Delivery return and the on time pickup challenge
They count. Furthermore, they are sometimes unspoken. And they are basic rules of delivery. Furthermore, they are not from a delivery app, or a merchant. These rules are for the courier, by the courier. Knocking on the front door of a stranger’s home is part of the job. Doing so at midnight, is also part of the job. However, there isn’t an instruction manual that defines the best way to do that. In fact, that situation is an unpredictable one.
With this in mind, those unspoken rules, matter. They are about safety, more than anything else. Safety is something every courier should take seriously. From traffic to pickup locations, the courier is always on the move. It’s pickup that cargo and haul it to the destination. Then drop-off the cargo and move to the next pickup. Unless there is a snafu. Or a failure at the drop-off. While rare these things do happen. Furthermore, they go hand in hand with the customer unavailable scenario.
Most every courier has been here as well. Hand it to me. And when the courier arrives, ‘me’ is nowhere to be found. From there, the delivery only has a small chance at a successful hand-off. It is more likely the courier will get a prompt to leave the delivery in a particular place at the drop-off location. In other words, a delivery app will turn the delivery into a leave at the door delivery. In this scenario, a delivery return is unlikely.
Delivery Return
A delivery from a merchant can go back to the merchant. For example, a pizza delivery from a crew courier. If the customer requests an in person drop-off the courier must hand the delivery to the customer. If the customer is unavailable the crew courier can return the cargo to the merchant. After all, the courier is headed back that way. In fact, in the days before the delivery app, it was unheard of to leave a delivery of hot fresh food unattended, at the doorstep.
Therefore, a delivery return, was not a normal process. Much of the time a delivery return to a merchant needed approval by the manager in charge. Even then, the courier was reluctant to do a delivery return. This is because it would most likely be a quick turnaround. The snafu would get a correction and the courier would be making a second trip to the previously failed drop-off.
Much of this changed with the adoption of the no contact delivery model. In fact, there are still at home customers that request a no contact delivery. This type of delivery request effectively ended the delivery return. The hot fresh food delivery return. There are still times when a return delivery is necessary. And it has a strict process.
The On Time Pickup Challenge
The strict process is the key to the delivery return. Furthermore, this is the alcohol delivery. The alcohol delivery cannot be left at the door. There must be a customer present for the alcohol drop-off. A customer with a valid ID. This is the only way to complete the delivery. Unless it becomes a delivery return. And once this return activates, the courier must complete it like a standard delivery.
No customer available, or no valid ID, are a couple of reasons why the delivery return happens. Furthermore, it is a process in the app that has a step by step guide. Alcohol has age restrictions. Therefore only people of legal age can transfer the alcohol to a customer who must also be of legal age. No customer? No delivery. The alcohol must return to the merchant. The courier will get compensation. Furthermore, the courier will provide the photo proof that the delivery return is complete.
The process is automatic, and can’t be reversed, once initiated. At the conclusion of the return, the app will ask the courier to confirm the return. This is done with a picture in the app. Additionally the merchant marks the delivery complete. This is the basic way that the return works. The app determines compensation. However, it is usually the entire original offer from the queue, and a portion more for the return trip mileage.
Delivery Return Challenge
It doesn’t happen often. But it does happen. Much of the time the app will have a basic solution. The courier need only report the issue and then follow the step by step instructions. This is the quickest way to clear a delivery return.
It isn’t the same process as the on time pickup challenge. The on time pickup is more complicated than it seems. Furthermore, it carries a lot of weight in those ratings. Even a minute late is enough to tank that rating. So how does the courier stay on top of the impossible timing required on some deliveries? Furthermore, is it possible to salvage a rating that just took a ding? On the same delivery?
Those are excellent questions, and topics that many couriers deal with on a daily basis. There are a few methods that many couriers use to stay ahead of deadlines and time limits. Some are location specific. And others are just positive time management techniques. We will have the chance to unravel some of these methods in the next article. Until then, stay safe out there.
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