To avoid fake and refused COD orders, run five short checks before the parcel leaves, starting with a confirmation message in chat. Together they help you catch problem orders before you pay a courier for them. Here is the full routine.
Why COD orders fail after you ship
Cash on delivery lets a buyer order with nothing at stake. No money leaves their account, so placing the order costs them nothing, and so does refusing the parcel at the door. Recent reporting in The Observer BD describes exactly this for small online sellers in Bangladesh: some customers order, then refuse delivery or become unreachable when the rider calls.
The second cause is less dramatic. Not every failed parcel is a fake order. A half-written address, a phone that is switched off, or a buyer who is not home all end the same way, with the parcel coming back. So the fix is not only spotting fakes. It is removing the doubt before the parcel ships.
What a refused parcel costs
The Observer BD points out that sellers may have to pay both the delivery and the return charges, and they also lose the time spent packing and talking to the customer. A large company can absorb a few of these. A small Facebook or Instagram page often cannot.
There is one more cost that is easy to miss. While the parcel travels back, that item is not available to sell to anyone else.
Five checks to run on COD orders before you ship
Run these in order. Each one takes a message or a look at your records.
Confirm the order in chat
Send one message that repeats everything back: the item, size or color, quantity, price, delivery charge, the total to pay, and the address. Ask the customer to reply "confirm."
For example: "Apnar order confirm korar age ekbar mile nin: Blue T-shirt, M size, 1ta. Total 1,250 taka (delivery charge shoho), parcel haate pele dite hobe. Rider apnake call korbe, phone ta chalu rakhben. Thik thakle 'confirm' likhe pathan."
A real buyer will usually reply. Silence at this point is useful information. If you already keep saved replies for common messages, add this confirmation to the list. Then keep the confirmed details in one fixed place so you never dig through the chat scroll to find them.
State the terms before the rider calls
In the same message, or right after it, tell the customer what will happen: the total includes delivery, the rider will call before arriving, the phone must stay on, and the exact cash should be ready. If you have a rule for refused parcels, say it now instead of at the door.
A buyer who has already agreed to the total has less room to be surprised when the rider arrives.
Check the address is complete
A usable address has the area, the road, the house or flat number, a landmark, and a phone number that works. If any of it is missing, ask once, in the same chat. An address a rider cannot find is one of the ordinary reasons parcels come back.
While you are there, check the address against your delivery zones, so the charge you quoted matches where the parcel is going.
Look up the phone number's history
Look in three places, in this order.
First, your own records. Has this number ordered before, and did the parcel arrive or come back? Keep a simple list of numbers that placed false orders or refused parcels, as the Observer BD suggests, and check each new order against it. If you already save each buyer when they order, this takes seconds.
Second, your courier's merchant panel. Some panels show a customer's delivery record. Future Startup reported in 2019 that Pathao added a customer success rate check to its merchant panel. Look at what your own courier's panel offers today, since features change.
Third, outside checkers. Several third-party tools show a number's successful and cancelled parcels across couriers such as Pathao, Steadfast, and RedX. Most are built for website
