One of the ramifications of working for a large integrated carrier for as long as I did, is that friends and family often came to me when they were having problems receiving something they ordered or sent. So, besides managing relationships with some of UPS’s largest customers, in my spare time I was often asked for help or advice with personal shipments (Grandma’s lost shipment of cookies, critical parts needed for a friend’s business, daughter’s prom dress that had not arrived etc.). So, I was not surprised last night when my wife told me about a problem she was having with something that she had ordered on Black Friday.
She read the following email to me that she had received after inquiring about her order (names changed to protect the innocent).
Hey there Mary,
Thanks for reaching out. I’m sorry the fulfillment timeline might not work out this time. We know that many customers are experiencing an extreme delay in receiving their orders. No excuse will help now, but the truth is that we moved to a new (we thought more robust) fulfillment partner. They have failed to deliver, big time. We are rearranging inventory to another warehouse as we speak.
To make it up to you, we have refunded you in full to the original payment method for your order. We will still get this order shipped as soon as we can, and we expect more updates to come regarding your order status by end of week. You should’ve received an email confirmation of the refund as well. We apologize for the screw up, but thanks so much for ordering with us! We hope you can enjoy that order on us.
If you need anything further, please let me know! I’m happy to help.
Have a great day,
Elizabeth
This email totally struck a nerve, because I had just written a blog about delayed deliveries last week! This situation totally touched on the 3 points that I had written about; Honesty, Communication, & Choice!
On the positive side, this shipper did an excellent job with the Honesty perspective. They acknowledged and explained the cause for the delay, and explained what they were doing to rectify the situation. They also kept the email positive and upbeat!
But what did they do wrong here? There are a couple major things that could have been done better. First and foremost is Communication. Obviously they knew about the problems they were having with their Fulfillment process. They could have done some damage control and proactively notified my wife of the delay. After all, she did place this order three weeks ago!
I am certain that my wife would have felt a lot better if she had been made aware of the problem/ situation. Instead she was left wondering, and was forced to reach out to the company to inquire about her order. As described in my previous blog, she experienced the “salt rubbed in the wound” effect! Also, the shipper may have avoided the need to provide a refund if they had just provided a proactive update.
However, the big miss here is with Choice! The company did acknowledge that they misjudged the abilities of the 3PL they had chosen to perform their Fulfillment. So, it is apparent that they did not perform the proper due diligence to determine this vendor’s capabilities.
I cannot say that I blame the folks that made the decision to partner with a particular vendor. I realize that the E-Commerce Warehousing & Fulfillment space is large and complex. I do not envy today’s Supply Chain Professional that needs to juggle the daily demands of their jobs, and then make crucial decisions regarding choosing a 3PL that is equipped to support their company’s needs. Properly vetting out and managing a 3PL can be a full time job in itself!
The message that I would deliver to the folks that made this poor decision, as well as all others in the Supply Chain Logistics space is that there is no need to take on the daunting task of choosing the right 3PL by yourself. ICC Logistics has the expertise, knowledge and resources available to help you make the right Choices. I can assure you that your company will not need to send out painful emails like the one provided above if you allow ICC to assist you with choosing the right Fulfillment partner. At the same time, you may be able to give me one less order fulfillment issue that I need to deal with in my personal time. Thanks in advance for your help with this!
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