Most companies don’t realize how unforgiving carrier refund windows really are.

When a package is late, FedEx and UPS technically owe you a refund — but there’s a catch. You only have a 15-day window to file for it. Miss that deadline, and the money is gone forever.

Why the 15-Day Rule Isn’t What You Think

That 15-day clock doesn’t always start on the invoice date (like most assume).

It can start on the actual delivery date.

That means if you’re reviewing invoices weekly or monthly, you’re already at risk of missing refunds. A delivery on the 1st that shows up on an invoice on the 7th may not even reach your AP team until the 14th… leaving you one day to notice it, file it, and hope the claim clears.

The Real Cost of Missing Just One Week

Think about your shipping volume:

• If you ship 500 time-definite packages a week, and even 2% are late, that’s 10 packages.
• At an average of $60 each, you’re talking $600 in refunds in just a week.
• Multiply that across a quarter, and you’ve left $7,000+ unclaimed.
• Across a year? You could easily cross $25,000–$50,000 in lost refunds — all because the 15-day window slammed shut before anyone noticed.

Why Most Shippers Miss These Refunds

1. Invoice timing: Invoices arrive days after delivery. By the time your team even sees the charges, the refund clock has nearly run out.
2. Dispersed responsibility: AP thinks Ops is watching, Ops assumes Finance has it covered. Nobody is.
3. Carriers know this: The 15-day window isn’t an accident. It’s designed to keep refunds small enough that they slide under the radar.

How Smart Shippers Protect Themselves

The best-run shipping operations have one thing in common: they don’t leave refund deadlines to chance. They:

• Track deliveries daily instead of waiting for invoices.
• Flag exceptions immediately so the claim process starts the same day.
• Treat the 15-day rule as non-negotiable, building their processes around it instead of trying to squeeze claims in at the last minute.

That discipline is what separates companies that quietly bleed costs from those that hold carriers accountable every single week.

Why Timing Matters More Than Ever This Fall

Q4 is coming. Carrier performance dips under peak pressure, which means more late deliveries. If you’re not set up to catch those refunds immediately, this fall could be your most expensive peak yet.

Closing Thought

The 15-day refund deadline isn’t a suggestion. It’s a hard line. Miss it once, and the carrier keeps the money. Miss it regularly, and the totals get painful fast.

Even if you don’t have systems in place today, start small: review delivery performance weekly, not monthly. Build a rhythm now so when peak season hits, you’re not scrambling to recover money that’s already out of reach.

Because in shipping, “miss a week, lose money forever” isn’t just a saying. It’s the rule carriers are counting on you to ignore.

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