Route ‑ Protection & Tracking

When we first got this app right before the holiday rush, it was PERFECT! Every claim was handled super quick and easily. The pandemic and direct shipping problems with that definitely slowed them down, though I suspect also fast growth because of increased online sales was part of the problem.

We sell mostly lower dollar items, so haven't had a problem getting them replaced or refunded.

I think that there is room for this to be 5 stars again in the future as they catch up and hire more people so that the communication can be better. Overall we have had a great experience, but the slow down in response time has been tricky to navigate.

Updating our review-unfortunately Route has had major bugs and customer service issues of late, and we are de-activating. The slow response times, denials for arbitrary reasons, and billing issues (double billing us multiple times) is worsening our customer service experience, not enhancing it. (ORIGINAL REVIEW: We had some initial bugs implementing Route, but customer support and partnerships teams have been very amenable to my suggestions for improvement, and finding creative solutions that fit our brand ethos and website user experience. We pay for full coverage so it's a little pricey. I will say that the customer paying for Route at checkout was problematic from the start, which is why we went with full service. )

We love Route. This has taken the hassle out of insuring our packages. We’ve had one claim so far and it was handled quickly and successfully per their policies. The customer files claims and the replacements are placed automatically, no more labor on the merchants unlike most solutions. Previously we used Shipsurance through Shopify and the experience kept getting worse and worse, with all of their policies being vague and optional, resulting in never knowing how long claims would take to be eligible and subjecting our customers to extremely long delays as Shipsurance dragged their feet for WEEKS. Route clearly states a claim timeline and so far have completely followed it. We’re glad we switched and are very happy with the coverage.

They were once great. But their customer service changed drastically and not for the better. A change in their code messed up our checkout and our customers could not check out. We dont know how much money in sales we lost due to this. Our guess is between $3000-$5000 in lost sales. I tried to get my account manager to meet with me to talk about my account and strategy but he refused and kept sending me to the automated system. In the past my account manager was amazing and made me feel so supported. In the end he stopped responding to my email and the thread was left unfinished. I was sad to leave an App I once loved so much. But if it isn't servicing your business, as a business owner, you have to move on. I have found a much better solution in another app.

At first the app worked great (early 2020) and there was Merchant support and even a phone number at that time but now no phone number and emails take days even a week for a response. Over the last 6 months the claim dashboard has issues and trying to file the claim is broken. Even the customer gets an error message trying to file the claim. If you have multiple items in the shipment, you have to add photos of every single item so for a box of 100 tiles that arrive broken, you have to add the photos 100 times! One claim was denied for a damaged table top saying it was cosmetic. I only give it 2 stars as it has potential but lacks people that can respond to emails (no phone number is available for any help). They rate a F with the BBB which tells it all. Read the reviews there.

Route is a ripoff. Route controls how much your customers pay to protect their packages. They raise the rates as your claims increase (like it's your fault). Merchants have no control over the claims process so if a customer files a legitimate claim and is denied by Route, the merchant is out of pocket for the replacement. All of this is done while Route sits back collecting all the money your customers pay for shipping protection.

I recently switched to Navidium Shipping Protection, which gives me 100% control over the claims approval process, acts as an upsell in your store so, as the merchant, you get to keep the money charged for shipping protection, AND I get to set the price of the shipping protection for my customers. All for a nominal monthly fee. Its a WIN for me!

Don't download this app. Get Navidium instead.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND! Get this app, it is a no brainer! It adds the trust factor that new customers need to buy on a random website! Even if you're an established brand, it's a great option/service to give your customers because of all of the craziness going on with shipping these days and theft of products on doorsteps. It costs you nothing and the customer has a choice to pay a minimal fee to get incredible protection, so you have nothing to lose. The app is not perfect, but they're trying to provide a great product that they're constantly improving as much as they can within the confines of Shopify's rules, are always very helpful and have great customer support. Give them a try and be patient if things aren't perfect right away. I've had Route since Summer 2020 and have definitely seen a boost in conversions and believe that Route contributed significantly to that increase in conversion.

Route Package Protection effortlessly resolves your order issues regarding lost, damaged, or stolen items at a very affordable price with just a few clicks through their claim portal. Zero hassle, instant solutions. Apart from that, you can track your order right to your doorstep. The staffs are very helpful and always find ways to help you resolve some concerns. The refund is just only for the item cost, not including any shipping costs. They cannot change the shipping addresses of the replacement orders if in case customers have an updated shipping address. So you need to contact the merchant to update it before the replacement order takes place. However, it gives us peace of mind especially if their orders are lost in the way, damaged while in transit, or even those were stolen or orders that are marked delivered but package are not received by the customers. Instead of us reaching out to our shipping partners to look for the orders and where are they or the whereabouts of the packages, Route is there to help us resolve the shipping issue instantly.

Edit: A representative of the company has reached out almost 500 days later and resolved this billing issue and offered an additional incentive for my brand. I was told they have undergone new management which i'm impressed about so far. The decision to edit this review was on my behalf not Routes.

Horrible company!! User BEWARE. I have had a canceled credit card for over 400 days and this company CONTINUES to try to charge the account and bill me when I have told this company MULTIPLE times to remove me from their services and stop billing me, yet they continue to bill a card thats been closed for over a year!! Customer service says they can't remove the app until the bill is paid!!! Shopify customer service please take note of these practices and please launch an investigaton! This is ridiculous this company is trying to make your customers responsible for paying a bill after repeated requests to cancel. They send me billing invoices everyday in my email and is becoming harassing at this point! Shopify please please please investigate this company, something is very unethical here! :(

Edit - Since writing this review we continue to have issues. Route again asked us to replace an order at our expense and promised us reimbursement within the week, it is now going on 2 weeks with daily follow ups where we are repeatedly lied to and told that the money has been paid when it in fact hasn't. They are falsifying information in the dashboard and not making payments even when they say they are - extremely fraudulent and dishonest company. STEER CLEAR UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR MONEY STOLEN. We have since found an honest and efficient company who offers far better and honest service and actually reimburses your money in a timely manner or reimburses direct to the customer.

Honestly have found the whole experience disappointing. When we signed up we didn’t realise we pay for the replacements and reimbursements up front, they refund direct from your Shopify store and create unpaid replacement orders without notifying you, meanwhile Route continues to debit their fee, so we are essentially paying them to provide the service for them and they don’t even tell you that they process claims in this sneaky manner. They debit their money every 2 - 3 days, but then we wait sometimes months for reimbursements so we are out of pocket for long periods. We don’t have an account manager and contact is complicated and confusing. We have also recently learned that we are charged nearly a $50 fee per reimbursement. We were never told this at time of sign up and were not given options. We will be looking for a more honest and reliable provider. Also, expect the customers premiums to go up if your customers actually make claims. Apparently you are penalised for using the claim service.