An email about a cracked display unit
A shop-fitting firm emails: the display unit you delivered to their client's store last Thursday has a cracked glass panel. They want you to pay for the replacement. Your driver remembers the job vaguely. The unit was wrapped in blankets when it was loaded, so nobody could see the glass. The delivery POD is a scrawl on a phone screen and a photo of the unit from ten metres away.
Was it cracked when it was collected? Was it packed properly? Did it happen on your van, or when the store's staff moved it afterwards? You cannot say, so it becomes a negotiation, and the customer holds the stronger hand because they pay you.
Why couriers cannot answer damage complaints
Most courier processes are built around proving delivery happened, not the condition of what was delivered. Collection is often not recorded at all beyond a time. Photos, when taken, are general. Nobody records packaging, and the driver is under pressure to get moving.
| What would settle a complaint | What is usually on file |
|---|---|
| Condition and packaging at collection | Nothing |
| Who loaded it and how | Driver's memory |
| Condition at delivery | A signature and possibly a wide photo |
| Recipient's remarks on signing | Rarely captured |
| Timeline between the two | Tracking scans, if any |
What damage disputes cost
Payouts for damage you may not have caused, or insurance claims that push up your premiums. Customer relationships soured by an argument neither side can win. Drivers upset at being blamed with no way to defend themselves.
They also take a lot of office time. Each complaint means calls to the driver, searching for photos, reading the customer's terms and your own, and a correspondence that can run for weeks.
Your insurer, if a claim reaches them, will ask the same questions you cannot answer: what condition was it in when you took it, and how was it packed. A thin file makes a claim harder to settle either way.
What we build
- A condition step at collection in the driver app: a few required photos, a condition choice (good, packaging damaged, visible damage), and a note, before the job can be marked collected.
- Rules per customer or goods type, so high-value or fragile jobs need more photos, and routine parcels need fewer.
- The same step at delivery, with the recipient invited to add remarks when they sign.
- Photos stored against the job with time and location, not in the driver's camera roll.
- A complaint file created when a customer raises damage, pulling together the booking, both condition records, tracking events and driver details.
- A complaint log with outcomes, showing patterns by customer, goods type and driver, so packaging or loading problems can be dealt with.
If your existing driver app can take photos but not require them, we can add the rules around it or provide a companion step.
What changes
When a complaint arrives, you open the file and see what the goods looked like at both ends. Many complaints are settled quickly one way or the other. Drivers are protected when they did their job properly. And customers whose packaging is not up to the journey can be told so, with photos.
Is this your situation?
- Damage complaints are answered from the driver's memory.
- Nothing is recorded about condition at collection.
- Delivery photos are too general to show condition.
- You pay out on complaints to keep customers happy.
- Damage claims take weeks of correspondence.