Lost Packages and Missing Mail
by Jillian Voege
Lost packages don’t happen often, but when they do, they can cause a world of hurt for your brand. Of course the fault doesn’t lie with you, but the customer rarely takes that into account when they’re sending angry emails to your support team about their missing order.
How often do packages really get lost?
The truth of the matter is that packages very rarely get lost. All three of the major American carriers—FedEx, UPS, and USPS—have been doing package delivery for decades. They have so many fail-safes built into their mailstreams that packages virtually never fall out of them with no accountability or trail. They might break, they might get damaged, but very seldom do they get outright lost.
But what does happen with regularity is misplaced packages with bad address information. It happens often enough that there are terms for it: “dead mail” or “orphaned packages.” When a package is sent with a bad delivery address and no forward or return address, the package has nowhere to go. Although the package might still exist within the carrier’s system, it’s as good as lost if it cannot be delivered or returned.
When a package does get lost, it’s not just an inconvenience—it’s a potential threat to customer trust and brand loyalty. Your business’s reaction goes a long way toward rebuilding that trust and strengthening that loyalty … or flushing them down the drain.
What to do if your package is lost
When a package is lost in transit, you’ll need to work with both the customer and the carrier to resolve the issue. First, reassure the customer by acknowledging the problem, apologizing for the inconvenience, and outlining the next steps. Offer a replacement product or a refund as soon as possible, making sure the customer feels prioritized and supported.
Clear communication is key, so let the customer know about any investigation or claims process with the carrier, but don’t let it delay the resolution of their issue.
At the same time, open a claim with the carrier to investigate the lost package. Provide all necessary details, including tracking information, proof of shipment, and documentation of the item’s value. Depending on the carrier's policies, you might be eligible for compensation, which can help offset the cost of replacing the lost package.
Of course, taking these steps can be time-consuming for you and your customer service team. The better option? Proactively protect yourself against package loss with address verification software and shipping insurance.
Preventative measures: address verification and shipping insurance
If you want to protect yourself against package loss, there are two things to consider: address verification and shipping insurance. While many ecommerce companies rely on Google Maps to verify addresses at the checkout level, simply verifying addresses using Google Maps isn’t enough. Google Maps doesn’t verify addresses, it merely approximates them. A customer could put down a bad address number, and Google Maps will only assume that it exists within a certain location.
True address verification backed by USPS postal data is the only way to ensure deliverable address data before printing labels and sending out packages. By verifying addresses before a customer completes their order, you reduce the risk of a lost package scenario due to undeliverable addresses.
Shipping insurance is another way to protect against misplaced, damaged, or destroyed packages. This is especially true for high-value items such as technology, limited-edition clothing, or antiques. By insuring the package, one can afford to provide a better refund policy that will mollify angry customers. You’re covered against deliverability issues, the customer can get their money back, and the only loss you sustain is the premium you had to pay.
No matter how reliable a carrier is, package delivery can still be affected by outside factors, such as severe weather, operational delays, or even theft. You don’t want to risk an angry customer making noise about their bad experiences with your brand. It’s always good to add more contingencies to ensure that packages get to where they need to go, and on the occasion that they don’t, you’ll be covered anyway.
Prevent lost packages the easy way
Wondering about the best way to protect your business from the potential fallout of a lost package? Consider a shipping platform like EasyPost. EasyPost offers advanced address verification and affordable shipping insurance—it costs just 1% of a package’s value—providing a comprehensive solution to protect against lost packages. If a package does get lost or delayed, EasyPost’s tracking tools make it easier to manage customer expectations.
Whether you're dealing with questions like "What happens if my package is lost?" or "Who is legally responsible for lost packages?" EasyPost equips you with the resources and support to handle these situations effectively. Choosing EasyPost means choosing a reliable partner that understands the complexities of shipping and offers the best tools to navigate them.
Talk to a shipping expert to learn how EasyPost can help.