Sam Amico
It is often said that no less than half of life is just showing up on time. But to Sam’s Club, showing up on time is apparently everything.
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At least, that’s what one delivery truck driver relayed on TikTok, accusing the chain store of telling him to throw out his shipment after he arrived 30 minutes late.
“Let me show you guys something real quick,” the TikToker who goes by Zeek says in the video. “You guys see all this product right here? Brand new. Nothing is wrong with it. Everything is still intact. So, I came to deliver to the Sam’s Club, I’m not gonna disclose the location where I’m at, but I came, I was 30 minutes late. And they rejected my load.”
This actually is not entirely uncommon. Stores turn away late deliveries all the time. But the size of this shipment made it seem as if Sam’s Club was being a little too strict. Some serious backlash ensued because of the store’s decision, too.
Sam’s Club Tells Workers to Throw Away Brand New Products
“They said they were not gonna unload me and they refused to do anything about it,” Zeek wrote. “They just told me, call your dispatcher and figure it out. So, 3 hours later and now we came down to a solution. The receiver told me I could book an appointment until Tuesday; right now it’s Sunday. And the shipper told me if I wasn’t willing to reschedule, to just throw everything away and just do whatever I want after that.”
Throw everything away? Yeah, sounds a bit overly harsh, don’t you think?
It’s unfortunate, but it appears this is the way things so often work in the world of those who sell goods, and those who deliver it.
“Zeek’s post highlights the issue with a lot of business models,” wrote Mustafa Gatollari of Distractify. “In terms of straight monetary value, businesses could actually end up receiving more money for not accepting a late shipment depending on the agreement with the shipping company and their insurance coverage for late deliveries.”
As an interesting aside, the truck driver’s account has now gone dark and the video is no linger available.
Sam’s Club is not the only one that does this if a truck driver is late for their appointment. Their load can be rejected at any given time. If they know they are going to be late call ahead. It has happened to my husband. He has had to reschedule or bring the load back. It’s happening all over.
But the stores are always out of stock. The retail store wonders people shop online. So does it make sense turn a delivery away, no but that is retail.
There are some MASSIVE issues with both the TikToker’s claims, and many of the claims made in this article.
1. The SHIPPER told Zeek they could either reschedule, or throw the material away. SAM’S CLUB is NOT the shipper! They are the RECEIVER. Sam’s Club never gave them permission to throw the material away.
2. The shipper was being sarcastic when they told the carrier they could throw the material away. Why? Because appropriate paperwork would need to be filed to account for where the material goes. If the material does not go to the agreed upon destination, then the CARRIER is held responsible for it.
When the shipper said they could toss the material, they were being facetious. It’s like saying, “If you’re so desperate to not deliver the material, then don’t. It’s not my responsibility. It’s yours. You deal with the repercussions.”
3. It would make NO SENSE for either party to genuinely suggest they could toss the material. Neither the shipper nor the receiver are under any obligation to pay Zeek to return the material. Why would they sincerely tell him to throw the material away? Not only would they need to pay for the freight again, but they would need to pay for another carrier to transport the goods.
4. It’s not uncommon for late drivers to be rejected. HOWEVER, this is NOT the same as the material being rejected. When a driver is rejected, the material still needs to be delivered – just at a later point. In rare cases, a driver can be banned from a facility, where another driver would need to deliver the goods – this is incredibly uncommon though.
5. What Mustafa claimed is blatantly false. Businesses do NOT profit by rejecting loads merely because they’re late. Insurance covers damaged and stolen goods, not late goods.
Furthermore, the material wasn’t rejected. Sam’s Club told Zeek he needed to reschedule his appointment. If Sam’s Club could somehow profit off of the shipper by doing this… why did the SHIPPER tell the driver to throw the goods away?
6. Zeek claimed he gave the goods to a local church. This didn’t happen. A.) The material didn’t belong to him, therefore he could not give it away. B.) If he was granted permission to give it away, he would need paperwork expressing this. C.) It was product Sam’s Club ordered – the shipper is obligated to have the material shipped to Sam’s Club. If they gave the carrier permission to throw the freight away, and were serious, it would cost them tens of thousands of dollars.
7. The only other way Zeek could have done what he wanted with the material is if ownership of the material was granted to him or his company. This means they would owe taxes on the material they gave away.
The reason the videos were deleted, along with Zeek’s account, is probably because he got in trouble for lying. He may have even gotten fired. If a truck driver for my company made such bogus claims, I would fire them immediately.
I have roughly 8 years experience of dispatching trucks. None of what he claimed made sense.