When using a courier company, the invoice is usually always sent to the company who is shipping the goods. Typically speaking, a Washington courier service would require a company to establish a corporate account with them before shipping their goods. Then, after each shipment the fee would simply be billed to the companies account.
However, sometimes, for one reason or another, a shipping company would like to bill the shipment to a third party.
There are different reasons and situations where something like this might occur. They might bill to a third party which is actually another part of their larger company in order to comply with their company’s procedures, or they might also wish to bill the shipping costs to the company which is receiving the goods if that was part of their arrangement. However, not all courier companies will allow this, and the circumstances under which they might agree to this can vary from company to company.
There are a number of reasons why a courier company would refuse the request to bill a shipment to a third party. The most common of those reasons would be in order to protect themselves from financial loss.
Anytime someone is expected to pay for something on delivery, they have the right to refuse the delivery. This would obviously apply to COD shipping, but it can also apply to third party billing. If the delivery company allowed people all the time to bill shipping costs to a third party, they could find themselves responsible for the loss of money if that payment is refused by the third party.
There are certain situations where a courier may allow a third party billing arrangement to be agreed upon. For instance, if both the shipping and receiving companies are account holders with the courier, it is easy for them to agree on such an arrangement because they know the credit history of both companies with their own.
Sometimes couriers will also allow for billing to be sent to a third party, but they may not ship your goods until the payment from that company has completely cleared. That way, they ensure that their costs will be covered and they will not lose money by moving the goods prematurely.
If a delivery company does refuse your request, it is usually not a sign of lack of trust in you or your company, but simply a reflection of the overarching policies that the company has in place to cover matters such as this.
Scott Gallagher is an International Consultant for Washington Courier Service. With exceptional knowledge of the Washington Deliery Service, Scott is also becoming an expert with Local Internet Marketing
