don't know how well that would work w/ the USPS.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

I paid for the overnight, next day delivery charge in my payment to the sender, so I should get the benefit of a refund. The sender pays the USPS ,yes, but the cost is passed to me.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Who will you collect from? USPS or the sender? Who will file the claim? Did you keep receipts and copies of what you signed for at the Post Office?

When the USPS says Next Day or Express, do they actually mean 24 hours after the package goes into the mail? I have never gotten mail on Sunday.


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## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

USPS guarantees a time and day of arrival. If it doesn't make it on time the sender can collect a refund of the shipping charge, I have received queens from Russell on Sunday. Regional center called me and I picked them up.


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## AmericasBeekeeper (Jan 24, 2010)

USPS is the best, FedEx is good and UPS the worst at getting refunds. Unfortunately sellers do not always use the best carriers. I ordered ryal jelly from Glorybee, that has to be refigerated and they sent it UPS. It was warm, almost hot when it arrived. I paid more for UPs Express than USPS Express guaranteed overnight. Unfortunately Glorybee will not work with USPS, even though they give you the box or enveloope. They pick up. They honor the overnight guarantee. Long story longer. I spent $70 for hot royal jelly I cannot feed to queen larva.


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## Nabber86 (Apr 15, 2009)

The sender (on-line vendor) gets the refund (if they persue it with the shipper) and the shipper should passed the refund on to the reciever.

As far as the shippers go, they will usually refund the difference *if it their fault.* They will not refund if a flight was delayed due to the weather, which is usually the case, so that makes it hard to get refunds.


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## geebob (Apr 4, 2011)

AB: Our experiences with shippers are very similar. I'd add that DHL ranges between ok and horrifyingly bad. I don't know anyone who ships bees through DHL, though.

Agree with most of the comments also. If you are dealing with a good merchant, chances are that you will be fine and will be able to work something out. If you are dealing with someone who is a little sketchy, it probably isn't worth the time or frustration trying to get a refund.


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## Katharina (May 2, 2011)

So here is my scoop and experience, since I do own a mail order business.

USPS does not guarantee/offer next day air to all locations, they will let you know at the counter. I do not use their next day service. I mainly use them for Priority and media mail. Priority Mail they claim 2-3 days, but it is more 3-4 days.

UPS will refund the difference to the next service level (next day to 2nd day), if they are late. That excludes acts of god, like bad weather. Also they do not automatically give the money back, you actually have to call and request it. They are good on international shipments, like their freight service too. 

FedEx has a bad track record, so I no longer use them. They were difficult to deal with. They are worse when shipping internationally. That is where I still have issues, because some of my Germany suppliers use them. It's always a fuzz with FedEx.

DHL, a German company, came over with all the good ideas. Sadly they failed. I only used them for international shipments coming in from Germany. Never had a problem there.


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## winevines (Apr 7, 2007)

Katharina said:


> USPS does not guarantee/offer next day air to all locations, they will let you know at the counter.


True enough. For some very rural locations, USPS regular overnight can not be guaranteed and might actually be 2 days, but they should be able to tell you that. Had the same issue when I fed ex'ing materials out to a remote Indian reservation- really was more like 36 or 48 hours than overnight. 
But you can also be surprised. A recent shipment from New Mexico where I was told that it might be 2 days instead of overnight by the Queen supplier, was at my door by 10 am the next morning. Honey to the postman helps making me one of the first stops too!


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

I contacted the seller, and told him the post office will refund his shipping.--- They won't credit me with a cent. It looks like the seller is gonna be double paid ... Would it be all right to offer to split the shipping ? After all, I fully intend to pay some shipping. Maybe he does not intend to bother pursuing a refund and intends to get it all from me.. I had not thought of that, but, again, I just dunno.
LtlWilli


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## K.E.N. (May 5, 2011)

I ordered 2 carni's from C F Koehnen. They were shipped on Thursday for a Friday delivery. The shipping co. was UPS. They never arrived. My delivery person showed up and I was waiting for him (my regular delivery person). He said he had a package for me in the handheld pc but he couldn't find it ofn the truck. He gave me a number to call so I did. The warehouse said they'd call me back if they found them. About 7:00pm they called and no luck. They told me to call the shipper so I did and they filled a out a report and sent me 2 more queens Monday no charge. Koehnen also told me that if the original queens showed up I could have them but would probably not be that good of shape after 5 days anyway. Tuesday the new queens showed up along with the original queens which I tryed to save but didn't work out. Anyway UPS paid Koehnen for the original queens. So in this case I didn't get any discount but ended up with 4 queens for theprice of 2. The shipper didn't loose either.


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## NasalSponge (Jul 22, 2008)

With FedEx it is not automatic, you have to ask for it and then there are exceptions, if any "act of God" happens all bets are off. Meaning even if you paid for P-1 if weather rolls in you will not get a refund because it was outside of our control.


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## Jebbie14 (Dec 22, 2021)

sqkcrk said:


> But, the sender, not the reciever, right? If the receiver wants something they have to get that from the sender.
> 
> IMO, if the queens arrive a day late, but in good shape, I don't go after any refund. How much are we talking about anyway? A few dollars? Or a cpl of tens of dollars?
> 
> I had a case with UPS next day air from California to SC and the queens actually went to NY instead, the supplier getting things mixed up. So, calling the depot in NY and explaining the situation they got them down to SC the next day. No cost to me. I don't know if the supplier got billed or not. I don't know how well that would work w/ the USPS.


In my case I am the receiver and I had to pay the shipping at almost $250 for a very time sensitive item. This item not showing up on time may have just lost me $10,000 and caused me to spend $2600 for nothing because the shipping didn’t come though on time.


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