PO'd at the PO

[tcianci]

Some of you may recall I purchased 2 MIG welders for 100 bucks a piece at HD a few months ago. Well I bought a new MIG gun for each one of them and checked them out, both units worked fine. I decided to sell one on ebay. It went for $355.00. I shipped it parcel post in a double wall box all kinds of padding etc. Well I get an email for the buyer, the thing showed up all smashed. Thank God I thought to insure it. He went to the post office to file a claim and they told him I would need to fill out a form too. What a pain in the ***. This is the 2nd time they have busted stuff on me in the past year, the first one wasn't insured either. I am not familair with the postal damage claim process...any advice?

 

[930dreamer]

I wouldn't think it to be swift.

 

[knucklebusted]

I always ship fedex or ups to make sure it is protected. They have better tracking too, not that it helps now.

You will have to jump through the hoops if you want you and your buyer to get compensated. Since it was you that shipped it and you paid for the insurance, it is you that has to file the claim. ***** but the USPS is so efficient at destroying things, they have to make it hard to file a claim.

 

[djkyle65]

Anytime i have ever dealt with fedex or ups for insurance it has never ended well they always blame poor packing or some stupid excuse even though they were packed way beyond the standard. Good luck !

 

[tcianci]

I hear you on Fedex.. I bought the 3rd seat for a Yukon from a guy on ebay. He sells seats all the time and ships them Fedex all the time. Well mine came in damaged so he filed a claim. They sent a guy out to see the seat (and it was well packaged) The guy looks at it for 2 seconds, says improper packaging...claim denied and left! Case closed! They wouldn't do anything even though this guy uses them all the time for the same product and his packaging has been adequate in the past. What a rip off. It cost me money to get the seat repaired.

 

[hofferwood]

Digital cameras, showing how it was packed & how it looks ready to go (include shipping label).
I photo **** when I get it.
It may sound ****, but when you ship, say a hard to find mechanical clock(wind up). **** I do in the winter, get burned once. That's how I learned.
Now when I sell, I get the persons e-mail & forward the pics. This covers both of our asses.
Hell, you guys got me thinkin' about it, I'm going to start doing it here. Even the low buck stuff, wrenches, sockets and whatnot.
Thanks
Chuck

 

[rockchucker]

100% Whenver I ship ANYTHING it gets Photographed as it enters the box with the packaging and it gets photographed after the wrapping job with today's newspaper for a Date Stamp. You can never be too careful these days. Hell even the guy who gets th package can just smash the hell out of it if he decides that he really didn't NEED the part or whatever then file a claim and get a part to take parts off of and will get compensated. That is why it is so hard to file a claim. All of the scammers and dishonest MOrons out there.

 

[nehog]

Some of you may recall I purchased 2 MIG welders for 100 bucks a piece at HD a few months ago. Well I bought a new MIG gun for each one of them and checked them out, both units worked fine. I decided to sell one on ebay. It went for $355.00. I shipped it parcel post in a double wall box all kinds of padding etc. Well I get an email for the buyer, the thing showed up all smashed. Thank God I thought to insure it. He went to the post office to file a claim and they told him I would need to fill out a form too.

Absolutely you must, this is for any shipment regardless of who carries it. The shipping agreement is between the person/company shipping and the carrier (USPS in this case). This is not something to get upset over, they are just following the basic rules of shipping.

What a pain in the ***. This is the 2nd time they have busted stuff on me in the past year, the first one wasn't insured either. I am not familair with the postal damage claim process...any advice?

I'm not sure what your packaging is like, but I can tell you my company ships (literally) hundreds of packages with the USPS. We might get one claim for damaged shipments. Most shipping claims are due to either poor packaging, or shipping stuff in the wrong class (parcel post instead of Priority for example). Fragile, smaller items should always go Priority. Boxes must be new, and in good condition. Boxes must be rated for shipping (and have a seal).

You'll file your claim for damage, the PO will want to see the package so the buyer should not damage the box any more than necessary to open it. If the buyer has thrown away the box, then your are SOL, and I've heard about cases like that. If the carrier doesn't see the box/package they will not pay the claim.

Do not expect instant gratification. A claim will take time. FWIW, we never insure shipments, instead we self insure.

 

[nehog]

100% Whenver I ship ANYTHING it gets Photographed as it enters the box with the packaging and it gets photographed after the wrapping job with today's newspaper for a Date Stamp. ...

By law (Federal) you, the seller are 100% responsible until it arrives in the buyer's hands in the agreed upon condition. Saying "it was alright when it left here", plus about $1.50 will buy you coffee at most coffee shops, but won't matter one bit on shipping and liability. You (the shipper/seller) are responsible, shipping insurance is for your benefit not the buyers. Generally you have to prove that it was not damaged before packing, and that the packing was adequate for shipment to successfully claim against the carrier. Oh, and my experience with UPS is that they pay about 1 claim in about 100! IOW, UPS is not usually going to pay for a shipping claim--it will come out of your pocket.

If an item is damaged in shipping, and the carrier refuses to pay the claim, your only choice is whether it is worth having the damaged item shipped back to you--you still have to refund their money (all of it, including S&H).

Sorry to come across as harsh, but bottom line is we do this as a business, and those are the rules, as defined by law. If you are selling via eBay, you will be absolutely held to that standard.

The only way to avoid that liability is to offer items FOB, and let the buyer arrange packing and shipping. Good luck on non-commercial shipments doing that.

 

[Boiler]

Anytime i have ever dealt with fedex or ups for insurance it has never ended well they always blame poor packing or some stupid excuse even though they were packed way beyond the standard. Good luck !

x2. I had an aluminum weldment that was 30 pounds but pretty big, which I shipped via UPS. Not easy for one guy to carry. It was wrapped in two layers of cardboard and a roll of heavy tape was used, and it completely coated the corners.

Instead of getting a hand with the box, they just dragged it all over the place, as at least two of the corners were worn through the rediculous layer of tape, 2 layers of cardboard, and the metal looked like it was ground on concrete for a mile.

Of course they had taken my money for insurance, but then informed me that there must be 2" of air/packing between the box and the weldment. All that this would have done is made the box bigger (too big to ship, I have no choice). Simply carrying the thing instead of dragging it would have saved my item.

Finally, I told them no matter what they do I don't want it back (the guy said he'd fix it for a discount). But they shipped it back after investigating my claim, said they had to. So now I have to ship it again to the tube of $125 our of pocket, paying them double for jacking up my item.

UPS insuring themselves = ultimate power = fat chance in them admitting fault and paying up.

 

[warmpancakes]

I had a air cleaner ran over by fed ex (you could see the fork lift tire marks on the crate) they still denied the claim,

 

[Ford12508]

I know people who video camera the stuff when they take it from the mailman all the way until they open it up 2 minutes later. this way, if there is any doubt, he has a video with all the packaging materials and shows exactly how the box showed up.

 

[fourfeathers]

nehog is right on many counts. Something as simple as the box you are using not being rated for the weight you are shipping, will get your claim denied. Using duct, masking, scotch, or other non-standard tape may as well. It may be well worth it to take it to a UPS store and pay them to do it. I would not want to either, but then, I don't ship 'irreplacable" stuff often.

 

[Falcon67]

I noticed that Enco ships some of it's vices truck that would normally go UPS. I called CS and asked why this vice at X weight went UPS and the one at Y weight (just a bit more) went truck and was not eligible for free UPS shipping. The answer was straight forward - too many damage claims against UPS on certain items. CS rep said they track all claims by item and when they reach a certain claim point, they switch an item to truck freight to reduce damage claims. UPS can break iron bars and bowling balls. I have never had an issue with FedEx.

 

[Skyline]

I ship stuff all the time with Priority Mail, and mostly I self insure. Only very occasionally do I have a problem, and then I eat the cost of the damaged or missing item. I do insure more expensive items, but have not had one damaged yet, (with hundreds of successful shipments).

I did have one claim with UPS. I shipped a Miller Plasma cutter on an eBay sale. Item arrived partially crushed. Buyer sent me good pictures of the crushed box and item. I did get paid the full cost of the item and shipping. One thing they were nice enough to point out (while still paying the claim), was that I should not have used peanuts to pack the item; it should have been expandable foam or some other ridgid foam. My box was properly rated, but any item beyond a certain weight can not be packed with peanuts.

I do agree that it seems that UPS sometimes goes out of the way to damage an item. I once bought a Recaro car seat that came with the back folded in half. They must have dropped it from a cargo plane from 30 ft to do that...no way could any amount of human force done that, these seats are pretty strong.

 

[bazzateer]

I should not have used peanuts to pack the item;

Were they salted or flavoured?

 

[rwhite692]

I too have had mixed results with shipping via the Postal Service. Crushed items, items that got wet, etc.

My general rule of thumb is that I don't ship anything worth over $100 via the Postal Service and when I do I also bag the item (plastic) to prevent against moisture intrusion damage. They seem to occasionally leave pallets of stuff out in the rain, I guess!

For shipments over $100 I will use UPS most of the time. In my experience, FedEx ground is less expensive but also a bit less predictable than UPS, and their website tracking info is not updated as frequently as UPS...Therefore often wrong...

 

[porschedude996TT]

I think it is all up to the buyer to make the claim from his end.

I bought an expensive Flywheel for a Porsche and it was shipped USPS and the thing left the seller in a Cardboard Box and when it was placed on my porch the Box had turned into a Cardboard Bag. It was in transit from the Great Lakes area to Calif and it took three weeks. I think that they must have had a flat on the truck that was carrying it and used it as the spare wheel. The Flywheel was really screwed up. Broken teeth, huge scars.

He should be prepared to send them a copy of the Invoice that purchased the item.

I pursued the claim and they finally paid off in 2-1/2 to 3 months ($675.00USD) When I submitted the Claim forms I sent in "Registered Mail, Signature Required". I don't know if that got anyone’s attention, but it was meant as a slam...

I learned my lesson, don't ship anything with USPS except a letter.

 

[nehog]

I think it is all up to the buyer to make the claim from his end.

Again, the buyer (recipient) is not able to file claims, as he has no contract with the shipper. The person shipping (seller) has the contract with the shipping company, and only he can file for a claim.

I bought an expensive Flywheel for a Porsche and it was shipped USPS and the thing left the seller in a Cardboard Box and when it was placed on my porch the Box had turned into a Cardboard Bag.

You can be almost 100% sure that it was not packed properly.

It was in transit from the Great Lakes area to Calif and it took three weeks. I think that they must have had a flat on the truck that was carrying it and used it as the spare wheel. The Flywheel was really screwed up. Broken teeth, huge scars.

He should be prepared to send them a copy of the Invoice that purchased the item.

I pursued the claim and they finally paid off in 2-1/2 to 3 months ($675.00USD) When I submitted the Claim forms I sent in "Registered Mail, Signature Required". I don't know if that got anyone’s attention, but it was meant as a slam...

I learned my lesson, don't ship anything with USPS except a letter.

We ship hundreds of items USPS... As I mentioned we have perhaps one problem shipment a year. About half the problem shipments turn out to be "Oh, that's my old address, I forgot to update the shipping address..." and the like.

 

[tcianci]

I have shipped literally hundreds of packages USPS and this year is the first time I have ever had a problem at all. Live and learn I guess.

 

[walrus]

. Simply carrying the thing instead of dragging it would have saved my item..

I do some work for UPS. They have a conveyor system in side their terminals that are long and hard on pkgs. They don't carry anything except from the truck to the house or from the conveyor to the truck which the truck is backed up to.

 

[knucklebusted]

I had a buddy that worked UPS during the summers. He said they were not allowed to throw anything marked fragile more than 10 feet. I used to think he was kidding but now I'm not so sure.