Onward Package Protection covers lost, stolen, and damaged items that fit the following criteria. Review the policies to understand what lost, stolen, and damaged items Onward will cover.
Note: When refunding an item, Onward covers the subtotal, shipping costs and taxes. The Onward premium is not included.
When replacing an item, Onward covers the subtotal of the order, the Onward premium, shipping costs, and taxes. Onward does not pay custom/duty fees.
-> Lost Items Policies
Packages presumed to be lost
- Order issues for packages presumed to be lost by the carrier (where the status is not “delivered”) must be filed no sooner than 7 days after the last tracking update for United States domestic shipments (20 days for international shipments, including Canada unless a Canadian merchant is shipping within Canada in which case the 7 day domestic shipment timeline applies) and within 30 days from the last checkpoint.
Invalid address or delivery barriers
- Sometimes carriers cannot deliver the customer’s package due to an invalid address or other unexpected delivery barriers. At this point, the carrier might return the package to the sender/retailer. The customer’s package is not actually lost, thus Onward does not cover this. In instances where the item is being returned to the sender and is reusable, customers will be referred to the retailer.
- The exception is retailers that ship perishable items (e.g. food, a mattress that cannot be reused).
Only part of the order delivered
- If the customer ordered several items in one package but only part of the order arrived and there is no evidence of tampering, Onward does not cover the order issue. The customer will be referred to the retailer.
- If a single order is being shipped in multiple packages and one package does not arrive, Onward will cover the order issue and reorder or refund the value of the undelivered package.
- If the retailer forgets to ship an item from the customer’s order, the customer needs to reach out to the retailer to have the missing items fulfilled.
Packages labeled “return to sender”
- Onward does not cover packages labeled return to sender because the order has been sent back to the retailer. Items are returned to sender when a customer provides an invalid or undeliverable address or refuses a delivery.
- At our discretion, we may cover the order issue if the returned item is perishable or if the retailer is unable to reuse it.*
- Onward covers the customer’s order if the package gets lost in-transit back to the sender.*
*Please note: Onward Package Protection timeframes for filing apply.
Order stuck in customs
- Onward cannot cover when a customer’s order is stuck in international borders/customs.
- The customer’s next step is to pay the customs fees in order to receive the package.
- If Onward replaces something the customer has already paid customs on, under Onward’s discretion, Onward can approve and pay customs the second time.
Order marked as unfulfilled or unshipped
- If the customer’s order is marked as unfulfilled or unshipped, the order hasn’t been fulfilled yet by the retailer (retailer could be low on inventory of the items, internal delays with the fulfillment center, etc.).
- Onward does not control how quickly the retailer ships the customer’s order. Onward Package Protection is not yet in action because the order has not shipped.
Order issue filed too soon
- If the customer is filing an order issue the same day that the package was marked as delivered, at our discretion Onward may ask you to wait up to 2 business days. Carriers (FedEx, USPS, UPS, DHL, etc.) sometimes prematurely mark the package as delivered while it’s still in transit.
-> Stolen Items Policies
Delivered but missing package
- Upon request, Onward can require additional documentation (e.g. proof of identity, address, notary, etc.).
- In the course of its investigation, Onward may require evidence of a filed police report should it be deemed merited. After filing your claim, Onward will contact you if we determine a police report is required.
- In this case, the Customer files the police report and includes an explanation that Onward is a package protection company that has protected the customer’s package that has been stolen. The customer will explain that in order to process the claim, Onward is requiring a police report. Once filed, the customer sends Onward the police report PDF & number in the order issue.
Note: Depending upon the jurisdiction, a false police report may be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony.
**Order issues for packages marked “delivered” yet not received are considered by Onward as stolen and must be filed 2 days after “delivery date” but no longer than 15 days to ensure it was not misdelivered or easily found around the premises.
Delivered to wrong address
- If the customer input the correct address at checkout and the package was delivered to the wrong address, Onward considers this as stolen and we will replace the order on behalf of the customer.
-> General Policies
Input wrong address
- If the customer entered the wrong address at the time of order, Onward does not cover this.
- The customer needs to reach out to the retailer to remedy the incorrect address.
Quality control
- If the customer is unsatisfied with their product, Onward is not a product replacement plan and the order issue cannot be approved.
- The customer needs to reach out to the retailer. This request may be covered under the retailer’s return policy.
Too late to file
- Onward can action an order issue that is filed within the bounds of our domestic/international timeline policy. If an order issue is filed outside of this timeline, Onward will deny the order issue according to these policies:
- Order issues for packages marked “delivered” yet not received and where there is no evidence of “porch piracy” must be made 2 days after “delivery date” but no longer than 15 days to ensure it was not misdelivered or easily found around the premises.
- Order issues for packages presumed to be lost by the carrier (where the status is not “delivered”) must be filed no sooner than 7 days after the scheduled delivery date for United States domestic shipments (20 days for international shipments, including Canada unless a Canadian merchant is shipping within Canada in which case the 7 day domestic shipment timeline applies) and within 30 days from the last checkpoint.
Expedited shipping hasn’t arrived
- If the customer’s package is delayed for whatever reason, Onward will not cover it.
- Carriers update their website with expected delays due to inclement weather or other barriers to expected delivery.
- If the customer paid for expedited shipping but the package arrives outside of the expected window, Onward will not cover it.
Payment installment companies
- For payment installments (Sezzle, Afterpay, etc.), it is the customer’s responsibility to pay the payment installment company directly.
- Once Onward refunds the customer for their order, the customer must pay their installments to the payment installment company directly.
No tracking information
- Onward reserves the right to deny order issues where no tracking number/information is available. In these instances, Onward will reach out to the retailer to see if one can be provided.
Package in Pre-Shipment
- Onward reserves the right to deny order issues where package tracking is marked as “pre-shipment”.
Non-sanctioned shipping address
- Onward is based in the United States of America. Due to shipping policies in the US, Onward will not cover order issues for items shipped to countries that are not sanctioned by the US. List available here
Closed order issues
- If a customer does not respond within 5 days, Onward will automatically close the order issues. Customers can open the order issues back up by responding to the original thread.
Didn’t want Onward
- If the customer’s package has not shipped, Onward can refund the Onward premium.
- If the item has shipped, Onward is already protecting the package and cannot refund the customer.
Checkout requires ID verification
- Onward doesn’t upload our employee’s proof of ID to replace the customer’s order.
- If the customer ordered from a store that requires the extra ID verification step, Onward can offer the customer a refund instead to protect each party’s identity.
For any inquiries, get in touch at help@useonward.com
