Who Owns Responsibility?

I realize that this is more of a business question rather than an issue with Zen Cart but I have noticed that many of the forum members are more business oriented than software oriented and was hoping to get a dialog going regarding my question.

I am setting up my store policies and have run up against a wall when it comes to responsibility regarding problems with shipping (lost/damaged/late packages).

I understand that the carrier is responsible for the safe delivery of packages but who is responsible for pursuing claims with the carrier?

I have pretty much decided that it is worth the small charge to require my customers to buy “insurance” for their shipments. I use the term “insurance” loosely because many of the carriers do not offer insurance for their services but offer increased liability based on declared value of the item being shipped. Of course the cost of service is increased based on the declared value.

Assuming, all shipments are “insured” who is responsible for seeking compensation for lost or damaged shipments the merchant or the customer? If a customer receives a damaged product do the deal directly with the carrier or are they obligated to send the item back to the merchant who then seeks compensation from the carrier. The merchant is the entity that is ordering the shipment, but at the customer’s request. If the item is sent back to the merchant, who absorbs the cost of that shipment and the re-shipment of the new product back to the customer?

This is all very confusing to me and I want to be fair in establishing my shipping policy. I have reviewed a number of web based merchant’s shipping policies and it seems to be a 75/25 percent split where the customer bares the burden of correcting the problem with the carrier. I guess what I am asking is what is the basis for such decision making.

Any comments regarding this subject will be greatly appreciated.

These are really questions you need to be asking your carriers and your attorney.

It's the responsibility of the shipper to pursue claims with the shipping companies, as you are their customer, not the recipient.

At least in my experience with UPS, the recipient (your customer) has no standing with UPS, and UPS won't even discuss a claim with them. (Which is as it should be, it seems to me.)

I have to belive this is covered in your agreements with your shippers, and is probably detailed somewhere on their respective websites.

When it comes to the gray areas about who pays for return shipping and re-shipping charges, that would depend, I guess, on how badly you want to keep that customer.

As someone who buys a lot of stuff online, if I return something just because I changed my mind, (very rare), I expect to pay the return shipping and a reasonable restocking charge. If the item is damaged, or the wrong item, it's on the seller, no matter how the damage occured.

I've always assumed it my responsiblity to make sure my customer gets what they ordered in new condition. If there's a problem, it's my responsibility to file the claim with the shipper. Return shipping responsibility can be a grey area, but in the end, it's my responsibility to take care of my customer. So even if I think it's their responsibility, I have to ask if it worth the hassle and potential loss of a repeat customer to push the issue.

With that said, there may be customers who lie and claim something broken when it's not. So, protecting myself from that situation can be tricky. I may tell them to send it back to me and if I deem it truely broken, I'll reimburse them. BTW- I deal in childrens clothing, fairly light to ship, and my potential loss is usually under $100. I think that makes a big difference over a seller that sells items of higher value and weight (thus higher shipping cost). If your potential loss is higher, you may not want to be so "friendly" :)