Poor Quality & Even Worse Ethics There are only two types of Shipwire customers - Those who are bitterly disappointed, and those that will be once they have used Shipwire long enough to uncover this service's many flawsShipwire has an "F" rating with the Revdex.com and for good reasons Below is a summary of some of the issues I've encountered followed by a more detailed description of the problems and causesI closed my account with Shipwire and have transferred my business to another providerThis saddens me because I had hoped Shipwire would be a shipping partner that could help build my businessThey were not and so I've moved on Summary: -Loses your inventory and then won't compensate you for the loss -Hidden charges / misleading pricing -Poorly trained and ineffective customer service -Inconsistent policies from warehouse to warehouse -Inability to handle wholesale orders -Poorly packed items -Known service issues not reported to customers -Other issues too numerous to describe Shipwire Isn't a Fulfillment Company - Although you would not know it from their web site, Shipwire isn't a fulfillment companyThey are really a web service that hooks your web site to various warehouses that sub-contract to themThis business structure has profound ramifications for customers: â ¢ Since each warehouse operates independently, there is no mechanism in place to coordinate shipping practices --the most important of which is scanning products during packing to ensure that the correct product is shipped to customersShipwire warehouses don't scan product UPC bar codes when fulfilling ordersRather, they rely on employees pack the right items based on looking at the product packageThis means that fulfillment is subject to human error and sometimes those errors can be catastrophicOver the years, I've had consistent issues with Shipwire mis-shipping product to customersThe most serious case occurred when Shipwire began fulfilling a case (six units) of product to customers who had only ordered one unitThis resulted in $4,worth of lost inventoryWhen I alerted Shipwire to the problem, Shipwire's customer case department ran in circles for weeks trying to understand the problemBy then, the damage was doneShipwire then refused to compensate me for the loss claiming that I should have purchased their insurance to cover such lossesAfter months or back and forth discussion on this, we finally settled the matter, but I needed to eat $1,in losses and I needed to buy their insurance coverage to insure against future lossesExpecting Shipwire to be perfect isn't reasonableHowever, expecting them to cap losses and to act honorably when mistakes occur is reasonableUnfortunately, that's not how Shipwire operatesTaking out insurance for fire, flood or theft makes sense to meAsking customers to insure against Shipwire's own incompetence is outrageousBy the way, the deductible for this insurance is either $or $1,depending on the plan you chooseEven if you buy insurance, you can loose $1,in inventory each year with no recourseWhen I finally decided to move to another provider, I asked Shipwire to return my inventory and the inventory went missing againShipwire claimed that the inventory was lost by the carrier but could not provide tracking numbersAfter weeks of back-and-forth calls and emails they finally submitted the claim to their insurance company â ¢ Shipwire claims that they save customers money because customers can place orders in multiple warehouses and ship to the customer from the closest locationWhile that sounds good in theory, it is only true in practice if the package sizes in various locations are the sameSince Shipwire doesn't own the warehouses, the packages aren't consistent warehouse-to-warehouseAn item shipped a shorter distance may be sent in a box that larger than one available in a distant warehouseThis means that you won't get the savings you might expectLikewise, US warehouses may automatically breakdown cases to fulfill orders, but foreign warehouses may notThat means you need to contact the foreign warehouse and initiate a "Special Project" to have this doneIt's a pain in the neck to do this each time the contents of a case need to be removed for fulfillment and such projects take days right nowYour customers will need to wait days before the order is shipped â ¢ Customer support is a game of telephone --- When a problem occurs, or a project needs to be initiated, Shipwire customer care passes the request to another group within Shipwire that then contacts the employees at the various warehousesAs one might imagine, this is inefficient and leads to plenty of miscommunication Hidden Charges - Shipwire's order pricing is misleadingWhen a customer uses Shipwire to fulfill, they are forced to use Shipwire's FedEx, UPS, and other carrier accountsAny discounts that you might normally receive from
There are only two types of Shipwire customers - Those who are bitterly disappointed, and those that will be once they have used Shipwire long enough to uncover this service's many flaws. Shipwire has an "F" rating with the Revdex.com and for good reasons.
Below is a summary of some of the issues I've encountered followed by a more detailed description of the problems and causes. I closed my account with Shipwire and have transferred my business to another provider. This saddens me because I had hoped Shipwire would be a shipping partner that could help build my business. They were not and so I've moved on.
Summary:
-Loses your inventory and then won't compensate you for the loss.
-Hidden charges / misleading pricing.
-Poorly trained and ineffective customer service.
-Inconsistent policies from warehouse to warehouse.
-Inability to handle wholesale orders.
-Poorly packed items.
-Known service issues not reported to customers.
-Other issues too numerous to describe.
Shipwire Isn't a Fulfillment Company - Although you would not know it from their web site, Shipwire isn't a fulfillment company. They are really a web service that hooks your web site to various warehouses that sub-contract to them. This business structure has profound ramifications for customers:
â?¢ Since each warehouse operates independently, there is no mechanism in place to coordinate shipping practices --the most important of which is scanning products during packing to ensure that the correct product is shipped to customers. Shipwire warehouses don't scan product UPC bar codes when fulfilling orders. Rather, they rely on employees pack the right items based on looking at the product package. This means that fulfillment is subject to human error and sometimes those errors can be catastrophic. Over the years, I've had consistent issues with Shipwire mis-shipping product to customers. The most serious case occurred when Shipwire began fulfilling a case (six units) of product to customers who had only ordered one unit. This resulted in $4,000 worth of lost inventory. When I alerted Shipwire to the problem, Shipwire's customer case department ran in circles for 3 weeks trying to understand the problem. By then, the damage was done. Shipwire then refused to compensate me for the loss claiming that I should have purchased their insurance to cover such losses. After months or back and forth discussion on this, we finally settled the matter, but I needed to eat $1,000 in losses and I needed to buy their insurance coverage to insure against future losses. Expecting Shipwire to be perfect isn't reasonable. However, expecting them to cap losses and to act honorably when mistakes occur is reasonable. Unfortunately, that's not how Shipwire operates. Taking out insurance for fire, flood or theft makes sense to me. Asking customers to insure against Shipwire's own incompetence is outrageous. By the way, the deductible for this insurance is either $500 or $1,000 depending on the plan you choose. Even if you buy insurance, you can loose $1,000 in inventory each year with no recourse. When I finally decided to move to another provider, I asked Shipwire to return my inventory and the inventory went missing again. Shipwire claimed that the inventory was lost by the carrier but could not provide tracking numbers. After weeks of back-and-forth calls and emails they finally submitted the claim to their insurance company.
â?¢ Shipwire claims that they save customers money because customers can place orders in multiple warehouses and ship to the customer from the closest location. While that sounds good in theory, it is only true in practice if the package sizes in various locations are the same. Since Shipwire doesn't own the warehouses, the packages aren't consistent warehouse-to-warehouse. An item shipped a shorter distance may be sent in a box that larger than one available in a distant warehouse. This means that you won't get the savings you might expect. Likewise, US warehouses may automatically breakdown cases to fulfill orders, but foreign warehouses may not. That means you need to contact the foreign warehouse and initiate a "Special Project" to have this done. It's a pain in the neck to do this each time the contents of a case need to be removed for fulfillment and such projects take 5 days right now. Your customers will need to wait 5 days before the order is shipped.
â?¢ Customer support is a game of telephone --- When a problem occurs, or a project needs to be initiated, Shipwire customer care passes the request to another group within Shipwire that then contacts the employees at the various warehouses. As one might imagine, this is inefficient and leads to plenty of miscommunication.
Hidden Charges - Shipwire's order pricing is misleading. When a customer uses Shipwire to fulfill, they are forced to use Shipwire's FedEx, UPS, and other carrier accounts. Any discounts that you might normally receive from
Poor Quality & Even Worse Ethics There are only two types of Shipwire customers - Those who are bitterly disappointed, and those that will be once they have used Shipwire long enough to uncover this service's many flawsShipwire has an "F" rating with the Revdex.com and for good reasons Below is a summary of some of the issues I've encountered followed by a more detailed description of the problems and causesI closed my account with Shipwire and have transferred my business to another providerThis saddens me because I had hoped Shipwire would be a shipping partner that could help build my businessThey were not and so I've moved on Summary: -Loses your inventory and then won't compensate you for the loss -Hidden charges / misleading pricing -Poorly trained and ineffective customer service -Inconsistent policies from warehouse to warehouse -Inability to handle wholesale orders -Poorly packed items -Known service issues not reported to customers -Other issues too numerous to describe Shipwire Isn't a Fulfillment Company - Although you would not know it from their web site, Shipwire isn't a fulfillment companyThey are really a web service that hooks your web site to various warehouses that sub-contract to themThis business structure has profound ramifications for customers: â ¢ Since each warehouse operates independently, there is no mechanism in place to coordinate shipping practices --the most important of which is scanning products during packing to ensure that the correct product is shipped to customersShipwire warehouses don't scan product UPC bar codes when fulfilling ordersRather, they rely on employees pack the right items based on looking at the product packageThis means that fulfillment is subject to human error and sometimes those errors can be catastrophicOver the years, I've had consistent issues with Shipwire mis-shipping product to customersThe most serious case occurred when Shipwire began fulfilling a case (six units) of product to customers who had only ordered one unitThis resulted in $4,worth of lost inventoryWhen I alerted Shipwire to the problem, Shipwire's customer case department ran in circles for weeks trying to understand the problemBy then, the damage was doneShipwire then refused to compensate me for the loss claiming that I should have purchased their insurance to cover such lossesAfter months or back and forth discussion on this, we finally settled the matter, but I needed to eat $1,in losses and I needed to buy their insurance coverage to insure against future lossesExpecting Shipwire to be perfect isn't reasonableHowever, expecting them to cap losses and to act honorably when mistakes occur is reasonableUnfortunately, that's not how Shipwire operatesTaking out insurance for fire, flood or theft makes sense to meAsking customers to insure against Shipwire's own incompetence is outrageousBy the way, the deductible for this insurance is either $or $1,depending on the plan you chooseEven if you buy insurance, you can loose $1,in inventory each year with no recourseWhen I finally decided to move to another provider, I asked Shipwire to return my inventory and the inventory went missing againShipwire claimed that the inventory was lost by the carrier but could not provide tracking numbersAfter weeks of back-and-forth calls and emails they finally submitted the claim to their insurance company â ¢ Shipwire claims that they save customers money because customers can place orders in multiple warehouses and ship to the customer from the closest locationWhile that sounds good in theory, it is only true in practice if the package sizes in various locations are the sameSince Shipwire doesn't own the warehouses, the packages aren't consistent warehouse-to-warehouseAn item shipped a shorter distance may be sent in a box that larger than one available in a distant warehouseThis means that you won't get the savings you might expectLikewise, US warehouses may automatically breakdown cases to fulfill orders, but foreign warehouses may notThat means you need to contact the foreign warehouse and initiate a "Special Project" to have this doneIt's a pain in the neck to do this each time the contents of a case need to be removed for fulfillment and such projects take days right nowYour customers will need to wait days before the order is shipped â ¢ Customer support is a game of telephone --- When a problem occurs, or a project needs to be initiated, Shipwire customer care passes the request to another group within Shipwire that then contacts the employees at the various warehousesAs one might imagine, this is inefficient and leads to plenty of miscommunication Hidden Charges - Shipwire's order pricing is misleadingWhen a customer uses Shipwire to fulfill, they are forced to use Shipwire's FedEx, UPS, and other carrier accountsAny discounts that you might normally receive from
Poor Quality & Even Worse Ethics
There are only two types of Shipwire customers - Those who are bitterly disappointed, and those that will be once they have used Shipwire long enough to uncover this service's many flaws. Shipwire has an "F" rating with the Revdex.com and for good reasons.
Below is a summary of some of the issues I've encountered followed by a more detailed description of the problems and causes. I closed my account with Shipwire and have transferred my business to another provider. This saddens me because I had hoped Shipwire would be a shipping partner that could help build my business. They were not and so I've moved on.
Summary:
-Loses your inventory and then won't compensate you for the loss.
-Hidden charges / misleading pricing.
-Poorly trained and ineffective customer service.
-Inconsistent policies from warehouse to warehouse.
-Inability to handle wholesale orders.
-Poorly packed items.
-Known service issues not reported to customers.
-Other issues too numerous to describe.
Shipwire Isn't a Fulfillment Company - Although you would not know it from their web site, Shipwire isn't a fulfillment company. They are really a web service that hooks your web site to various warehouses that sub-contract to them. This business structure has profound ramifications for customers:
â?¢ Since each warehouse operates independently, there is no mechanism in place to coordinate shipping practices --the most important of which is scanning products during packing to ensure that the correct product is shipped to customers. Shipwire warehouses don't scan product UPC bar codes when fulfilling orders. Rather, they rely on employees pack the right items based on looking at the product package. This means that fulfillment is subject to human error and sometimes those errors can be catastrophic. Over the years, I've had consistent issues with Shipwire mis-shipping product to customers. The most serious case occurred when Shipwire began fulfilling a case (six units) of product to customers who had only ordered one unit. This resulted in $4,000 worth of lost inventory. When I alerted Shipwire to the problem, Shipwire's customer case department ran in circles for 3 weeks trying to understand the problem. By then, the damage was done. Shipwire then refused to compensate me for the loss claiming that I should have purchased their insurance to cover such losses. After months or back and forth discussion on this, we finally settled the matter, but I needed to eat $1,000 in losses and I needed to buy their insurance coverage to insure against future losses. Expecting Shipwire to be perfect isn't reasonable. However, expecting them to cap losses and to act honorably when mistakes occur is reasonable. Unfortunately, that's not how Shipwire operates. Taking out insurance for fire, flood or theft makes sense to me. Asking customers to insure against Shipwire's own incompetence is outrageous. By the way, the deductible for this insurance is either $500 or $1,000 depending on the plan you choose. Even if you buy insurance, you can loose $1,000 in inventory each year with no recourse. When I finally decided to move to another provider, I asked Shipwire to return my inventory and the inventory went missing again. Shipwire claimed that the inventory was lost by the carrier but could not provide tracking numbers. After weeks of back-and-forth calls and emails they finally submitted the claim to their insurance company.
â?¢ Shipwire claims that they save customers money because customers can place orders in multiple warehouses and ship to the customer from the closest location. While that sounds good in theory, it is only true in practice if the package sizes in various locations are the same. Since Shipwire doesn't own the warehouses, the packages aren't consistent warehouse-to-warehouse. An item shipped a shorter distance may be sent in a box that larger than one available in a distant warehouse. This means that you won't get the savings you might expect. Likewise, US warehouses may automatically breakdown cases to fulfill orders, but foreign warehouses may not. That means you need to contact the foreign warehouse and initiate a "Special Project" to have this done. It's a pain in the neck to do this each time the contents of a case need to be removed for fulfillment and such projects take 5 days right now. Your customers will need to wait 5 days before the order is shipped.
â?¢ Customer support is a game of telephone --- When a problem occurs, or a project needs to be initiated, Shipwire customer care passes the request to another group within Shipwire that then contacts the employees at the various warehouses. As one might imagine, this is inefficient and leads to plenty of miscommunication.
Hidden Charges - Shipwire's order pricing is misleading. When a customer uses Shipwire to fulfill, they are forced to use Shipwire's FedEx, UPS, and other carrier accounts. Any discounts that you might normally receive from