USPS

[sellstuff429]

hello, I had a package delivered to a buyer that was broken,I asked him to take pictures and send me,he did and I refunded his money.  Opened a claim with the USPS and 4 days later got a letter saying box and contents must be taken to post office, have never had this happen,after hours on the phone with no luck, i emailed the buyer and he had received the same letter,luckily their trash had not been picked up, so the honest person dug through the trash retrieved the broken pieces and box, took it to post office. Now he had already been refunded, so this was out of the kindness of his heart,and something he should not have to do,he already took pictures. so I am still waiting to hear  about  my claim. but how asinine that a company in which i spend alot of money shipping products,are now stooping to an all time low to try to not pay for broken item,its just not right. think I will be looking into fed-X  or UPS in my near future. so beware if an item gets broken ,tell your buyer not to throw it out,and that they further have to inconvenience them selfs by now making a trip to post office.

[fern*wood]

What was the dollar amount of your claim?   I've always known this was a possibility, but in the few claims I have filed it never happened.  

[southern*sweet*tea]

Yes, USPS or Fedex or UPS have the right to examine the damaged item, especially if it's a higher value. They want to make sure the packaging was adequate.  All shipping carriers can deny claims if they feel the packaging was inadequate.

[kensgiftshop]

---

@sellstuff429 wrote:

so beware if an item gets broken ,tell your buyer not to throw it out,and that they further have to inconvenience them selfs by now making a trip to post office.

---

It's always a good idea to have buyer hang on to the item and package in case the carrier wants to inspect it.

They don't always inspect them, but they can.

[orangehound]

---

@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

Yes, USPS or Fedex or UPS have the right to examine the damaged item, especially if it's a higher value. They want to make sure the packaging was adequate.  All shipping carriers can deny claims if they feel the packaging was inadequate.

---

This is correct.  In the past, I've submitted not only the photo of the damaged item, but also photos of the damaged box.   In doing this, I've never had the USPS requesting examination, including damage to a $150 item insured for $100.

If the box is not damaged (e.g., not punctured, crushed, etc.), then the assumption will be that the item broke due to poor packing ... and the claim is often denied.

[myboardid]

You should think about this again - UPS & FedEx are much harder to deal with than the post Office when it comes to claims.  Been there several times, never got paid. 

[nh7235]

---

@sellstuff429 wrote:

Opened a claim with the USPS and 4 days later got a letter saying box and contents must be taken to post office

---

[sellstuff429]

$42.42 and I had alot of pictures of item and box,never had this happen before

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@sellstuff429 wrote: ... never had this happen before

---

Have you filed a lot of claims? Perhaps you passed some threshold that made USPS concerned about your credibility or packing skills.  I've been selling on eBay since 1999 and have had to file only one damage claim.

[lja440]

---

@sellstuff429 wrote:
$42.42 and I had alot of pictures of item and box,never had this happen before

---

It sounds like you have had a lot of claims filed.

I have been on eBay since 2004 and never had a damage claim.

Something you may want to consider is you are not packing well enough. 

Also though I sell I buy a lot more as I also have a B&M. In all these years I have had one damaged package arrive from USPS, also one from UPS. Both were poorly packed. I have long lost count of the damaged packages coming from FedEx though they are by far the fewest  delivered by the three carriers. So if you continue to pack the same and switch to FedEx most likely your % of damaged packages will rise.

[tena527]

I just received two of same letters. Usually I just send a picture of the box, packing and damaged contents and they pay the claim. The claims department told me that the buyer will also receive a letter. I had already refunded each buyer but I went ahead and e-mailed them. Once responded that they hadn't received a letter. The other is not responding. I did talk to USPS claims and they said that there will be more of this now; they will be asking for more than just pictures. They want to see the item. I did explain that there is always the possibility that once a customer has their refund they may not feel responsible for more. They did say the system is now programmed to send out the letters and once the claim is denied (30 days) we can appeal and explain the situation (customer has refund & may not feed need to bring contents to post office). So we shall see. I did pull most of my glass items off since these were the ones that usually are damaged. I am told that boxes are conveyed on a conveyor belt and dropped off and many times boxes that follow are heavier and fall on the box to cause the damage. I am also starting to pack in bigger boxes which of course costs the customer more on shipping. So let me know how you come out on the claim. The claims department told me to appeal once it is denied.

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@tena527 wrote: .... I did pull most of my glass items off since these were the ones that usually are damaged. I am told that boxes are conveyed on a conveyor belt and dropped off and many times boxes that follow are heavier and fall on the box to cause the damage.....

---

If you can say "the ones that are usually damaged" then clearly you have had a lot of claims. Some sellers, even those selling fragile stuff, have hardly any claims.  This might be a general new USPS policy, or you might have been singled out due to a high claims rate.  

You seem to have overestimated the care with which your packages are handled.  You need to pack so you can throw item down a flight of stairs without wincing.  Watch just the first 30 seconds of this video, keeping in mind that USPS cooperated with this explanation of how they handle your stuff:

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

[jtec212]

You would not believe the cavalier way some sellers pack their heavy items! Even after i tell them how to pack and why it is important, they are clueless!

[nobody*s_perfect]

---

@jtec212 wrote:

You would not believe the cavalier way some sellers pack their heavy items! ...

---

I sure would believe it, because I've gotten those, too. Some sellers seem to ascribe magical powers to a single square of bubble wrap.

[muttlymob]

---

@tena527 wrote:
They want to see the item. I did explain that there is always the possibility that once a customer has their refund they may not feel responsible for more. They did say the system is now programmed to send out the letters and once the claim is denied (30 days) we can appeal and explain the situation (customer has refund & may not feed need to bring contents to post office).

---

Whether a buyer is refunded or not is not a USPS issue.

eBay's policies are not a USPS issue.

USPS will not factor in eBay policies or whether a buyer has already been refunded when they decide if they want to see the package or not.

It's written clearly in the terms of USPS insurance that they can if they choose request the packaging and contents be presented to the recipient's post office.  It is up to a seller to adapt practices to this policy, not expect the USPS to accommodate the sender.

Sellers need to build this possibility into their risk analysis for selling, and if necessary build it into their pricing strategy.

---

@tena527 wrote:
I did pull most of my glass items off since these were the ones that usually are damaged. I am told that boxes are conveyed on a conveyor belt and dropped off and many times boxes that follow are heavier and fall on the box to cause the damage. I am also starting to pack in bigger boxes which of course costs the customer more on shipping.

---

Definitely a good move to stop selling breakable items since it appears you aren't packaging properly.  If your packing were sufficient, then heavier boxes and long drops would not cause damage.  You are lucky if you have been winning insurance claims so far, and it does sound like you may be getting targeted for too many claims filed.