Thanks, U.S. Postal Service

[Idlefellow]

I need to rant somewhere so here goes: I sent out a piece of my original artwork as a holiday greeting. A friend was quite taken with the image and asked where he could buy a print of it, so I produced one, framed it, packed it well, and gifted it to him. I sent it Priority Mail which includes $50 automatic insurance. It arrived with the glass broken but otherwise OK. He took the item and the packaging to his local post office and the clerk said, "Yep, it's broken all right. We don't know much about claims; we've never processed one. The shipper will have to file a claim."

I knew this not to be correct but to save my friend the hassle I filed a claim on line. Per their request I included the shipping info, photos of the damaged item and packaging which my friend sent to me, and a signed statement of the value of the item which was far greater than the $50 claim. It was almost immediately declined; the reasons? The item 1) "had not been surrendered for examination:, and 2) "no statement of value had been provided." I appealed, saying that the local post office had indeed examined the item, and that I had provided a statement of value. I then got a letter saying that we would need to submit a form (#?) to prove that the item had been examined and that the statement of value needed to be a receipt, sales slip, etc. So my friend trudged to the PO again, where he was told that in order to get this completed form the item would need to be surrendered to them, and that if the claim was paid he probably would not get it back,

So, I wrote a letter relaying that we did take the item to the local post office and received no help, that only the glass was broken and that my friend didn't want to give up the print and the frame which is worth far more than the claim amount, and that there was no receipt, etc. as it was a gift and that I, as the artist, am surely entitled to provide a value of my own original work.

Yesterday I got a letter saying that the decision had not changed, and that the reasons were that the item was not surrendered and the proof of value was not a valid sales slip etc. yada yada yada.

I wouldn't have taken it this far over 50 bucks except for the principle, and as much as it burns me to give up I'm done with it; can't fight city hall as they say. If I had it to do over I would have had my friend surrender a box of broken glass without the print or the frame and made up some sort pf phony receipt! Rant over, but still p!ssed.

So, if you send a gift to someone and expect to collect the insurance, make sure you keep the receipt!

 

[Zeno Marx]

This is their scam, which is why it is also generally a waste of money to use anything below the registered mail tier, which requires a signature every time it changes hands at the PO. And it is NOT cheap. Still, that's barely any guarantee they'll honor a claim, because they have 1000 ready reasons why you don't qualify on top of being able to make them up as they go. I don't say any of this as an old grinch and cynic. It's one of their rackets. They have all these levels of insurance and values, yet to meet any of the requirements is nearly impossible, if not entirely impractical. Like you said, "examined" by the post office at time of shipping, yet few postal employees are trained how to examine, and generally, the postal workers don't have the time, nor the patience, to examine anything. That's someone else's job, and that person doesn't deal directly with the public. They're in the back somewhere. RIGHT! It makes no sense, and it very quickly and conveniently voids a huge percentage of proposed claims. Remember that Priority w/ signature option for an additional $.50? Totally useless. PayPal doesn't honor any of it either. That's a whole other story...how PayPal and ebay don't honor any of these special USPS services. Nobody does. If you have something really important or valuable to send, you use a service. Like Endicia. And the only reason they'll honor USPS flubs is because they want your business, not because they'll have anymore luck getting the claim honored by USPS. They're just willing to eat the costs to make customers happy, as they deal in volume and recognize those claim losses as part of the deal.

I used to run a mail order business for around a decade, and I was deep into mail order culture. Our USPS offers a great service at a very low cost, comparatively with the rest of the world. We're lucky. However, all the various services they offer are snake oil and are there for little more than peace of mind. The difference between 3rd class mail and Priority w/ signature is nothing... except the several dollars more it will cost you. One doesn't actually give you anymore protection or recourse than the other. It's purely psychological, as they aren't going to honor the Priority w/ signature anymore often they are the 3rd class tier.

 

[Idlefellow]

It's interesting; I bought a vintage pheasant decoy that stood on wire legs, and when it arrived it was bent over to the point I feared the legs would break when straightened. I took photos of the decoy and packaging and filed a claim on line along with a copy of my sales receipt; never even took it to the post office. The item was insured for $150 and I claimed the entire amount; a couple weeks later I got a check for $50 which they approved as a partial payment. It paid my shipping charges, I repaired the decoy myself, everybody happy. That's why I was so surprised and angered that they gave me the run around on this one.

 

[Ranger107]

Amazon must have a heck of a deal wifh USPS. I have Amazon Prime witb free shipping and a couple weeks ago I ordered some watch batteries, the ones that are the size of a dime. Got a card of six that was 2"x 3" and maybe 3/16" thick. Total price was under $8. Came in a box 6x6x5" mostly full of bubble wrap. When I mail a box that size it's usually between $6 to $7. Don't see how they are making much on the deal.

 

[Idlefellow]

I know what you mean. My wife got a small item from Amazon the other day and it came in a box about 2'x1'x4".

 

[bearwolf56]

Amazon must have a heck of a deal wifh USPS. I have Amazon Prime witb free shipping and a couple weeks ago I ordered some watch batteries, the ones that are the size of a dime. Got a card of six that was 2"x 3" and maybe 3/16" thick. Total price was under $8. Came in a box 6x6x5" mostly full of bubble wrap. When I mail a box that size it's usually between $6 to $7. Don't see how they are making much on the deal.

I saw something on YouTube the other day that said that Amazon makes up the money by charging people that sell on Amazon an outrageous price for selling through them.

 

[Zeno Marx]

Amazon seller programs are notoriously brutal.