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Back-office procedures

Returns to the shipper

Deciding when a parcel goes back, building a return run, and recording the handover so the merchant cannot be charged for it.

Ops managers and the dispatch desk3 min readPrintable handbook

A parcel goes back to its merchant when delivery has genuinely been exhausted. The threshold today is 3 attempts; it is a platform setting, and the parcel page always shows the live count against it.

The decision

  1. 01The attempt counter reaches the thresholdThe next inbound scan flags the parcel return pending rather than putting it back in the dispatch pool.
  2. 02Support contacts the merchantBefore anything is sent back, the merchant gets the chance to give a corrected address or a better phone number. Many returns are avoidable at this step.
  3. 03Cancel the deliveryIf the merchant has nothing new to offer, the parcel is cancelled with a reason. The parcel is not charged.
  4. 04Queue the returnThe parcel joins a return run for the merchant’s address, alongside any other parcel waiting to go back to them.

Other ways a parcel goes back

Return triggers
TriggerHandling
Merchant asks for it backSupport cancels the delivery with the merchant-requested reason and queues the return. If the parcel was already in our hands, the tariff exception for a merchant-induced cancellation may apply, and that needs an admin decision with evidence.
Customer refused and will not reattemptRecord the refusal with evidence, then treat it as exhausted rather than burning the remaining attempts.
Address is outside the service areaCancel with the out-of-area reason and return. Also check whether the zone shape needs reviewing.
Parcel damaged in the networkReturn it with the damage case attached, never quietly. The dispute carries the photographs taken at the warehouse.

The return run

  • Build it like a delivery run: one merchant per stop, every parcel listed, a run sheet printed.
  • The rider scans each parcel as it is handed to the merchant, and takes a signature or a photograph.
  • A merchant who refuses a parcel sends it back to stock with the reason recorded, and support picks it up.
  • Nothing is written off at the counter. A parcel neither delivered nor returned stays visible in stock until it is resolved.

Ageing and write-off

A parcel that cannot be delivered and cannot be returned becomes a loss case: it is recorded as lost with a reason, a dispute is opened against it, and finance settles it. That path is deliberate and visible, because stock that quietly disappears is how a courier loses a merchant.

Weekly review

  • List every parcel flagged return pending for more than two days and name the reason it is still here.
  • Look at return reasons by merchant. Repeated wrong addresses are a booking-quality conversation, not a delivery problem.
  • Look at return reasons by area. A cluster usually means a zone shape or an access problem worth fixing once.

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