True Story:
Frank* had a personal package sent to his office, since he wouldn’t be home until late that night. He tracked the package carefully and was pleased to see that UPS reported it had been delivered to his mailroom on schedule, and even that it had been signed for by Mr. Thatcher*, the mailroom employee at the front desk. But, when he went to the office, they didn’t have his package, couldn’t find it, and nobody remembered signing for it. Frank suspected foul play, and was highly suspicious when Mr. Thatcher claimed that he certainly had not signed for it. Now Frank is asking his lawyer pal whether he can sue the mailroom.
*Names changed to protect the innocent.
Even though most companies aren’t responsible for private property delivered to their mailrooms, situations like these still take up a lot of time, reduce productivity, and increase stress. You don’t want these situations to arise, but if they do, you need a system behind you to prove your story.
Here’s what we think happened with poor Frank’s package, based on many other similar stories we’ve heard over the years.
Frank works for a very large company, and packages arrive in stacks of 50 or more. Mr. Thatcher did sign – for the whole stack. And without an internal package tracking system in place that would allow him to scan in each individual package, that was the end of the story.
What could have happened is that the UPS guy accidentally gave his last stop 51 packages instead of 50, and delivered 49 packages to Frank’s building. The package counting was rushed, the number mismatch wasn’t caught, and Frank was left believing someone swiped his stuff on purpose.
This story, and hundreds of others just like it, is why we created EZTrackIt. You can scan in multiple packages at once, registering each one into the EZTrackIt system, so you know exactly what came in, when. You can even take a picture of any damaged packages to prove that they were damaged in transit, and you can make quick notes if necessary. These steps take seconds, and speed is what you need when you’re facing down a pile of incoming packages and an impatient UPS driver. If Mr. Thatcher had EZTrackIt, he would have had proof that Frank’s package never made it – and he wouldn’t have been caught in the crossfire for appearing to sign for it!
Closing the liability loop of incoming and outbound packages can feel like a game of high-stakes hot potato – when there are 50+ potatoes in play at any one time. You want to hand over those potatoes… I mean, packages, to their recipients as quickly as possible – and you need to be able to prove that you completed the pass. When packages are damaged or go missing, it seems like everyone blames the mailroom! But when you can prove that your operations run like a Swiss Watch, you’ll build credibility and respect. Most importantly though, you’ll reduce liability in your mailroom.
Keeping your mailroom organized and optimized are great ways to reduce liability. That’s why we outlined 5 ways to optimize your mailroom. Click below for your complimentary download.
Source: HubSpot
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