Guide
Carrier Refunds: What You're Actually Owed, and How to Claim It
When a carrier misses a service it guaranteed, the shipping charge for that shipment is often refundable. The catch is that nobody hands it to you. The carriers stopped paying the guarantee automatically, the filing windows are short, and the rules change every few months. Most shippers never claim, and the money is left on the table by design.
What's actually claimable comes down to three things: the carrier, the service, and how you bought the label. Here's the map.
It depends on the service, not the shipment
The guarantee lives on time-definite services — the ones where you paid for delivery by a specific time. Day-definite and ground services usually have no money-back guarantee behind a late delivery.
- UPS guarantees its time-definite air services, with a 15-day claim window. See UPS Money-Back Guarantee: what's covered and how to claim.
- DHL Express guarantees only its premium time-definite products, and refunds only the premium paid. See DHL Express Money-Back Guarantee: the fine print.
It depends on how you bought the label
The same carrier can be claimable or not depending on the label path. Shipments on your own carrier account keep the guarantee. Some marketplace-bought labels waive it — most notably FedEx labels bought through Shopify, which are not reimbursable.
You file it, and you keep all of it
A refund claim is filed by the shipper, with the carrier, inside the window. You stay the account holder of record, and the money comes back to you in full. You don't need to hand your account to anyone, and you don't need to give up a cut to collect it — here's why that model matters.
The only hard part is catching the miss before the window closes. That's the watch: point your shipments at us and we flag the ones that failed a guarantee while there's still time to claim, with the paperwork ready to file.