USPS Insurance Claims Are Nearly Impossible for Online Sellers
USPS – Your insurance claim process is possibly one of the worst policies an online seller has to deal with.
You expect an online seller to somehow retrieve a damaged item from a buyer who may live 700 to 3,000 miles away and then present that damaged item at their local post office. Or you expect the buyer to take time out of their day, stand in line at the post office, just to prove that USPS damaged the package. That is absolutely ridiculous, especially when clear photos of the damage are already provided.
Nowhere in your online claims policy is this requirement clearly stated. It puts both the seller and the buyer in an unreasonable position for something that was caused by USPS handling.
In the real world of retail, many major companies offer return-less refunds and trust their customers. Companies like Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Chewy often refund items without requiring returns because they understand customer service and efficiency. USPS, on the other hand, seems to assume both the buyer and the seller are dishonest, even when photo evidence is provided.
Before dealing with this claims process, I shipped 100% of my packages through USPS. Now I am seriously considering shipping larger items through FedEx or UPS instead.
USPS should support small online sellers, not make the claims process so difficult that people stop using their services.
“Are other sellers having this same problem with USPS damage claims requiring the buyer to bring the item to the post office?”
18 comments
pickapaper
·5 months ago@mrbriscoe
ryry-jj
·5 months agoUnless the box is severely damaged, at which point USPS and other carries usually make a note of it at some point, damaged items overwhelming are user packaging errors.
Buyers can tell when they receive a damage item if its a damaged box or item .. they arent claiming the box or package was destroyed they are claiming the item was broken. Stuff will happen, package like stuff will always happen!
Us sellers are the sellers, we are the ones who refund and decide if we want to give free returns on shipping, it doenst become someone elses expense, its on us. None of the carriers are paying out because we said "you" damaged it, we need to proove it
tools*
·5 months agoThe number of times an Amazon warehouse worker packaged a fragile item in an envelope instead of a box, and it arrived mangled, I had to either drop it off at a Whole Foods store or pay for return shipping. There's no longer any free return shipping with Amazon, even when their poor practices are the cause of the problem.
tobaccocardyahoo
·5 months agoWe can drop off Amazon returns at Whole Foods, Kohl's, Staples, the UPS store or USPS.
Need not be packed when dropped at Whole Foods, Kohl's or Staples.
Obviously, this is FBA or Amazon Retail purchases, not FBM.
All are free return shipping.
tools*
·5 months agoI just have to devote two hours to walking two miles (each way) to my nearest Whole Foods to return something that was damaged by Amazon's insufficient packaging. And it's free!
tobaccocardyahoo
·5 months agoIf you request a USPS return label, you can schedule a USPS pickup.
tools*
·5 months agoNo, the only shipping option with an Amazon return is UPS Ground for $6.99 and it has to be taken to a UPS depot or UPS store, at least in New York City. It doesn't matter that the damage was their fault.
tools*
·5 months agoThey only offer UPS shipping in NYC, and the customer has to pay for it. There are no free Amazon returns with shipping, only free drop off.
tobaccocardyahoo
·5 months agoOnline sellers on many sites do not know how to pack.
They will lose damage claims with all of the major carriers.
The sites which require new packaging materials probably have some sellers who pack professionally, but there is no cure for cheap and many sellers' idea of packaging is a tyvek bag.
kensgiftshop
·5 months agoI must be doing something wrong, I've never got a refund from them without returning the item.
Buyers can have the package picked up at their home.
powell-collectibles
·5 months agoMy take is that companies like Amazon have gotten much tighter about refunding without returns. Plenty of people caught on to the system, plenty of people got stuff for free. There wasn’t much of a risk to just request a refund, hope for a refund without the need to return, and keep the item.
tools*
·5 months agoMost of the thousands of eBay sellers I've bought things from over the years packaged their items poorly or terribly. It's a miracle that only a handful actually arrived damaged.
kensgiftshop
·5 months agoOne of the first items I bought on Ebay was shipped in a used Macaroni and Cheese box.
Lucky it wasn't something that would be damaged easy.
bdmh-enterprises
·5 months agoUnless they put a 'sorry we damaged your item' sticker on it, the odds of any carrier paying out for a damage claim is minuscule. They will almost always blame it on your packaging.
reelworks
·5 months agoWhat I've seen happening is that the claim for an undelivered item gets denied because its "Still showing Tracking", even though its 3 months over due and been to 22 cities, back to the origin sorting center and back to the destination PO five times.
(I have 6 such packages out like that right now, sent Global Adv., 'In transit for 45 to 66 days now). In one case they claimed "no such address, despite three other packages that week being delivered to the very same address and buyer.
In two cases they told the customer who supposedly called the PO after getting a package notice that there was postage due. (How can Postage be Due on a 4 oz package sent with the size rounded up, and the weight rounded up. Its a 5x5x6in brown box that I was charged $8.10 to ship on an ebay supplied label).
I had the same story from another buyer who said his PO told him they sent it back to the sender for insufficient postage on a Small Flat rate box shipped with an eBay label 3 states away. If the PO is claiming this, there's a big issue with eBay's label rates.
But no package has ever come back, they just keep doing loops around the country.
One had no tracking showing for two weeks suddenly showed as 'delivered' 66 days after it was shipped after being to 26 cities before stalling out in CA. Since its showing as delivered there's no insurance, yet the buyer claims it was never delivered. That one was a medium flat rate box paid through eBay. The only insurance is the $100 USPS guarantee which they absolve themselves of by marking it 'delivered'.
powell-collectibles
·5 months agoBefore anyone gets on you about addressing something to the USPS on the eBay boards, we all understand that you are venting while also open to advice from other sellers. And, absolutely, plenty of people at the USPS care about good customer service. The vast majority of people do care about doing a good job for their customers.
I can only speak to experiences with USPS – I don’t ship UPS or FedEx. BUT, I don’t have issues with damage, other than a rare issue like with the cookie jar, which was my fault. Lost packages, that’s another story! I actually don’t mind those too much – insurance claims are a breeze. I actually make more money with lost packages than I would from a transaction that goes flawlessly. Heck, you can even more than double your money 😊if you do it right and a little luck is on your side.
janet9988
·5 months agoThe OP never comes back to even like a post/response.
soh.maryl
·5 months agoYou realize that it's highly unlikely that anyone employed by the USPS will read this, right?
And, frankly, am not sure that they would care much even if they did.