USPS and their wonderful Insurance and Claims Scam

[Finnz922]

Yes, I am going to whine and complain for a minute.

I just got off the phone with USPS claims department. My original claim and now my appeal have been denied. Now I'm out $150(in value).

I sold a Daiwa L&T to a member here awhile back. I sent it on Jan. 7th and it had an estimated arrival date of the 9th. So after the 14th I started calling around and trying to locate it. The guy at my local USPS branch got involved and found it in the Omaha sorting facility and they said it was just leaving then. A solid week later, but at least it was back on route. when it finally showed up to him it had been broken. The top 1/4 or 1/3 of the rod. I refunded the member his money back with no issues because I was "smart" and bought insurance to cover just such a problem. I submitted the claim with all the info on January 21st. Fast forward through some phone calls to February 23rd and I hop on the interweb to check my claim status. DENIED. Why? Because I did not reply to their letter. I called them to find out that the letter wasn't to me but to the other member. I thought this was pretty stupid as why they wouldn't contact me when I'm the one filing the claim. Oh well. He ended up helping me out and taking it to the post office. After he told me that it was at his local branch I filed an appeal. I had to fill out another stupid online appeal asking for additional info. I did. 3 weeks ago I get a letter asking for more evidence of value. I called for clarification because I included a website that was still selling them and had some in stock. I also asked at this point to make sure they had the rod and was told yes... Twice. Then they told me that they aren't going to do any work to find the value. I asked, work! " You cannot type in a web address and hit enter!". They said no. Okay, so I posted awhile back about looking for a catalog page for evidence. Thanks again to those who helped. So now I send the letter with " proof of value" back to them. Over a week goes by and then yesterday it updates. DENIED . Now I am mad as hell because I had been calling back and forth to make sure I gave them everything they needed to say yes. So today I called to ask why since I had not received any letter with that information. She tells me because they never received the rod nor my letter with "proof of F#$%^@& value"! I could not hold back anymore and let loose and in my heated rant asked does this even matter that I am this mad. She responds no because they never received the rod nor my letter so they wouldn't be able to help anyway.

I forgot because members on here are liars (being facetious) and I am to stupid to write down address, stuff envelope, apply stamp, and put in mail box.

If any of you have actually gotten your insurance covered then I am envious because this 3 month ordeal was almost more aggravating then my first divorce!

Okay, I'm done. Thanks for reading.

[BucketHunter]

Ugh, that sucks.
This is nightmares for me with all of the stuff i've been shipping lately...

[JerryC]

This happened to me as well, very similar situation with USPS... hence why i no longer ship rods with USPS and only UPS.

[the hooligan]

Had this happen to me with FedEx. Last time I shipped a rod in a cardboard tube. All it takes is a rainy day and someone to throw a heavy object on it while loading the truck...

They denied my claim and said it wasn't packaged correctly, lol. So I had to refund the guy and learned my lesson.

Now rods only go in PVC and shipped USPS priority mail.

[USA-RET]

Yep, I went to the Post office to ask the question about losses where your purchase insurance to cover losses or damage during shipping. I was told you need to have a proof of value by a competent authority or a sales receipt showing the value of the item to get a reimbursement.

So I asked about an item no longer being made that has increased in value (like a TD-Ito or a Micky Mantle Rookie card). Was told I'd need certificates of value for reimbursement for a competent authority that could affix a actual value to the item regardless of what I insured it for. They could not tell me who a competent authority would be in a case like this, they just shrugged their shoulders.

Sooo, I immediately scratched them off my list of mailing anything where I didn't have a cash register receipt listing the item being shipped and the price I paid Hopefully covering the insurance amount (not a 5 cent receipt for the bubble gum pack the MM rookie card came in).

I get that they are trying to eliminate scammers that may ship a 10 cent popcorn whistle listing it as and $4K antique, stepping on it before they package and ship it and try and get a $4K check from the USPS for damaged goods.

Remember you are dealing with Government drones here (no offense to postal workers) My Dad was one for 38 years, but common sense now-a-days rarely enters into the equations and most will follow the government regulation as ambiguously written as they are to a "tee".

UPS is a for profit company as is FedEX and both are far better equipped to handle claims and promote good business practices than the USPS IMO. Not to say they are without fault, but you certainly have more recourse with them than a government agency. The key with UPS is to bring your items to them and let them package the item. They can never claim improper packaging if they are the ones doing it. There are stories of warehouse guys using rod tubes for javelin throws in the warehouse at night.

So cross fingers when shipping anything you are not willing to lose.

[toporanger]

If you are in the midwest dont forget about http://www.speedeedelivery.com/ cheap and Ive never had an issue with rods. I dont think they charge extra for large sizes either, completely off of weight. I was thoroughly impressed by their delivery of my TI rod, 9 foot rod $5 shipping. Great company if you are dealing in their delivery area

[Cracker]

Use http://www.u-pic.com/ insurance!

I never had to claim anything, however I know rod sellers who claimed some damaged rods when customers received them, even overseas, never had problems.

[brian1967]

Use http://www.u-pic.com/ insurance!

I never had to claim anything, however I know rod sellers who claimed some damaged rods when customers received them, even overseas, never had problems.

That's nice to know. Saved it to my favorites.

[BigG]

I keep receipts, print listings showing selling price, and conformation of the sell (paypal for value). I got a conformation that a reel I mailed went to the wrong town. Went to Post Office and the guys there told me what to do on claim and called the post master in the small town where pack was deliveried. Sent in my claim with copies of the documents and was declined, due to conformation of delivery. Started over and sent same documents with the shipping address circled and they paid the second claim. When you sell an item always price your ads (threads) and print Paypal info for the value of the item. The people that processed my first claim where to lazy to check the address on their conformation, so sometimes you have to stay after them.

[MondayMonkey]

I keep receipts, print listings showing selling price, and conformation of the sell (paypal for value). I got a conformation that a reel I mailed went to the wrong town. Went to Post Office and the guys there told me what to do on claim and called the post master in the small town where pack was deliveried. Sent in my claim with copies of the documents and was declined, due to conformation of delivery. Started over and sent same documents with the shipping address circled and they paid the second claim. When you sell an item always price your ads (threads) and print Paypal info for the value of the item. The people that processed my first claim where to lazy to check the address on their conformation, so sometimes you have to stay after them.

This is one of the reasons when I sell a reel I always use the paypal invoice system with all pertinent information including transcripts of all communication with the buyer or seller.

[vinnieb729]

If you are in the midwest dont forget about http://www.speedeedelivery.com/ cheap and Ive never had an issue with rods. I dont think they charge extra for large sizes either, completely off of weight. Great company if you are dealing in their delivery area

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