UPS and FedEx both have strict guaranteed delivery times and offer a money-back guarantee on late packages. If packages are even 60 seconds late, shippers are eligible for a full refund. The catch? The carriers don’t willingly give you a refund, you must identify these packages and request the refund yourself. Luckily, Share A Refund can easily take this task off your hands.
However, around the holidays, the stringent on-time delivery guarantee is changed due to the influx in packages being sent and the lack of systems in place to process the additional goods. Shippers already have the added burden of steep peak season surcharges to navigate, but carriers like UPS and FedEx also take the liberty to add blackout delivery dates, when shippers aren’t allowed to get refunds on late packages, or to extend the late-transit time window by 90 minutes or until end-of-day.
This article outlines the FedEx and UPS money-back guarantee details every shipper needs to know for the 2018 holidays.
2018 FedEx holiday money-back guarantee details
FedEx Express
The FedEx Express money-back guarantee will be suspended temporarily on the following dates.
- Wednesday, November 21, 2018, for shipments that reach their destinations within 90 minutes of the scheduled commitment time.
- Tuesday, December 18, through Monday, December 24, 2018, for shipments delivered by the end of the day on the published delivery commitment date.
This money-back guarantee suspension applies to the following FedEx Express® services:
- FedEx First Overnight®
- FedEx Priority Overnight®
- FedEx Standard Overnight®
- FedEx 2Day®
- FedEx 2Day® A.M.
- FedEx Express Saver®
- FedEx First Overnight® Freight
- FedEx 1Day® Freight
- FedEx 2Day® Freight
- FedEx 3Day® Freight
- FedEx International First®
- FedEx International Priority®
- FedEx International Economy®
- FedEx International Priority DirectDistribution®
- FedEx International Economy DirectDistributionSM
- FedEx International MailService®
- FedEx International Priority® Freight
- FedEx International Economy® Freight
FedEx Ground
- Packages tendered to FedEx Ground for delivery on the day after Thanksgiving will be scheduled for delivery on that day if the recipient business is open, but in any event, the delivery commitment will be extended to the next business day for application of the money-back guarantee.
- Monday, November 26, through Monday, December 24, 2018, the money-back guarantee for all Ground and FedEx Home Delivery services will be suspended.
FedEx Freight
- The FedEx Freight no-fee money-back guarantee will be suspended for shipments with required delivery dates of Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, through Wednesday, Jan. 2, 2019.
Read more: FedEx shares 2018 holiday 2018 holiday surcharges
2018 UPS holiday money-back guarantee details
UPS Air
It’s important to note that UPS Air and international air packages picked up or delivered within the United States are guaranteed throughout the holiday season. However, commitment times for UPS Air packages scheduled for delivery November 23, December 17 through 22, December 24, and December 31 will be extended as follows:
- UPS Next Day Air Early and UPS Worldwide Express Plus will have the guarantee extended by 90 minutes
- All other air and international services will be extended to end-of-day
If financially feasible, shippers should choose guaranteed UPS Air services in the last week before Christmas.
UPS Ground
The on-time service guarantee is suspended for all UPS Ground shipments, including shipments to and from AK, HI, and PR, and UPS Standard shipments picked up or scheduled for delivery November 26 through December 24, 2018.
Remember, on UPS holidays (November 22, December 25 and January 1) there is no movement of any packages tendered to UPS.
Read more: UPS peak holiday shipping surcharges for 2018
Ensure Christmas delivery by following these UPS deadlines
Mark these dates on your calendar to ensure delivery by Christmas Day using UPS 2nd Day Air and Next Day Air packages.
- Thursday, December 20, 2018
This is the last day to ship UPS 2nd Day Air packages for delivery on Monday, December 24. - Friday, December 21, 2018
This is the last day to ship UPS Next Day Air packages for delivery on Monday, December 24.
UPS and FedEx are notorious for late shipments during the holidays
Even with added seasonal employees and increased fleet, the carriers still can’t seem to deliver shipments on time during the holidays. This puts shippers at risk of losing customers and negatively impacting Q4 sales.
Nothing drains holiday cheer like a late shipment. About 89% of UPS Express packages were delivered on time between Nov. 27 and Dec. 2, compared to 99% at FedEx, according to a report in the Washington Post.
How to handle the holidays as a shipper
Carriers add additional stress to shippers around the holidays. It takes hours of work to audit invoices, analyze data, compare costs, create reports and claim refunds. Your to-do list is long enough already.
The Share A Refund Auditing Team can handle the headache of holiday stress by identifying billing mistakes, expertly negotiating carrier agreements, filing claims for damaged packages, and simplifying the most complex GL coding processes. Share A Refund helps hold your carrier accountable, so you don’t have to. Take your supply chain to the next level with Share A Refund technology.
