subject: Should I Obtain Proof Of Delivery? [print this page] There are a lot of options that your courier may offer you every time you place a delivery with them. One of these is going to be if you want to receive a proof of delivery after your Cincinnati courier service successfully completes your order. This is something that you always want to request, and that you should never pass up. It is very important to protecting your own interests when you are shipping with a courier company.
Why is it important to make sure and get a proof of delivery whenever you ship with a courier? This is critical because sometimes disputes arise over an order. A client may claim that a package was never received or that it arrived in a damaged condition. The proof of delivery should contain a signature from someone that took receipt of that package and accepted it, showing that it was in fact delivered, and that they deemed it to look to be in good condition. This can be very important to have when trying to settle these types of disputes.
There are a few different types of proof of delivery notifications that you can receive. There are proof of deliveries where after the delivery is completed, the courier company will fax you a copy of the document with the recipient's signature on it, or where they will mail you a copy at a later date. These are both good, as you should have hard copies, but you should also look for couriers that offer something called instant proof of delivery.
Instant POD is achieved through the use of the new style of portable handsets that most courier drivers carry with them. These allow them to electronically capture the signature of the client that the delivery is made to. They can then instantly email you a copy of the proof of delivery along with the signature captured electronically so that you know the delivery has been successfully completed.
Instant electronic POD along with signature capture is quickly becoming the standard by which all courier companies are measured. If this is something that your courier company has not yet implemented, you should ask why, and see if the feature is coming at some point in the future. If they are not going to use this feature, you may want to look for a courier that does, as it is a useful feature, and shows the courier cares about staying current with current technology.
