USPS lost fully insured package, denied claim second appeal, stating no proof of value (provided)

[hp5672]

I sold a used graphics card on ebay, Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti, and ebay lost the package and is refusing to cover the loss of the fully insured ($500 with signature tracking) item. The stated reason for the first denial was that I didn't provide proof of the item's value, so in my appeal I contacted my bank and furnished both the web email from Nvidia showing the charge and the charge reflecting on my checking account. I also uploaded a snapshot of the ebay listing, showing that the item was shipped, complete with tracking number.

I've provided everything required for the claim and USPS denied the appeal, which I contested, and they denied the 2nd appeal as well.

I feel that this is borderline fraudulent behavior on the part of the USPS, is extremely unfair. What recourse of action do I have at this point?

[lja440]

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@hp5672 wrote:

Item was $475 according to listing, how could they deny the claim twice in a row without telling me that the reason for denial is that I'm asking for $500 instead of $475? The reason cited both times was "insufficient proof of value" and that's it. Now I can't do anything but call their "Customer Advocacy Number", which I did literally about 20 times already, and no-one ever calls you back nor answers the phone. 

I need / want legal assistance with this, what are my options? 

IMHO this is fraud on the part of USPS. I paid for insurance, they lost the package, end of story. 

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You may want to call the Postal Inspectors, yes it is not really their department but they will pick up the phone and will point you in the right direction.

[beautifulbeauty2012]

Same happened to me as well-provided PayPal and eBay transactions for the value, yet, USPS denied my claim stating it was not acceptable. They will not reimburse for lost or damaged by them packages.

And USPS demands taxpayers to bail them out every year!

[beautifulbeauty2012]

Screenshot of Paypal transaction was not sufficient, and USPS denied my claim. They don`t follow their own rules, just rejecting the coverage no matter how many pages you sent them.

[glyph01]

If you are claiming the full $500 on the claim form and gave receipt/documentation for $475, and even the original costs, they may be confused and say 'insufficient proof of value". 

Perhaps you need to change the amount of damages on the claim form to $475.

🤷‍♀️

[va-8501]

The original poster of this thread is talking  about a "LOST" package claim, not a shipping damage claim.

Two different issues, time limits are even different.  

Shipping damage claims are being summarily denied unless the buyer is willing to bring the Damaged item, damaged box, label, everything to their post office with a letter they received from USPS directing them to do so.

USPS knows ebay policy, the buyer is not required to do any of that for the seller or the post office.  All the buyer has to do is claim 'item not as described - damaged' and ebay forces a refund.  Why would a buyer go to the trouble to save everything for up to 2 weeks before getting a USPS letter directing them to take everything  to their local post office after they've already received a refund.  Even it the buyer has some compassion and does bring everything in to their local post office, if there is no obvious damage to the box, USPS will deny the claim saying it wasn't packed properly, sellers fault.

[va-8501]

to @oldwestgold and to @ hp5672.

It's been a few years that USPS has consolidated lost and damage indemnity claim processing procedures onto the internet.  The only place you can file a claim is on the USPS website. 

I know, I asked my local post master about this over two years ago and he told me, "local post offices have nothing to do with this, they don't even have the forms, there's nowhere to send them even if we did have the forms, you have to do it on the internet"

It's all part of a strategy to get people to give up.  If just having to go online to file a claim isn't enough to make you give up, try finding where to do it on USPS.com, and if you're still persistent, wait until you have to actually fill in information and upload proof of value documents, most people just give up.  USPS saves big time.

[donsdetour]

First " and ebay lost the package"

No; the shipper lost the package not eBay.

As for this "By their guidelines the original web receipt for the item new from Nvidia and my bank statement reflecting the charge should be sufficient. "

Does not prove what you shipped: as receipt of payment for the item when you sold it may.

[estatesales1234]

This has happened to me several times and it’s because they don’t recognize eBay managed payments as a web based payment site and are kicking it back as if we didn’t send proof. Even though we have. Until eBay updates USPS of the change in payment processing were just out of luck. I think eBay should have to cover our losses since there the ones not letting the post office know of the change. I had no problems with claims through PayPal only since joining managed payments.  

[carl*navarro]

Along these lines, I sent a package of a rare item...like the Nvidia card and the shipper lost the contents of the package!  The buyer claimed he got an empty package.  Since it was a priority mail package with the glue on the end of the package, someone must have thought it might be a cell phone or something and opened it. 

My problem is not only did I lose the sale, I had to refund the buyer the $125 he paid for the item, but also I was out the wholesale cost of the product!  Yet, I cannot insure for more than the $125 and I don't have the item to sell....

Yeah, that's fair.

Carl*navarro

[kh-gary]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.