In this guide 6 sections
Plants usually die in transit because of dispatch timing, thin packing and too many days in the courier network, not because the stock was poor. A fair decision needs a photo inside the claim window, matched to the batch, the dispatch date and the courier record.
Most losses start before the parcel leaves
Plenty of dead plants had a bad Friday. A parcel dispatched late on a Friday can sit in a depot all weekend, in the dark and without water. The foliage yellows. The root ball dries.
Before blaming the courier, check your own bench. Was the pot watered the day before? Was a bare-root stem lifted from the bed that morning? Was anything sent outside its dormant season? Those answers sit in the growing record.
Variety matters as well. A hardy shrub in a dormant state forgives a lot. A tender fern or a flowering perennial in full leaf forgives almost nothing.
Packing decides whether a plant survives a delay
Good packing assumes the parcel will be late. A collar holds the pot still. The root ball sits in a damp sleeve or a sealed polybag, and bare-root stock travels with moist paper or wood wool around the roots.
Tall stems need a stake and a corner brace, because a loose stem snaps at the first conveyor drop and a snapped leader rarely recovers. Mark the carton live plant on two sides. Inside, a label carries the variety and the planting advice, so the customer knows what healthy looks like on day one.
- Pot collar or wrap so the compost stays put
- Root ball wrapped damp, not dripping
- Stem staked and tips tied in
- Void fill that stops the pot sliding
- Variety label inside and outside
- Pack date written on the carton
Transit time and weather do the rest
Courier scan history tells the story. Count the days between the dispatch scan and the delivery scan, and note any gap at a hub where the parcel stood still. Two days in the network is routine. Five is a red flag.
Weather at both ends matters. Frost in the van kills a tender succulent. Sun on the doorstep bakes a sealed carton. Record the forecast for the destination postcode on dispatch day, and hold back any order headed into hard frost or a heatwave until the weather turns.
Nurseries that log claims against these facts usually find the same few patterns: one courier service, one weekday, one product line, one packer on a busy bench. Without the log you only guess.
The evidence a fair decision needs
Set the claim window in your policy and repeat it on the product page and in the dispatch email, so no customer learns of it too late. A short window suits live goods, since a plant keeps declining after delivery and a late photo proves little about the journey.
Ask for a photo of the whole plant, one of the root ball out of the pot and one of the packaging as it arrived. One brown leaf proves little. Pair them with your own order record.
Check each photo’s date against the delivery scan. A picture taken days after the parcel arrived describes the windowsill, so ask politely whether the plant was watered and where it has been standing since.
- Order number and the customer’s photos with their timestamps
- Batch or growing lot the plant came from
- Pack date and dispatch date
- Courier service, tracking number and scan events
- Delivery note: neighbour, porch or handed over
- Weather at the destination on delivery day
Turn each claim into a decision and a lesson
Agree decisions in advance. Where the record shows a short, clean journey and a poor plant, replace it or credit the order, and flag the batch to the grower. Where it shows a long delay in the network, send the replacement and raise the claim with the courier using the same file.
Review the log monthly. If losses cluster on Thursday dispatches, one courier service or one product line, change the day, the pack or the range before the next season’s peak. Customer service stops being a complaints desk. It turns into the packing bench’s early warning.
Start by adding four columns to your claims sheet, namely batch, dispatch date, courier service and days in transit, and fill them in for every claim still open. Do it today.
Plant claim evidence sheet
One page per claim, split into three blocks. Block one holds order number, product, batch, pack date and dispatch date, and block two lists the courier service, tracking number, scan dates and the delivery note. Block three has boxes for the three customer photos, the date received, the decision and the feedback sent to the grower.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
How long should the claim window be for live plants?
Long enough for a customer to unbox and photograph the plant, yet short enough that neglect at home cannot be the cause. Many nurseries count it in days, not weeks. Say so on the product page.
Should we always replace a plant that arrived dead?
Not always. A replacement is the usual remedy when the evidence points to transit or packing, and the courier claim follows from the same file. Where the photo shows neglect, such as a dry pot left standing for days, explain the finding kindly and offer care advice instead.
What if the courier left the parcel with a neighbour?
Record it on the file. A plant left in a hot porch can spoil within hours, so the delivery note belongs in the evidence beside the photo. Ask the courier for its drop-off photo.
Can software help decide plant claims?
It keeps the batch, dispatch date, courier scans and customer photos on one record, so the agent sees the whole journey without opening six tabs. The monthly review then counts rows, not emails.