Understanding Lost packages and how to handle them

Package deliveries can occasionally encounter issues, and may be lost during transit. This guide will help you understand the possible scenarios and steps to take when dealing with lost packages.

Automatic identification of lost packages

Bigblue has systems in place to automatically identify some packages as lost based on tracking data.
We will proactively open a support ticket and initiate the refund process. You can proactively reach out to your customer and organize a second delivery.

Lost by the pickup point - specific to Mondial Relay

Pickup carriers can sometimes report a package as missing after an inventory, or after a return attempt.

Using Bigblue’s historical data, we have noticed that this report is 90% inaccurate by the carrier.

Packages end up being found again
Or they were missing from the return attempt because the shop owner forgot to mark it as delivered.

What to do

We advise you to wait a few days.
If you are contacted by the customer confirming the package loss, contact us to open a carrier claim.

Learn more about Mondial Relay’s inventory process

Store owners are asked to periodically inventory all packages in their shop. Doing so, they often forget to scan some packages. After the end of the inventory, the carrier (ex: Mondial Relay) will mark all these forgotten packages as lost. They push a tracking event “Lost by the pickup point”

🇫🇷 Inventaire / Colis déclaré absent par le relais lors d'un inventaire, à confirmer

[ 🇬🇧 Inventory / Package declared missing by the relay during an inventory, to be confirmed. ]

We have noticed that in 90% of the cases, it was an inventory error and the package is available at the pickup point.

Note: Mondial Relay hides the event from the end customer. It is not displayed on the Mondial Relay public tracking page.

Lost by the carrier

On some orders, you may notice that the tracking information for your package displays "lost” events.

While uncommon, there are occasional occurrences in which a package can be reported as “Lost” in the carrier network. It can be linked to various factors, including a routing issue or a damaged or wet label.

These events can either

be pushed proactively by carriers
or disclose the result of a claim

If you haven’t already, reach out to us to open a carrier claim.

Note: Lost by the pickup are often erroneous events reported by the carrier. See section above for details.

No tracking event after an extended period of time

Sometimes, a package may not show any lost events on the tracking information but remains undelivered for an extended period.

Possible explanations

The package is on its way but there are no tracking updates from the carrier
- For international deliveries, it can be frequent.
The package was delivered but the carrier did not push the tracking event “Delivered” to Bigblue.
Note: If you see that the package is delivered on the carrier tracking page but not on the Bigblue app, contact our support team so that we investigate the gap.
In rare cases, the package is lost.

What to do

Due to the high probability that the package is still on its way, we advise not to proactively contact the customer.
If they contact you, verify the transit time and whether the package is delayed.
- If not delayed, advise the customer to wait for a few days
- If delayed, contact us to open a carrier claim and find the package.

The customer claims that the package is lost but the tracking doesn’t show it

When a package is marked as “Delivered” but the customer claims it is lost, here is how to proceed

What to do

Advise first to wait for a few hours or days
- Although rare, some carriers mark prematurely packages as ‘Delivered’
If available, check the Proof of Delivery for more information on the person who collected the package
Suggest to check with neighbors or caretaker
- They could have picked up a package left in an unsecured place by the carrier.

If the package is not found after these steps, we advise to

offer a resolution to the buyer: refund or duplicate the order
if the service is a counter-signature delivery, escalate the issue to us to open a carrier claim with the necessary documentation