USPS Damaged Goods Claim Filing Nightmare

[david12601]

Recently someone bought a stock from me and it was damaged in shipment....I refunded his money ....he sent it back to me......package was insured ........I have copies of all his documents and mine called so called usps they said file online ok so I spent an hour trying to file online only to be sent in circles anyone have any luck filing a damage claim??

 

[Big Mc]

Recently someone bought a stock from me and it was damaged in shipment....I refunded his money ....he sent it back to me......package was insured ........I have copies of all his documents and mine called so called usps they said file online ok so I spent an hour trying to file online only to be sent in circles anyone have any luck filing a damage claim??

The insurance from the usps is a J O K E !!!! The red tape is not worth the price. No one i know EVER had good luck with a claim. They Just don,t give a damn if you get help or not. I Shall NEVER get there MICKY MOUSE insurance. Good luck. sir. But get ready to ger SCREWED Tommy Mc

 

[moondog]

No, thank God. I sent a Scope I sold a couple of weeks ago USPS. I use the local Ace Hardware that has a postal hub. Know the gals, they know me. When I got $2k insurance, they said you better have the purchase receipt or they won't reimburse you. Just like almost all insurance claims.

 

[SEM]

All shippers demand purchase receipt for insurance claims, Their insurance is set up for commercial transactions, The employees that handle the claims are not allowed to look "out side the box" I have been through this with UPS no issue other than a lot of time spent, USPS sucks they both have time limits USPS just excels at saying tough poop

 

[Uthink Uknow]

I have filed two insurance claims with USPS and have no problem with either of those two claims.

 

[F Class John]

On top of the receipt issue, UPS (and I think USPS as well) have clauses that say they can deny claims immediately if the item was shipped in a reused box (think old Amazon boxes you have sitting around). I had them fall back on that reason to deny an expensive claim even when I provided a receipt and photos showing how the inside was packed.
All I can say is keep records of when and who you talked to, be nice, be patient, keep trying to push it up the food chain. Aside from that botched claim I've had good success with claims.

On a side note, I used to work for a vary large worldwide company that shipped a lot of expensive items. The company policy was to NEVER use insurance. Their actuaries figured the cost of insurance far outweighed the cost and time to replace the occasionally lost or damaged item. That rationale doesn't work for the small guy like us but it does show you that big companies don't trust or want to deal with hassles of insurance any more than we do.

 

[Shooter13]

I filed one a few months ago on a transaction for bullets on here, refunded the buyer for the lost bullets and USPS said "those are ammo and should have been shipped class A?" or something to that effect, I explained a breakdown on a bullet and loaded ammo to no avail.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Just self insure. Dont rely on their claims, ever

 

[urbanrifleman]

Recently someone bought a stock from me and it was damaged in shipment....I refunded his money ....he sent it back to me......package was insured ........I have copies of all his documents and mine called so called usps they said file online ok so I spent an hour trying to file online only to be sent in circles anyone have any luck filing a damage claim??

No.

Complete waste of time.

Use FedEx.

 

[Kurz]

For those who believe that all cardboard boxes can be reused for shipping, pay close attention to the stamp which is placed on every shipping box.

We (the company I was working with at the time) used standard size shipping boxes which we bought in bulk from one of the manufacturers. Each box was meticulously packed as suggested by the shippers we used.

UPS got the call to pick up a custom made $4,500.00 rifle packed as instructed. It arrive at the client's home with a broken stock and bent barrel. An insurance claim was filed and we waited for the check. A replacement rifle was built but shipped using another carrier. It arrive just fine.

UPS denied the claim so we got real aggressive with the their insurance folks. They sent 3 upper level representatives to view the damaged box, packing and rifle. End result straight from their mouths was that the box was NOT certified correctly for the contents. No further action was allowed or take.

You HAVE to use a properly certified box with that seal intact and legible.

This is just an example:


Hard lesson to swallow because we knew nothing about this seal. No one, not UPS, FED-X or the USPS bothered to inform us when using their insurance.

End result, we pulled a huge account from them completely. They came back to try to work this out without settling the insurance and the result was the same, no more account with UPS.

FEDX came in with a team of packaging experts to spend two days assisting with the solution.

 

[Richard Jones]

USPS lost a barrel that I sent out for muzzle threads. I had $400 worth of insurance on it. They lost it. I filed the claim, they sent me a check for $98 and change, said the barrel was used so they wouldn't pay in full. The claim filing procedure is bad enough, good luck on collecting the replacement cost.

 

[Rick in Oregon]

I sold three Colt Woodsman magazines to a friend out of state via USPS. They were packed securely in one of their Flat Rate boxes. Total value was $150. My friend received a flattened box with nothing inside.

I tried to file a claim for the minimum allowed $100, as I failed to insure the box. As these were out of production mags, I of course did not have an original receipt for items that were 50 years old. After three months of jumping through their hoops, I did what they expected me to do......I gave up in total frustration.

Never, EVER send anything you care about with USPS.

 

[Gary in MD]

I just went through an ordeal with the usps about 2 months ago. In a nutshell - they delivered my package (some Bergers that I bought off a forum from a guy) to the wrong address a couple miles from me. The postal carrier had no luck getting my package back so I was told to file a claim online. Of course I didn’t have a receipt. Talk about a royal PITA! I was finally successful but only after being denied and then my appeal was denied. I was fit to be tied and was ready to give up (before I got myself in trouble). I finally found a phone number online and when I finally got to talk with a person with an ounce of sense, a check was sent to me.
Extremely frustrating!
Gary

 

[Gargoyle]

I always ask the customer if they want an item insured. I tell them the shadiness about the claims, but most still pay to insure the package. If something happens to the package it's on them to file the claim. Rules laid out fair and square. Once, USPS lost a box of $100 bullets sent in flat rate box. Couldn't even get the $50 of included shipping insurance out of them.

 

[Rocky Mt High]

My other other ‘ cheep’ hobby is radio control sailplanes and so ship/ receive a lot of long and odd shaped packages. Several lost and wrecked stuff by USPS, never a buck in insurance back.
Standard excuse no matter what; ‘was not packed properly’.

 

[skeeljc]

The last time I had any success filing a claim was about 10 years ago.

USPS is economical shipping. Just self insure, never buy insurance.

 

[agr516]

You are dealing with one of the least accountable entities in the country with the USPS. A few years ago, one of their drivers crossed a double yellow line, nearly hit me head on while I had my wife, toddler, and infant sons in the back seat. Caused $9,000 damage to my truck. She then drove away from the scene and I had to chase her down and call the cops. Cop was too lazy to even visit the actual scene of the accident 1/2 mile down the road since it was pouring rain so she did'nt even issue a ticket. USPS told me I could either have my insurance pay for it or I could take my chances and wait months for them to review and then deny my claim against them. I truly despise the USPS. I also don't care for lazy cops who don't issue tickets and assign fault simply because they don't want to have to investigate the crash or go to the court dates.

 

[ben lurkin]

Had a claim when shipping a full box of 223 brass in one of their flat-rate boxes. It was double-boxed, brass packed inside a plastic bag and a roll of tape used to package it up. I think they literally ran it over with a forklift. Yes, I was successful in getting them to honor the insurance claim on it. It was $150 or so.

I've had poor luck getting UPS to honor a claim before though - finally just walked away like they undoubtedly hoped for with all their red tape. Can't say on Fedex.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

USPS at best the worst "insurance". I purchased a used slug gun/scope combo. Of course it had to be shipped to a FFL. Only the shipper or receiver can file a claim,so I was out of the loop. The scope was damaged, the FFL receiver wouldn't file as "USPS never covers a claim". The shipper didn't care as he got paid.

 

[AlNyhus]

I sold a NIB vintage Burris scope and shipped USPS Priority Mail with insurance for the amount of the sale. It arrived with tire tracks across the flattened box. An employee with USPS opened the package with the customer, documented the damage and sent me the pics.

I refunded the purchase amount to the purchaser and started the claims process. 11 months later, I finally received a claim check in full. A big issue was no original receipt to establish value. I bought an old Burris catalog on ebay that listed the 'List' price, which was higher than the price I sold it for...too funny. But it established a value, which is what they wanted.

Another time, I sold a very nice used barrel and shipped it in a piece of PVC with the ends cemented on. The PVC tube arrived with both ends on but no barrel inside. I refunded the money to the buyer. About two weeks later, the barrel showed up on my doorstep with a weird looking address label....no box, just a barrel with a label on it. Turned out the package was 'audited' for content.

Good shootin' -Al