Has anyone dealt with a USPS damage claim?

[flippa]

I recently won an auction on Ebay for a Standard Coin Changer.  I have been outbid on quite a few of these over the past year.  Once they got over $100, I would punch out of the auctions.  

I finally won an auction for one of these. I paid a bit more than I wanted to (slightly over $100), but have wanted one for quite some time, and this one was complete and in fairly decent condition.  It's no Vendo coin changer, but still pretty cool.

I received it yesterday from the seller, who honestly did a great job packaging it.  It was surrounded in bubble wrap inside a cardboard box, which was then surrounded with Styrofoam and packed in an outer box.  I opened the first box and a whole bunch of broken foam bits flew out  , but the inner box seemed fine.  I opened this box, and the top of the changer is damaged.    

It was obvious that it was dropped on it's top when it was shipped.  There is an imprint of the inner box, imprint of the shape of the changer and imprint of the lock on the Styrofoam.  The top of the cover is quite damaged, and the lower section is racked as well.  When I was finally able to open it, the coin mech dropped out (in a few pieces) along with the change tubes.  

The seller has been great.  He immediately contacted me by phone & email when I sent him an email notifying him oft damage.  He had insured it for $135, which covered the purchase price and shipping costs, and has already contacted USPS to open a claim.  I took a bunch of pictures of the damage and sent them to the seller just to document that I am not trying to pull a fast one on him.

Now that the seller has opened a claim for damage, how does this proceed from this point?  Does USPS contact me at some point to verify that there was actually a loss?  Do I hand over the damaged item to them, or do I keep it and get reimbursed for my purchase price & shipping?

I am bummed, it had the "patina" of a 50 year old, well used machine, but I was planning on keeping it as-is.  

[Rebel]

In the past when I have received an item damaged, I went on line to file the claim but the shipper can also file if the consignee does not want to deal with it. As far as who keeps what is another issue decided by who files the claim. If shipper files, he should refund your money via Paypal but he may want to refund after he receives money from USPS. If shipper doesn't want the item back, I'd hold on to it just in case USPS may want to look at it but usually with this small amount,,,one of you will have a check in a couple of weeks. Have I confused you more or did this help ?

[Pixel]

My mother bought an insured piece of glassware on eBay and it arrived broken. It cost about $10 and over $10 to ship it. We took it to the Post Office ourselves for resolution, and at first the lady advising the clerk tried to make her refuse any refund at all. We had our eBay receipt, but they would NOT refund the shipping charges because the item arrived damaged. Had it gotten lost, they claimed they would have included the shipping charges in the refund. The seller was nice about it and made things right, although it wasn't her fault, and we really didn't expect her to. The seller packaged it very well, but that didn't stop the postal service.  

[MaineT]

They usually need you to prove it was packaged to certain professional standards. Basically, so it can be dropped from so many feet without damage. Keep all of the packaging , but they usually say it was done wrong.

[zadd]

I always insure an item but if its ever damaged its your problem because ups didn't pack the item . It's kind of a scam on ups's part because even though you pay for insurance it does nothing unless they were the ones that packed it . Good luck

[Larry]

PM sent.

[Pixel]

UPS isn't calling it "insurance", they're calling it "Declared Value". They make it *sound* like insurance, but they don't actually *CALL* it that.

http://www.ups.com/content/us/en/shipping/time/service/value_added/declared_value.html

I wonder if the conniving weasel that thought that one up got a bonus for it. 

[flippa]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

I am waiting to hear back from the seller.  I sent him a bunch of pictures of the packaging and coin changer damage, and I am keeping all of the packaging until this is resolved.  I will let him deal with USPS; the issue with my item getting damaged is between them.

I hope that this can be resolved with the insurance that he took out on the package through USPS.  I am not concerned with getting compensated for the loss as I went through Ebay & Paypal.  I hate to do that though, as I imagine that the seller would be the one loosing out.  He has been good to deal with, and he did do a good job with the packaging.  It would stink to see him loose out because the package was mishandled while being shipped.

[MoonDawg]

I received it yesterday from the seller, who honestly did a great job packaging it.  It was surrounded in bubble wrap inside a cardboard box, which was then surrounded with Styrofoam and packed in an outer box.  

         The way it was double boxed, it could have been dropped with no damage.

         They must have thrown it pretty hard to break a coin changer.

[Kilroy]

USPS is a lot easier to work with than UPS.  Seems if you didn't go to a UPS store and have them pack it, they will fight a claim

[Rebel]

The claim I filed on line with USPS was paid in about 10 days,,no pictures and no one came by to look at packaging.  Good luck with process.

[FASTURN402]

If it helps at all, our postmaster informed me to use the flat rate boxes whenever possible.
Tellsz me those boxes are all handled by hand while parcel post is dropped from a conveyor.

[Pixel]

Priority Mail can actually be cheaper than Parcel Post for smaller packages.

[flippa]

I received two letters from USPS today.  The first one stated that an insurance claim had been opened, that they regretted that my item was damaged and to please retain the damaged article and mailing container.  This was dated 9-13-13. 

The second letter contained a check for the cost of the item only, which was dated 9-16-13.  I thought that they would reimburse the postage as well, but "technically" that part was completed, even though they trashed the item within.  Should I even bother asking USPS if they will compensate the cost of postage? 

I was glad to get most of my money back, and I do still have the damaged changer, so I guess it is all good.

[Pixel]

Earlier in the thread, I mentioned that I asked them about not refunding postage. They basically told me since the package wasn't lost in transit, they wouldn't not refund the shipping. Had it been lost, and not merely arrived damaged, they claim they would have refunded the money. Didn't matter if the item was destroyed, if it made it to its destination, no refund on postage.

What ticks me off is, if you paid for more insurance to try to cover the postage, it's likely they still wouldn't refund it. These are the people who keep raising rates every year or so.  

Go ahead and try if you'd like, but be prepared for the same sort of "tough cookies" response I received. Initially they were going to refuse a refund AT ALL, I just happened to have a printed eBay receipt.

[sc1101]

Flippa, Weird they would send you a check before looking at the damaged item but yet they told you to retain damaged item and packaging. Almost as if they are going inspect it. To me if they sent you a check already there's no way they are going to bother looking at it now or take the item back. Most shippers would inspect the package then issue a check and possibly take the item. In this case I think you got yourself a free damaged coin changer.  At least you have parts if you need to repair another.

[sc1101]

I think I just saw a post of someone looking for vendo coin changer part on this site today. Not sure if you want to part it out.

[flippa]

I will inquire about getting refunded for postage when I go to the post office e later this week.  I do not think I will have much luck from what others have told me.  It was kind of funny that I received both the letter & refund on the same day.  I had sent a bunch of pictures to the seller when I notified him, so I imagine that he included these with the claim.  There was not much of a question that it was damaged between the auction and arriving at my house, so the USPS must have just looked at the pictures and processed the claim without having to see the item.

The coin changer is a Standard Coin Changer, not a Vendo.  I would have been furious if this happened to a Vendo coin changer.