Published · GeoCliks Field Notes
What should a driver document when a delivery attempt fails and the parcel has to go back?
Before an undelivered parcel leaves the stop, record one specific reason (nobody home, refused, no access, business closed, address problem), a photo of what blocked the drop with the parcel label or stop reference in frame, the time, and every attempt to reach the recipient or dispatch, including any instruction to bring it back. Keep all of it attached to that stop rather than spread across texts and screenshots. That record shows the driver went there and why the drop did not happen; it does not prove why the recipient was unavailable, that an access code was never issued, or that the shipper's address was wrong. Never mark the parcel delivered, or leave it where the delivery instructions forbid, just to avoid a return.
The arguments this week were not about the parcel. They were about the attempt: did the driver actually go there, was the return justified, and who told them to bring it back. A failed attempt with no record turns all three into one person's word against another's. A failed attempt with a reason, a photo and the dispatch reply attached is something a dispatcher, a customer service agent or the driver can look at later.
Checklist: what a failed-attempt record needs
- One reason, picked from a fixed list, not typed from memory at the end of the shift. Free text is fine as a note on top of the reason, not instead of it.
- A photo of what stopped the drop: the locked gate or keypad, the closed shutter, the door with its unit number, the end of the street numbering. Get the parcel label or stop reference in the same frame where you safely can.
- The time of the attempt, recorded at capture rather than when the phone next found signal.
- Every contact attempt: the knock or bell, the call or text to the recipient, the message to dispatch, and what came back, with times.
- The instruction that sent it back. If support or dispatch told you to return the parcel, write down who, when and how, or keep the in-app message with the stop.
- What happens next: notice left, redelivery requested, held at depot, returned to sender. The next driver or the office should not have to guess.
Reason by reason: what to capture and what it cannot show
| Reason | Photograph | Also record | What the record cannot show |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nobody home, or signature needed and nobody to sign | The door with its number or unit visible, parcel label in frame | Bell or knock time, call or text attempts, whether a notice was left | Whether the recipient was out, asleep or simply did not answer |
| No access: gate, keypad, locked lobby or mailroom | The closed gate, keypad or entry panel with the building number | Who you asked for a code, when, and the reply or the lack of one | Whether a code was ever issued to the shipper, the platform or the driver |
| Business closed | The shut storefront with its number, and any posted hours or closed sign | Arrival time compared with the hours on the stop or the sign | Whether it was closed all day or only at that moment |
| Refused | The parcel label, not the person | The name as given and the reason stated, in their words | Whether the refusal reason was valid |
| Address does not exist or cannot be found | The street sign and the nearest numbers either side of the gap | The address exactly as written on the stop, any pin mismatch, the dispatch reply | That the address is wrong in the shipper's own records |
| Inaccessible or unsafe: blocked road, flooding, loose dog | The hazard, from where you are standing safely | Why it was unsafe and whether an alternative was offered | That no safe route existed at any other time |
When a written address and the navigation pin disagree, that is its own exception: record both before deciding the stop is undeliverable. The wrong-pin case is covered in more detail in a separate answer linked below.
Failed attempt vs leaving it anyway vs skipping it
| Option | What the record says | Where it goes wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Mark it failed with a reason and photo, then return or hold it | The driver was there, at this time, and this is what stopped the drop | A return trip still costs time and fuel; the record explains the return but does not decide who pays for it |
| Leave it at a gate or the nearest door and mark it delivered | Delivered, even though the authorised drop never happened | If it goes missing, the delivered record and photo point at the driver; it may also break the delivery instructions |
| Skip the stop with no photo | Nothing was delivered here | Fine when there was genuinely nothing to deliver; wrong for a real attempt, because it hides that the driver went there |
| Bring it back with no record at all | Nothing, until someone asks | The return looks like a choice; any deduction or complaint is argued from memory |
What the postal service writes down
The US Postal Service does not leave undeliverable mail unexplained. Its Domestic Mail Manual says mail that is undeliverable as addressed is endorsed with the reason for nondelivery, and its exhibit lists more than 20 standard endorsements, such as Attempted - Not Known, Insufficient Address, No Such Number, No Such Street and Refused. When a carrier attempts a mailpiece but does not leave it, the PS Form 3849 notice tells the customer what was attempted, why it was not left and what the delivery options are. Private couriers follow their own contracts, but the lesson carries over: a fixed reason, a notice and a next step.
How GeoCliks records a failed stop
- A failed stop cannot be closed without a photo from the workspace and one of six reasons: nobody home, refused, wrong address, closed, inaccessible or other. A note of up to 500 characters can go with it.
- The photo record carries a capture time, a photo code and a content hash taken from the stored file, plus GPS coordinates and a reverse-geocoded address when the device supplied them. The hash only shows whether the image bytes differ from what was recorded; it does not stop edits, and it does not show the driver photographed the right door. GPS can be inaccurate or spoofed, and the address is looked up from those coordinates, so it is not an independent witness.
- A photo taken with no signal is queued and the stop records when the photo was taken. An offline capture is not automatically network-verified just because it uploads later.
- A skip is the one close with no photo, and it is recorded as a skip, so the office can tell 'nothing to deliver' apart from 'went there and could not'.
- A failed stop never sends the recipient a 'delivered' email; their tracking page shows the stop as not delivered with the reason.
- A failed stop still uses one of the month's stops: a stop counts when it is added to a route, delivered or not. A redelivery added to a later route counts again.
Follow-up questions
- What counts as a failed delivery attempt?
- A failed attempt is a stop where the driver went to the address but could not complete an authorised drop or handoff, for example because nobody was there to sign, the building could not be entered, the business was closed, the parcel was refused or the address could not be found. It is different from a skip, where there was nothing to deliver.
- Is a photo of a locked gate enough to prove a delivery attempt?
- On its own it shows a closed gate at the recorded time and place, which is useful context. It is much stronger with the stop reference or parcel label in frame, the reason picked at the stop and the contact attempts logged with times. It still cannot prove that a code was never issued or that the recipient was away.
- Should a driver leave the parcel nearby instead of returning it?
- Only where the delivery instructions or the sender's policy allow that location. Leaving it at a gate or a neighbouring door and marking it delivered turns a failed attempt into a delivered record that points at the driver if the parcel goes missing.
- Who is responsible for the cost of a failed delivery?
- That depends on the contract between the driver, the delivery company and the shipper, and on local law; a photo does not decide it. What a complete failed-attempt record does is show why the return happened and who instructed it, which is the information any adjustment request or complaint will ask for.
- Does a failed stop count against the GeoCliks stop allowance?
- Yes. A stop counts when it is added to a route, whether or not it ends up delivered, and a redelivery added to a later route is a new stop. Allowances reset on the first of each calendar month.