For ecommerce merchants
Hidden 3PL Fees: Find the Terms Behind an Unexpected Charge
Hidden 3PL fees are often charges you did not expect or cannot trace to your agreement. An unfamiliar code is a starting point for a check, not proof of an error. Match the fee to its permission, trigger and calculation before querying it.
One free trial audit. Supported invoice CSV, agreed YAML rate card and ShipHero dispatch CSV required. No card required.
Illustrative example · not a customer result
A remote-area fee without an agreed permission
- Invoice charge
- Remote area surcharge — £7.95
- Rate card
- No remote-area surcharge permitted in the applicable complete terms
- Reference
- One identified shipment, with the fee mapped to the correct charge code
- Review finding
- Not permitted by the supplied terms — £7.95 to query
This is a hypothetical contractual check, not a claim that every remote-area fee is invalid or that every free-text code is recognised by the app. If the supplied rate card is incomplete, the outcome is a request for the missing terms, not a confirmed £7.95 discrepancy.
Check carrier pass-through clauses and effective amendments before reaching a conclusion. WarehouseAudit can flag supported unauthorised surcharge codes; it cannot infer the whole agreement from an omitted page.
Three questions for an unexpected 3PL fee
- Is it permitted? Find the clause, appendix or agreed amendment. Check whether a carrier tariff is incorporated and which version applies.
- Did its trigger occur? Remote-area fees need the relevant destination and service rule. Oversize fees need packed parcel measurements. Address corrections need a record of the correction.
- Is the amount right? Establish whether the fee is per parcel, item, event or percentage of an eligible base. Apply the agreed rounding and effective date.
When a fee is allowed but still needs evidence
Suppose a £6 handling fee is permitted for parcels over an agreed size threshold. An invoice code alone does not prove the parcel crossed that threshold. Product dimensions may also differ from the packed parcel. Request the packed measurements and service details.
Without those records, £6 is an unverified charge, not £6 of confirmed overcharging. If the measurements support the trigger and the rate matches, the fee may be correct even if it was unexpected.
Turn the unknown code into an answer
Ask: “For this shipment and £7.95 charge, which agreed term permits the fee, what triggered it, and how was it calculated?” Save the answer alongside the invoice row. If a supplied term explains the charge, update your review rather than retaining a false discrepancy.
The fee-basis guide works through percentage surcharges and the evidence needed for other charge types. If the evidence supports a query, follow the surcharge dispute checklist.
Let WarehouseAudit check supported terms first
Use a 3PL invoice audit to compare supported invoice charges with your rate card and shipment evidence. Review priced differences separately from missing terms, unsupported conditions and missing activity. You decide what to query; WarehouseAudit does not claim refunds automatically.
Upload one invoice and your rate card.
Bring the shipment evidence too. Let WarehouseAudit do the first pass on supported charges, then review the differences and evidence gaps before deciding what to query.
One free trial audit. Supported invoice CSV, agreed YAML rate card and ShipHero dispatch CSV required. No card required.
Need help with the file formats? Ask about preparing your files.