I think LTT Store needs to review how they manage their stock

[TheRobbit]

I recently ordered the Uncle Linus water bottle and the bonus bin dad hat. When it transferred from Canada to the US at some point my apartment number got lost and after making it all the way to Texas my package got an instant return to sender. So I reached out to support who at the time said the best they could do was let me pick something of equal value and get something else from the bonus bin which was only the stickers. I asked if they could just resend my package when it got back to them even offering to repay the shipping fees, that's when the problem came up. They apparently have no way of knowing when returning items hit the warehouse. As far as I can tell, they don't know what happens to items that are no longer sold get returned at all. Eventually, I was notified they were doing a re-order of the water bottle to help deal with people that had issues like mine. At that point I was like sure I'm losing out on the free hat but at least I'll actually get what I paid for. This was until I got my box with a "Trust me bro" sticker which made me realize I don't think I do anymore since I couldn't get my item which was most definitely sitting in their warehouse somewhere. I want to be clear the staff was very nice and helped me to the best of their ability this is a system/procedure issue that I think needs to be addressed not a personnel issue. I can't be that mad I have the bottle it's great and I like the design but I probably won't be buying anything that's in limited supply again. I didn't want to put this as a review on my order because the water bottle is great and I don't want my system suggestion dragging down a perfectly fine product.

[dizmo]

It's not an issue with LTT, it's an issue with the way packages are handled when they're undeliverable. More often than not, they're abandoned. It's not worth it to LTT to pay the return shipping on the item, invest the time in unboxing it, checking it over, adding it back to stock, etc etc. There's a good chance that your item is in fact not sitting in the LTT warehouse somewhere (also I believe they ship with a third party so it wouldn't be their warehouse at all), but rather is sitting in a USPS facility waiting to be auctioned off in a lot.

[aisle9]

I mean, for one, the carrier not knowing your apartment number isn't LMG's fault. Every major carrier/courier I can think of in the US (and presumably in Canada) uses a barcode or QR code to route the package, so the address number being torn off of the label shouldn't matter. I guess I don't follow how only your apartment number would have gotten lost.

 

Second point, I'm actually going to defend LMG a bit here, there really is no way of knowing exactly when returned items make it back to the mothership. In the US, anyway, and I'm again assuming Canada's carriers handle things roughly the same way. When LMG sends the package to you, they want to know when it arrives as much as they want you to know. Once the package gets returned, most carriers will indicate that it was RTS, and you may or may not ever get another tracking update before it arrives. You may not even get one when it arrives. Originating packages are handled much differently than returned packages, and LMG probably doesn't have any idea when a returned package gets back to the warehouse. That's not their problem. It's the postal carrier's.

[TheRobbit]

6 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

I mean, for one, the carrier not knowing your apartment number isn't LMG's fault. Every major carrier/courier I can think of in the US (and presumably in Canada) uses a barcode or QR code to route the package, so the address number being torn off of the label shouldn't matter. I guess I don't follow how only your apartment number would have gotten lost.

 

Second point, I'm actually going to defend LMG a bit here, there really is no way of knowing exactly when returned items make it back to the mothership. In the US, anyway, and I'm again assuming Canada's carriers handle things roughly the same way. When LMG sends the package to you, they want to know when it arrives as much as they want you to know. Once the package gets returned, most carriers will indicate that it was RTS, and you may or may not ever get another tracking update before it arrives. You may not even get one when it arrives. Originating packages are handled much differently than returned packages, and LMG probably doesn't have any idea when a returned package gets back to the warehouse. That's not their problem. It's the postal carrier's.

I do not blame them for the failed delivery at all but if a package is returned to their inventory is not noted anywhere? My address that’s attached to my order is on the box. I’m not expecting it to be a particularly fast process but slow is better than never. I don’t know how relevant my experience is but I’ve been part time delivering for Amazon for years and when we have a failed delivery the the warehouse knows that package is back in the warehouse and works to get the delivery completed within a matter of hours once they get the package back. Like I said I’m not expecting that kind of response time but even if it can be resent within 3-4 weeks would be better.

[aisle9]

4 minutes ago, TheRobbit said:

I do not blame them for the failed delivery at all but if a package is returned to their inventory is not noted anywhere? My address that’s attached to my order is on the box. I’m not expecting it to be a particularly fast process but slow is better than never. I don’t know how relevant my experience is but I’ve been part time delivering for Amazon for years and when we have a failed delivery the the warehouse knows that package is back in the warehouse and works to get the delivery completed within a matter of hours once they get the package back. Like I said I’m not expecting that kind of response time but even if it can be resent within 3-4 weeks would be better.

There's the rest of the world, and then there's Amazon. Amazon handles most of its shipping itself, so it has total control of the ecosystem from start to finish. LMG doesn't own a fleet of 767s or have an army of contractors to haul goods for them, and they don't have anywhere near the level of control over their shipping that Amazon does..

[TheRobbit]

2 minutes ago, aisle9 said:

There's the rest of the world, and then there's Amazon. Amazon handles most of its shipping itself, so it has total control of the ecosystem from start to finish. LMG doesn't own a fleet of 767s or have an army of contractors to haul goods for them, and they don't have anywhere near the level of control over their shipping that Amazon does..

I think I’m not doing a good job getting across what I’m trying to say. Once all the shipping is done and the package is back wherever they store their merchandise wouldn’t they at some point be notified or become aware that they have those items back? From that point forward it would be nice if they could resend the item. Otherwise what happens to those items? if they’re just thrown away that seems pretty wasteful, I would least feel better if I found what I ordered was donated to a homeless shelter or something. But as far as I can tell that box of goods is just in the ether forever.

[TheRobbit]

33 minutes ago, dizmo said:

It's not an issue with LTT, it's an issue with the way packages are handled when they're undeliverable. More often than not, they're abandoned. It's not worth it to LTT to pay the return shipping on the item, invest the time in unboxing it, checking it over, adding it back to stock, etc etc. There's a good chance that your item is in fact not sitting in the LTT warehouse somewhere (also I believe they ship with a third party so it wouldn't be their warehouse at all), but rather is sitting in a USPS facility waiting to be auctioned off in a lot.

I should have mentioned I did go speak with USPS directly trying to stop the package before it could leave my local station and they confirmed it was on route back to wherever it was shipped from. I guess that could be an intermediary but my conversation with support did not lead me to believe that’s the case.

[digipen79]

On 6/10/2023 at 9:20 PM, TheRobbit said:

I think I’m not doing a good job getting across what I’m trying to say. Once all the shipping is done and the package is back wherever they store their merchandise wouldn’t they at some point be notified or become aware that they have those items back? From that point forward it would be nice if they could resend the item. Otherwise what happens to those items? if they’re just thrown away that seems pretty wasteful, I would least feel better if I found what I ordered was donated to a homeless shelter or something. But as far as I can tell that box of goods is just in the ether forever.

They may not even know that it came back to them, depending on what their shipping looks like and how they handle small packages vs. large shipments. If it's a small package it's unlikely to get noticed as a return unless they have a process in place specifically for that, assuming it ever even got back to them in the first place. If they have a hiccup similar to what happened with the original shipment, then that package stays with the USPS to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, as previously stated, and who's to say that LMG even sees it again. Even if they did get it back, it might not be in the right hands to go back into inventory or to be re-shipped to you. There's a lot of variables at play here that we don't have answers for.

[Adam Pilolla]

When a package is returned-to-sender, there is no guarantee of when, or even if, that package will actually make its way back into our inventory. I think a few people in this thread have done a good job articulating why that is, but that's the reality and not something we readily have the ability to change. I totally get how that's frustrating though; we're not stoked about it either.

 

Since that's the case, in a return-to-sender scenario our agents will typically offer you some other type of solution, including sending you an identical package right away if remaining inventory exists, but if that's not the case then the only options remaining would be a refund, store credit, or different products of the same/similar value.

 

In your case I think the agent you spoke with was not aware, at first, that we were going to have extras of that particular item coming in. So that's an internal communication thing which I'll take responsibility for. If that agent had known I'm certain they would've offered you that solution right away; sorry for the confusion!

[TheRobbit]

On 6/13/2023 at 2:14 PM, Adam Pilolla said:

When a package is returned-to-sender, there is no guarantee of when, or even if, that package will actually make its way back into our inventory. I think a few people in this thread have done a good job articulating why that is, but that's the reality and not something we readily have the ability to change. I totally get how that's frustrating though; we're not stoked about it either.

 

Since that's the case, in a return-to-sender scenario our agents will typically offer you some other type of solution, including sending you an identical package right away if remaining inventory exists, but if that's not the case then the only options remaining would be a refund, store credit, or different products of the same/similar value.

 

In your case I think the agent you spoke with was not aware, at first, that we were going to have extras of that particular item coming in. So that's an internal communication thing which I'll take responsibility for. If that agent had known I'm certain they would've offered you that solution right away; sorry for the confusion!

I get that now from my conversation with the rep (who was wonderful by the way even through my frustration shout out to Mitchell) I was under the impression that the product would return to your warehouse and then not be cataloged back into stock or waste/donation which of course would be an issue. I understand now that more than likely it was returned to an intermediary that did whatever they do with it.