Claims were approved bit that was the only positive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
We never had a claim denied during our time with Route, which was reassuring. Claims were processed quickly and customers received either a refund or replacement, though a handful of times customers were told only a refund was possible. While this worked fine for us, it created confusion because customers expected a choice between replacement or refund.
At the start, we also dealt with a frustrating issue where bots were placing fake orders that only included the Route protection product. This led to bogus email addresses being added to our email program and accounts being created in Shopify for months before we even went live. Eventually, Route put a fix in place to prevent checkout when the protection product was the only item in the cart, which solved the problem.
One concern I had before implementing Route was whether customers might file claims for seedlings damaged after delivery (e.g., from weather rather than transit). I believe this did occur occasionally, though claims were still approved. The reality is that we ship live plants, and shipping delays can cause damage. I think Route underestimated the unique challenges of working with perishable products before agreeing to partner with us.
Ultimately, our biggest disappointment was how the partnership ended. We woke up to an email that Route was offboarding us immediately due to profitability concerns. While they honored coverage for existing customers, there was no notice or transition period. This left us unable to update our website or notify customers before Route was removed as an option. After building policies and customer communications around Route, being cut off with no warning was extremely disruptive and damaging to customer trust.
If Route had offered a notice period and worked more collaboratively, we’d have nothing but good things to say. Unfortunately, the way the relationship ended left us frustrated and disappointed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.
