My USPS insurance claim story. Now with a happy ending!!!

[Ken Aldred]

I can empathise with this.

 

The Royal Mail here in the UK was just as evasive when the first book I purchased on the boards got trashed en route from the US.

[slym2none]

That really bites, man. I hope it works out in the end.

 

Yeah, this makes me never want to buy USPS insurance again, and I will look into getting a Collect Insure policy ASAP.

 

 

*EDIT* has anyone used the Ship Insure option when using eBay to buy USPS postage? I know nothing about them...

 

 

 

-slym

[Bomber-Bob]

Trust me, owning a Collect Insure policy will make your collecting life easier. This story about the USPS insurance is terrible but it doesn't surprise me.

[CKB]

You will be able to use Lonestar's willingness to buy them at a given price as proof of value. As a matter of fact, they DID buy them. The receipt saying they bought them at a given price should be all you need.

 

This of it more like "Lonestar bought the books from you on eBay" than anything else. You are the seller, they are the buyer.

 

 

[01TheDude]

You will be able to use Lonestar's willingness to buy them at a given price as proof of value. As a matter of fact, they DID buy them. The receipt saying they bought them at a given price should be all you need.

 

This of it more like "Lonestar bought the books from you on eBay" than anything else. You are the seller, they are the buyer.

 

 

seemed to me they were sending the books to Lonestar to be evaluated and given a fair value for them. The part about them being worth about 400 but Lonestar probably only giving 300 was what led me to this conclusion. It was also what the OP based the amount of insurance on.

[RockMyAmadeus]

This is why I have private insurance. The post office insurance is a joke and will deny every claim they can.

 

My experience has been the complete opposite.

 

I have had to file three claims in the last 10 years, and all were paid promptly, with very little hassle.

 

They even approved a claim for a Deadpool #1 (1997) that someone returned First class (read: no insurance) that completely disappeared...but the PO had a scan of the package arriving at the office, so they knew it had arrived, and had probably been delivered accidentally to someone else.

 

They certainly didn't have to honor that, but they did.

[nocutename]

I am sorry about the troubles. Makes me not want to purchase insurance. But then again, if you don't the post office just washes there hands of missing packages. It is completely crazy but I have been lucky and only had two packages gone missing in all of my years shipping and receiving.

 

Just for the record, whenever I ship to Lone Star Comics, I take off the word Comics. I had a delivered package "missing" at the post office for pick up several years ago. It mysteriously appeared a few days later. From that moment on whenever I ship to them, I use only Lone Star to keep the back office less curious about my packages. Especially around Christmas time as there are too many seasonal workers.

[H0RR0RSH0W]

I am sorry about the troubles. Makes me not want to purchase insurance. But then again, if you don't the post office just washes there hands of missing packages. It is completely crazy but I have been lucky and only had two packages gone missing in all of my years shipping and receiving.

 

Just for the record, whenever I ship to Lone Star Comics, I take off the word Comics. I had a delivered package "missing" at the post office for pick up several years ago. It mysteriously appeared a few days later. From that moment on whenever I ship to them, I use only Lone Star to keep the back office less curious about my packages. Especially around Christmas time as there are too many seasonal workers.

 

Its a good idea

[H0RR0RSH0W]

my story begins with a transaction with lone star comics. I sent them a list of books they had interest in and they accepted with a payment expected of $400+. I know that they have a tendency to downgrade so i calculated that i'd be offered somewhere north of $300.

I sent by USPS and insured for $300 (just in case something went wrong). this was in the last week of Oct. On the 3rd week of November I went to the post office to track the shipment and saw that the parcel had attempted to be delivered approx 1 week after i shipped and was refused.

So I'm thinking WTF?? I called customer service at Lonestar and they were very helpful. I talked to a person who told me the only way they would've refused the shipment is if the parcel was so damaged that they couldn't accept or the parcel was empty.

So i filed an insurance claim with the USPS and submitted my invoice from lonestar as "evidence" of value on the books. I waitied another 1+ weeks and went back to the post office and asked if they had any folloup information and viola they had updated tracking that stated my parcel was indeed on its way back. About 3 days later i received a notice that the parcel was waiting for me at the post office depot (as they needed a signature).

I arrived at the post office depot at their convienient hours of 9-3p and the parcel was brought to the counter in a plastic bag and as some of you have guessed was both damaged and empty.........Of course I could not simply return it to the center where i picked it up but had to go to a regular post office and stand in line to file a claim there.

I received a letter about 1 week later and my insurance claim was denied. So I called the Post office customer service dept and they stated that apparently the claims dept only knows that a parcel was picked up and not that it was an empty box.

So i filed an appeal that documented my problem with signing for an empty box and referenced my estimated value along with my claim for $300 insurance and figured that it was all set and I should have my refund for the lost merchandise and postage.

Not so fast I received a letter that stated that my claim was again being denied because I needed receipts for what i spent on the books, credit card recipts, etc to verify the value. The box was shipped at 31# and was received empty, I paid for insurance and the post office had it in their possession for the full time it left my home.

secondly the books are collectables does this mean that a person who bought a 12 cent asm #1 in 1963 and paid 12cents would only be entitled to 12 cents returned from the post office?? I don't think so.......I don't know how much i spent on these. so to request evidence of purchase is really unreasonable.

Has anyone a similar story with an insurance claim and any suggestions where to go to or who to contact would be appreciated. thanks and merry christmas

 

 

 

This story makes me queasy... What a nightmare

[Kevin76]

If you want to win a USPS insurance claim, you need to keep track of all your reciepts, proof of value, mailing reciepts, texts from the buyer as well as the email exchange, pictures of the package BEFORE you mailed it. You really need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the damage was caused by the USPS while in their care. I bought 2 statues and supplied the post office with everything I had, got a check for $500 in the mail.

 

otherwise, use an outside insurance company

[Tony S]

You will be able to use Lonestar's willingness to buy them at a given price as proof of value. As a matter of fact, they DID buy them. The receipt saying they bought them at a given price should be all you need.

 

This of it more like "Lonestar bought the books from you on eBay" than anything else. You are the seller, they are the buyer.

 

 

This. Copy your emails or ask Lonestar to send you something saying they were paying $400 for the books upon receipt. You can turn in copied pages of the OPG with values circled. They want something "proving" the value of the books.

 

[Moondog]

USPS is a "no fault" company. They take no responsibility for what they do to their patrons. A couple months ago they mis delivered something I ordered on Amazon and they refused to look into it nor do anything about it. I made phone calls for days just get the run around and to eventually be told that once it is delivered they can't do anything about it. USPS has been responsible for most of my high blood pressure.

 

This is why I never ship packages via USPS. Never. Fed Ex ground or UPS ground costs more, but the chances of the delivery being made properly are infinitely higher than the post office. And any resulting claims are much easier to resolve.

 

I had a buddy who worked at USPS for 33 years. He once told me, "I send letters via the post office and parcels by United Parcel Service. We just don't know how to do parcels properly."

 

Sorry for your loss.

 

 

 

[slym2none]

 

 

 

 

 

 

-slym

[MetalPSI]

I totally agree with Slym on this one. USPS has been excellent for me.

 

DHP has to be the best delivery service I have ever witnessed. UPS, FedEx and Purolator will never get my business.

[slym2none]

I was only making a point that they all have their good points and bad points.

 

I use USPS because they give me free boxes, they will pick up at my doorstep without even scheduling a pickup (my mailman is good for that!) and they are cheaper than anyone else. I figure it is a gamble no matter who you use for your parcel delivery, so why not go with what I am comfortable with?

 

I am definitely getting a Collect Insure policy at the beginning of the year, though.

 

 

 

 

-slym

[Warren Oates]

I would have a chat with the postmaster of your zipcode (your post office). Be polite, if they are busy schedule a time to meet. Explain all of this, emphasize they sold you insurance and that the items disappeared in the mail and that is not your fault.

 

I had a strange issue once with delivery of something I sent out, postmaster made a call and fixed it.

 

If they turn you down on this, postal insurance is a joke and they are ripping off people who buy it currently.

 

Report back the final outcome.

 

 

[01TheDude]

I use the USPS almost exclusively -- the free packaging helps-- the pickup certainly helps -- the location nearest my house also helps.

 

But on certain items-- usually very large or bulky packaging, I use UPS ground. Primarily it is a cost situation for me. I pack everything I send expecting it to be able to be punted around a room for an hour without getting damaged though. Many times I am sending out GLASS items-- and they make it there via the USPS without damaged almost always. It really pays to take time when you are packing items to consider how they are layered and able to handle shocks and drops.

 

I really didn't want to reply to this thread-- the jinx factor is huge.

[telerites]

Like I mentioned earlier, collectinsure.com, gives me peace of mind and hope I never have to file a claim. There are some stipulations with them when you send packages that you need to be aware of depending on the shipper you choose. Just for reference it below:

 

*US Postal Service: Signature required

Registered, Express, Insured, Certified and

Signature Confirmation mail

 

*Delivery/Courier Service: Signature required

shipping such as FedEx and UPS

 

*US Postal Service: No signature required First

Class, Priority, Global Priority and Air Mail;

Parcel Post, Bound Printed Matter and Media

Mail (Book Rate)

 

I also have a FedEx account that actually saves me money to and from CGC. They provide some packing materials but if ship via ground method, those are not provided that I am aware of. I also believe they will pick up from your place as well but I haven't done that so unsure.

 

I like being to have books shipped back via FedEx because I can have them held for pickup at the FedEx Office which is a mile away from me and open 24 hours/7days a week.

 

 

[slym2none]

I pack everything I send expecting it to be able to be punted around a room for an hour without getting damaged though.

 

Me too, but in case of a lost item (or in this case, an empty box) where the USPS denies a claim, we'd be SOL.

 

 

 

-slym

[anstettoman]

on 1/26/15 the post office finally agreed that the box was empty and without admitting fault refunded me my $300. damn 4 mos is a long time but it shows that if you are willing to be calm and make a lot of phone calls eventually things can work out......