USPS Denies My Insurance Claim, Appeal and Second Appeal... any recourse?

[mariek7922]

I have a legitimate claim that USPS has denied 3X...  I've sent all the photos, info, etc. . It's so frustrating. And I don't get a reason why the claim is denied... it's just denied. Does anyone know of a recourse?

Back story -- I sent three boxes of the same items (pottery)  to three diff. buyers. Used copious bubble wrap as I always do... I pack until the items cannot move, so there's little chance of them breaking, unless they are dropped or ??. Two of the packages made it just fine, one arrived all broken. I have pics I've sent... and still this claim is getting denied. I'm soooo frustrated.

I'd really like to talk with someone at eBay who handles the relationships with the carriers, like Nate Heyward. Nate, are you out there? Please msg me. 

[lintbrush*]

There's something in your post that makes me pause...

"so there's little chance of them breaking, unless they are dropped or"

The boxes are going to get dropped.  They are going to have other boxes fall on top of them.  They will be thrown into the truck.  They may slide off the shelf in the truck.  The rigors of shipping are rough.  

What does the box look like?  

Along with bubble wrap, you need a 2" padded buffer between the item and the box all way around, and strong box.  If the pottery was heavy, the weight could pop the bubble too.  What else was in the box (packing materials?)

eBay shipping team won't be able to help.  The USPS deemed your packing insufficient and they are the ones who have the final say.

[green-night]

I'd really like to talk with someone at eBay who handles the relationships with the carriers, like Nate Heyward. Nate, are you out there? Please msg me. 

[muttlymob]

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@lintbrush*wrote:

There's something in your post that makes me pause...

"so there's little chance of them breaking, unless they are dropped or"

The boxes are going to get dropped.  They are going to have other boxes fall on top of them.  They will be thrown into the truck.  They may slide off the shelf in the truck.  The rigors of shipping are rough.  

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I thought the same thing.

If the package can be damaged if it's dropped, then it is not packaged sufficiently.

[couldabeenworse]

Since this looks to have been a set of 4, you would also need substantial packing between each of the items.  If the bubblewrap (and giftwrap?) pictured is all you used, it looks to be woefully inadequate.  And if those were the pictures supplied to usps, it would be no surprise they would reject the claim for insufficient packing.  As someone has already mentioned, the packing needs to withstand a certain amount of handling.

It was insured, correct?  The listing I looked at just said "standard shipping", so if you shipped Parcel Select and didn't add insurance, there would of course be no coverage.

Did you file the claim online?  There is supposed to be a reason for denial given in the online case.   The last hope for a settlement would be contacting the USPS Consumer Advocate.   good luck....

[southern*sweet*tea]

Were they double boxed? If not, your claims will be denied for improper packaging.

[tofu107]

it does not have to be doubleboxed,but must follow USPS packing guidelines.

but if it has been denied three times,there is no need to call USPS.

[buyselljack2016]

To quote a Postmaster. 

"USPS generally does not pay for "shock damage"."

If the outer packaging did not show mishandling damage at the time of delivery

it may be hard to get an insurance claim approved.

Odd that no was reason given.

[thallidguy]

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@lintbrush*wrote:

There's something in your post that makes me pause...

"so there's little chance of them breaking, unless they are dropped or"

The boxes are going to get dropped.  They are going to have other boxes fall on top of them.  They will be thrown into the truck.  They may slide off the shelf in the truck.  The rigors of shipping are rough.  

The rule of thumb that I've seen on the forum is that it ought to be able to withstand a 10-foot drop onto a hard concrete floor.

[mariek7922]

Thanks for your response... the question marks referred to possible passive-aggressive handling b/c I wrote "Super Duper Fragile" on the label. I took a lot away from your responses, and will chalk this one up to a LAL (live and learn) experience. I hadn't thought about the fact that heavier pieces may pop the bubbles in transit.... I will order some 2" cushioning for these rare occasions. Thank you for your thoughtful response.

[mariek7922]

Thanks for your thoughtful response, couldabeenworse. It was a Priority ship.

[missjen831]

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@mariek7922wrote:

Thanks for your response... the question marks referred to possible passive-aggressive handling b/c I wrote "Super Duper Fragile" on the label. I took a lot away from your responses, and will chalk this one up to a LAL (live and learn) experience. I hadn't thought about the fact that heavier pieces may pop the bubbles in transit.... I will order some 2" cushioning for these rare occasions. Thank you for your thoughtful response.

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You have to pay for special handling. You can’t just write “super duper fragile”, it means nothing to USPS as you now know. You could have paid the $10 and special stickers would have been put on the box. Don’t know if the the plates would have arrived safely or not though .)

[lintbrush*]

@mariek7922

I shipped 3 heavy dinner plates the other day.

Each got wrapped in small bubble.  Then I put a layer of small bubble in between - thus each had 3 layers of small bubble keeping them from contacting the others.

Then I wrapped that bundle in small bubble - putting an extra sheet on the bottom.  Then I wrapped the bundle in medium bubble.  Now there were 4 layers of bubble all the way around.

I used a 14x14x6 box.  Peanuts on the bottom, side and top.  

Sounds liek a lot, right?  They arrived safely.

Yes, I put Fragile stickers on the box, but that's more for the buyer than anything.  It won't change the handling during processing as it travelled across the country - machines don't read labels.  

You just have to watch the first 20 seconds of this video (the first 5 is really all you need) to see that marks mean nothing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNY312f5LSU

[rolenboy01]

My only other solution would be to divide the total cost by whatever number so you can figure out what each item cost and try for that amount times how many are broken, the USPS is more likely to honor a request for a partial claim than one on the entire lot if that is indeed what you are doing.