A parcel is lost or damaged: separate the customer remedy from the carrier claim

The business must decide how to resolve the customer's order and separately pursue any available carrier recovery. Link both decisions to the original tracking and order references. Record the delivery facts, customer report and operating investigation without treating an allegation as a confirmed loss. The customer remedy follows the applicable terms and obligations; the carrier claim follows its own process.

FedEx's US claims guidance describes merchant and recipient roles and asks for supporting documents such as purchase invoices, repair estimates or expense evidence. Use the current instructions for the actual service and route. A completed customer refund is useful case context, but it does not establish that the carrier has accepted liability or the requested value.

Collect the shipment record, proof of declared contents and the documents supporting the amount claimed. For damage, obtain photographs and inspection information where available and follow the carrier's preservation requirements. Ask the responsible claims owner to verify the applicable deadline and authorized claimant. Avoid multiple parties filing incompatible claims for the same loss.

Record the customer's reported condition separately from the warehouse or carrier finding. If goods are recoverable, track their location and approved disposition. A parcel delivered late, a product damaged in transit and a package never located require different evidence. Keep the investigation focused on the actual claim category and avoid submitting unrelated financial records.

Show the customer refund or replacement, product cost, extra shipping and any salvage recovery in the case record. Then show the amount requested from the carrier and its stated basis. The claim may be limited by the relevant service terms and approved value; it should not be assumed to reimburse every customer concession or lost margin.

In a hypothetical replacement case, the business incurs $22 for another product and $8 for additional shipping, or $30 of new cost. A carrier later accepts $20 under the applicable claim. The unrecovered additional cost is $10 before considering the original lost goods and other entries. The example illustrates separate calculations, not a carrier reimbursement formula.

Ask the accountant when any recovery can be recognized under the company's policy. A submitted claim and an accepted claim are different evidence. Keep disputed or uncertain amounts visible without automatically netting them against the loss.

Match the carrier's payment or account credit to the accepted claim and any balance already recorded. If a warehouse or shipping platform receives the money on the merchant's behalf, obtain its remittance detail. A credit against future shipping bills still requires reconciliation even though no cash deposit arrives.

Close the customer remedy and carrier recovery independently, with any remaining issue assigned to an owner. Review completed claims by product, packaging and route using confirmed findings. That evidence can support a packaging or carrier decision, while the accountant receives a complete trail of customer settlement, inventory disposition, claim outcome and recovered amount.