How to dispute a courier short payment

Most COD disputes are not lost on the merits. They are lost because they were raised late, raised vaguely, or raised to the wrong person. The claim itself is usually simple: one shipment, one number, one piece of proof.

Before you write anything

Be certain the difference is real. Check that the shipment is not simply in the next cycle, that the deduction is not a contracted fee you had forgotten, and that the order was not partially collected at the door with your own team's agreement. A claim that turns out to be a misunderstanding weakens the next one.

Then confirm the claims window in your contract. It commonly runs 15 to 30 days from the remittance date, sometimes from the delivery date. This is the hard deadline in the entire process — outside it, carriers are entitled to decline regardless of the merits.

Assemble the evidence pack

• AWB or tracking number, and your own order reference.
• Order value as invoiced, with the invoice or order record itself.
• Proof of delivery: signature, OTP or the carrier's own delivery confirmation and timestamp.
• The remittance statement line exactly as it appeared, or evidence of its absence — statement name, date and page.
• The relevant clause or rate from your signed rate card, where the dispute concerns a fee.
• A single figure: the amount claimed.

Write the claim itemised

One email, one table, one row per shipment. Columns: AWB, delivery date, order value, amount received, expected amount, difference, reason. Then a one-line total and a specific request — reissue the shortfall in the next remittance cycle, or provide the statement reference where it was settled.

Avoid arguing about totals or intent. "Your payments are always short" invites a defensive reply. "These eleven AWBs were delivered on these dates and do not appear in statements up to and including this one; total AED X" is a task an operations team can action.

Send it to the right place

Your account manager first, in writing, with the finance or COD reconciliation team copied if you have their address. Keep everything on one email thread per claim batch — a thread with dates is what you rely on if you later need to escalate. Portal tickets are fine, but note the ticket number in email so there is a record outside the carrier's system.

Follow up on a schedule

Acknowledge within a few days, chase at one week, escalate at two. Escalation means the account manager's manager, or the country operations lead, with the original thread attached and no new argument — just the age of the claim and the amount outstanding. Consistency matters more than volume: merchants who claim every cycle get faster responses than merchants who send one large angry email a year.

When a claim is refused

Ask for the reason in writing, referencing the contract clause relied on. Sometimes the answer is legitimate and teaches you something about the fee structure. If it is not, the remaining levers are commercial: renegotiation at renewal, moving volume to a second carrier, or in significant cases a formal demand under your service agreement. Keep a running log of claimed, settled and refused amounts by carrier — that log is the strongest card you hold at renewal.

Prevent the next one

Disputes are a symptom. The cure is a per-cycle reconciliation that produces the exception list automatically, so claims go out days after the statement rather than weeks. The process is in the step-by-step reconciliation guide, and the categories to look for are in why your COD remittance is lower than your order total.

Not sure you have a claim? Send one remittance file and your order export to the free preview and we will tell you which orders are genuinely short, with the numbers you need to raise them.