Abstract:
Will a customer's ordinary order cancellation consultation turn into a "fine ticket" for the courier in the YTO system? Recently, a courier in Hangzhou claimed to have been fined 400 yuan and knocked on the door emotionally to find a customer, Ms. Liu, to "theory". Ms. Liu, who was seven months pregnant, was frightened and diagnosed with "threatened abortion."
Following up, the customer service manager of the Yuantong branch involved said that no matter what the consultation was, as soon as the line came in, it would be changed into a work order, and the courier would be punished. The franchise company could only follow the rules of the headquarters.
On October 19, YTO Express issued an article late at night, denying the claims made by the customer service staff at the aforementioned outlets and stating, “YTO’s customer service calls are registered and classified by headquarters customer service personnel. Incoming calls for inquiries do not constitute complaints.”
YTO also stated that as of 19:00 on October 19, an actual assessment occurred in this incident. The reason was that the processing of customer complaint work orders was overtime, and the assessment amount for the outlet's customer service personnel was 20 yuan.
As an express delivery giant with nearly 5,000 franchisees, the relationship between YTO and its franchisees is quite delicate, and conflicts have broken out between them many times.
Couriers who play an important role in the "last mile" of YTO Express services also have complaints about the company's strict management and fine system.
According to the latest financial report released by YTO Express, in the first half of this year, the company saved 0.1 yuan in "single ticket collection and delivery service costs", accounting for 83% of the "single ticket cost reduction", and the company was able to "save" more than 1.6 billion yuan.
In the first half of the year, YTO achieved revenue of 38.893 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.39%; net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.175 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 73.44%.
As of the close of trading on October 20, YTO Express’ stock price was 17.14 yuan per share, with a total market value of approximately 58.7 billion yuan.
01
The courier came to the pregnant woman’s door after canceling her order, and Yuantong responded late at night
According to 1818 Golden Eye, on October 9, Ms. Liu, who lives in Renhe, Yuhang, Hangzhou, placed an express delivery through Cainiao Wrap, but was told by the YTO courier that the invoice could not be sent.
Since the courier has already clicked "Receive Express", Ms. Liu can only call customer service to cancel the order. During the call, she asked on the phone, "Why could I send it before, but now I can't?" The customer service suggested that she use other express delivery.
During the entire call, Ms. Liu did not make any complaints. But five minutes later, the courier suddenly and hurriedly knocked on Ms. Liu's door and asked her why she wanted to complain about her "attitude problem."
Ms. Liu repeatedly explained that she had not complained, but the courier was still completely out of control. He cried and said: "I can only earn 200 yuan a day, and now you have fined me and confiscated it all."
The courier also said that Ms. Liu complained twice and he would be fined 400 yuan. Later, the courier didn't leave until Ms. Liu called the police on the spot.
Ms. Liu said: "I have been trying to calm down my emotions, but then I was really frightened. I felt that he was going to work hard to deal with this matter, so I felt very uncomfortable at the time and my stomach felt a little tight. (The doctor) told me to rest at home. It is best to walk less and avoid strenuous exercise."
The emergency medical record provided by Ms. Liu on the night of the 9th showed that she was 27 weeks pregnant and was diagnosed by the doctor as "threatened abortion".
Afterwards, Ms. Liu reported it to YTO and received a work order. The subcategory of the problem clearly stated "Salesperson Service Attitude", and the source of acceptance was Cainiao Baobao. She had called Cainiao before, and Cainiao verified that Ms. Liu did not complain about the courier's attitude.
Ms. Liu believes that large companies may have their own assessment standards, but YTO cannot transfer all conflicts to her and the courier. She wants to complain about YTO's inaction and delivery of false work orders.
Regarding the issue of "there will be penalties for entering the line", the customer service manager of YTO Express Hangzhou Yuhang District Renhe Branch said: There is a system. If any express delivery company at YTO headquarters consults, a work order will be issued and the courier will be punished; the penalty price is 100 yuan per item, which will be deducted directly from YTO headquarters.
The customer service supervisor also said helplessly that as a franchise company, it can only follow the rules of the headquarters.
As for Ms. Liu’s incident, the customer service supervisor said that he would criticize and educate the courier, strengthen training, and apply to the leader to transfer the courier out of the area.
Ms. Liu later reported that the YTO franchise company negotiated with her and the company and the customer service manager would each compensate the company 500 yuan. Ms. Liu agreed to this plan and requested that the courier be transferred out of her area.
Late at night on October 19, YTO Express issued a response stating that it would investigate and verify the situation as soon as possible and apologize for the negative physical and mental impact this matter has had on customers.
Yantong said that the franchise outlet involved was the Renhe outlet in Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. After receiving the customer's request to cancel the shipment, it transmitted wrong information to the courier involved, causing the courier to mistakenly believe that he was facing a fine, and was overly emotional and used inappropriate language when communicating with the customer. YTO will fully cooperate with customers to properly handle subsequent related matters.
YTO also stated that the customer service staff of the outlets interviewed said that "if you go to consult, it will be changed into a work order, and the courier will be punished", "if you enter the line, it will be a complaint", "if you tell the headquarters the order number, it will become a complaint", "...a penalty of 100 yuan per item" and other statements are not true.
At the same time, YTO also announced internal data accurate to the second: As of 19:00 on October 19, an actual assessment occurred in this incident. The reason was that the customer complaint work order processing timed out. The assessment amount for the branch customer service personnel was 20 yuan. The time of occurrence was 08:58:59 on October 19.
Currently, YTO has criticized and educated couriers for their inappropriate words and deeds, making it clear that they can only be re-employed after passing the training and will be transferred out of the original service area. At the same time, the person in charge of network management in Zhejiang Province will be punished, and the franchise outlets involved and related customer service personnel will be notified and criticized and ordered to make rectifications.
According to the Yangcheng Evening News, many interviewees mentioned that the "consultation and complaint" mechanism is related to the relatively independent work processes of express delivery companies' customer service and business ends.
Customer service in the express delivery industry generally adopts the "outsourcing" model. When consumers consult the platform customer service about express delivery progress, address modification and other specific services, not all online customer service can answer them. Some questions need to be handled by the corresponding express delivery outlet or courier.
In such a process, the function of the work order is to transfer the issues raised by consumers to the express delivery side and require the outlet to handle them within a specified time.
Complaint work orders are now mainly generated by AI intelligent capture. A staff member at the express delivery site revealed that as long as you contact customer service, no matter what you inquire about, it will be considered a complaint. This is an order placed directly by the system.
Zhuang Jiachi, associate professor at the School of Social Sciences and Psychology at the Central University of Finance and Economics, believes that complaints upon entry are a manifestation of the rough management adopted by the platform in order to enhance user experience and improve problem-solving efficiency.
02
Net profit soared by 70% in the first half of the year, and "cost reduction" fell on the bottom line
Tianyancha shows that YTO Express Co., Ltd. was registered and established in 1992, and was successfully listed on the A-share market in 2016 through a backdoor transaction with Dayang Chuangshi.
According to the company's financial report, YTO claims to be the leading comprehensive express logistics operator in China. The company is based on its self-operated hub transshipment center and flat terminal franchise network.
As of the end of the first half of this year, the company has 4,944 franchisees and more than 70,000 Yuantong Mama Stations; the company has 77 self-operated hub transfer centers across the country and 420 sets of automated sorting equipment.
In YTO's franchise model, the company's collection and delivery work is mainly undertaken by franchisees. Each franchisee is responsible for the collection and delivery of express items in a fixed area. Its terminal outlets and couriers constitute the most terminal network system in the service system, and are responsible for the "last mile" of express delivery services.
According to Yuantong, the company uses a leading information platform to monitor and manage a large number of franchisee networks, and effectively supervises and controls the service quality of the entire network based on a comprehensive standardized system. Assessment indicators include business volume, outlet CCR, timely resolution rate of work orders, timely receipt rate, etc.
Under this mature franchise model, in the first half of 2026, YTO Express' business volume reached 16.278 billion pieces, a year-on-year increase of 9.52%, exceeding the industry average growth rate by 4.5 percentage points.
In the same period, YTO achieved revenue of 38.893 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.39%; it recorded net profit attributable to the parent company of 3.175 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 73.44%.
Among them, the express delivery business contributed revenue of 36.028 billion yuan during the period, a year-on-year increase of 8.4%, accounting for 92.63% of the company's total revenue; the net profit attributable to the parent company was 3.361 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 69.33%.
During the reporting period, the gross profit margin of the company's express delivery business increased by 4.86 percentage points year-on-year to 13.14%. Taken together, the company's overall gross profit margin in the first half of the year was 12.04%, a year-on-year increase of 3.44 percentage points.
During the reporting period, affected by factors such as the continued decline in single-ticket costs and easing industry market competition, the company's single-ticket express delivery product revenue was 2.17 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 1.04%; the single-ticket express product cost was 1.9 yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 5.99%; the single-ticket gross profit was 0.27 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 57.11%.
It is worth noting that of the 0.12 yuan "saved" in the company's single-ticket express product cost, 0.1 yuan comes from "single-ticket collection and delivery service costs", and the "cost reduction" contribution rate exceeds 83%.
Based on the company’s express delivery volume of 16.278 billion items completed in the first half of the year, the company was able to save over 1.6 billion yuan in “single ticket collection and delivery service costs” in the first half of the year.
Caizhongshe pointed out that the "single ticket collection and delivery service costs" are borne by franchisees and couriers. After excluding limited factors such as autonomous vehicle pilots and scale effects, the decrease of 0.10 yuan/order can almost only point to one source, that is, the headquarters has lowered the single ticket distribution fee.
The delivery fee is the basis of the courier's income. A reduction in the delivery fee means that for the same labor effort, the courier's income is shrinking. In other words, YTO has transferred the pressure of cost optimization from the headquarters to the end.
03
The relationship with franchisees is delicate and the assessment of couriers is strict
Although it has a huge franchisee network, the relationship between YTO and its franchisees and employees is very delicate.
According to CCTV, around Double Eleven in 2015, the Yuantong Company site in Nanjing Pukou suddenly "stopped work." At that time, the franchisee revealed that the courier workers stopped working because they were dissatisfied with their wages. The low income of employees was related to the vicious price competition in the market, and the company was actually not making money.
However, some couriers reported that the real reason for the suspension of work is not the level of wages. The key is that the company has too strict requirements for couriers, and the company frequently imposes inhumane fines on them. Last year, he failed to deliver a package in time, and was fined 1,000 yuan after a customer complained. Their monthly income is only three to five thousand, and they cannot afford such a heavy punishment.
According to a report by Economic Observer Network in 2017, in July of that year, express delivery was stranded in Kaifu District, Changsha.
The person in charge of the franchisee in question revealed that the direct reason for the express delivery delay was that its truck was smashed for no reason at the Yuantong Hunan Transshipment Center, which led to a direct conflict with the Yuantong Provincial Company of Hunan Province. The deeper reason for its conflict with the provincial company is YTO's "disguised reduction of distribution fees", increase in order fees and unfair treatment during the listing period.
A former first-level franchisee revealed that before 2016, YTO could easily obtain prices of 1.6 yuan/order (in Yiwu) and 1.8 yuan/order (in general areas), which made it easy for franchisees to make money.
However, as the launch node approaches, YTO has changed the original price of 0.5 yuan/order into a support distribution fee. When the timely sign-off rate is above 99.5%, the franchisee can receive a subsidy of 0.5 yuan, which decreases in sequence. If the timely receipt rate is above 99.5%, the basic distribution fee will be deducted.
Due to the large volume of express delivery, it is difficult to meet the requirement of more than 99.5%, resulting in a rapid reduction in delivery fees. When the first-level franchisees "sneeze", the second-level outlets will "cold".
At the same time, YTO also increased the penalties for Taobao complaints. For every Taobao complaint, franchisees will be fined 50 to 100 yuan, and the appeal mechanism has a high starting point.
According to the popular website "People's Voice", at the end of last year, some netizens in Changde reported that Changde Lixian Yuantong "deducts money from couriers at will, without giving reasons and without detailed deductions, and always imposing fines."
In response to the situation reported by netizens, Changde Postal Administration launched an investigation and verification work on Lixian Yuantong Company. After investigation, Lixian Yuantong Company was assessed by Yuantong headquarters for 27 items, and the headquarters assessment fines averaged more than 20,000 yuan per month.
Lixian Yuantong Co., Ltd. fines couriers and its affiliated terminal outlets on average about 50-75 yuan per month for false signatures, customer complaints, damage and loss of express delivery, etc.
Changde City Postal Administration pointed out that in December, YTO headquarters added a "photograph and sign for receipt" assessment item. Lixian YTO Co., Ltd. was fined more than 1,100 yuan by YTO headquarters in one week because the courier failed to implement the "photograph and sign for receipt" requirement.
In order to encourage couriers to implement "photography and sign for receipt" and reduce the fines imposed on the company by the headquarters, Lixian Yuantong Company proposed through a morning meeting on December 24 that it would simultaneously increase assessment fines.
After the semi-annual report was released, some investors raised questions to YTO Express on the investment platform regarding the 10 cent reduction in single ticket collection and delivery costs in the first half of the year.
In this regard, YTO said that the company's collection and delivery costs are dynamic operating data and are comprehensively affected by multiple factors such as cargo structure, weight, flow direction and settlement rules. The company settles and pays delivery fees in a timely manner in accordance with business rules to protect the legitimate rights and interests of franchisees. It also uses digital and intelligent tools to help franchisees improve quality, reduce costs and increase efficiency, and comprehensively enhance the comprehensive competitiveness of the franchise network.
Some investors also asked sharp questions, "Aren't we now anti-involution? Why did the company's single ticket price drop year-on-year in the first half of the year?"
YTO responded that at present, the company's express delivery prices remain generally stable. As a dynamic operating indicator, single ticket price will fluctuate with seasonal factors, market conditions, cargo structure and weight and other factors. In the future, the company will continue to comprehensively promote intelligent upgrading, use technology to drive quality improvement, reduce costs and increase efficiency, consolidate and enhance the company's core competitiveness, and effectively promote the industry to achieve high-quality and sustainable development.
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