USPS lost a Steely Dan album I sold. I submitted a claim on-line today. Total value was $55 with PM shipping. The only other claim I filed was a damage claim to an album and it was rejected. Customer sent it back and I was able to re-sell the album. Shipping seam split damage.
I am sure there are thousands who have won claims but are you concerned about being stiffed? USPS.COM is your friend and it spells out the claim process quite clearly.
I did make an application on USPS.COM. I have an account there, useless as it is. Just a simple question, not trying to be a jerk. My customer wanted PM, that is what I gave her. She even when on Facebook Neighborhood and got no reply. So ... anyone?
Several years ago, USPS paid my claim for some stuff that got damaged in shipping. IIRC it was a pretty smooth process. I don’t think I’ve ever filed a claim for something that got lost though.
Well, if they lose it and you have it insured, that's a guaranteed win...eventually. They're gonna push through a search first to ensure they can't find it. But when they admit it's lost, you'll get your insurance claim paid (but your shipping costs won't be reimbursed). Of course, you'll need to prove the value you insured it for, which you can do with a completed sale on eBay--which they'll accept as proof. USPS won't generally pay for claimed damage UNLESS it is clear from the outside that the package itself was mishandled by the USPS AND it was properly packed (per their standards).
to OP, yes, shipped 50 records USPS ground w/insurance, using a mailboxes type store. On arrival, a single record had snapped in half. I filed a claim. There was a bit of back and forth, and a postal investigator called to ask questions. The value of the record in its condition was no more than $15. Things went quiet for a few weeks, then a check arrived for $150. I am still astonished what occurred there, but not gonna complain. Good luck!
A lost item (the system shows it scanned at some point, but it never got scanned at the destination) is a guaranteed win. You just have to be patient after you file your claim, and you need to have proof of the value you're claiming (eBay sales price is enough in most cases). Priority Mail has automatic insurance included of up to $50 ($100 if you are a high-level seller on eBay), even if you didn't explicitly buy insurance.
It’s absurd that you have to buy insurance in order to get reimbursed for USPS losing an item. The point of insurance is to guard against our own mistakes. Why should we pay to guard against the mistakes of the entity we are already paying to service us?
I received the full value of a Schiit Bifrost MB DAC that was wrecked in shipping, it looked like it had been in a bad car accident. However it took 3 or 4 months to finally get paid, they kept denying my claim, saying I hadn’t filed within the time allowed which was not true, I filed immediately at my local post office. Upon my third filing appeal I politely stated that “the basis for their rejection was incorrect”, and once again supplied all the proof needed. Well third time’s the charm, I must have finally had enough luck that my letter arrived at a competent postal claims person’s desk. Tenacity was key to getting what I was owed or I would have been out around $650. But that was it for me as far as using USPS to ship electronics. I only use UPS or FedEx now, and much to my surprise the prices are often the same as the USPS.
No - but I never filed a claim. I did "appeal" to US Customs once and "won". In the early 90s, I bought some gray-market Bowie CDs from Europe. Customs held them and said I couldn't have them due to copyright issues. I told them a) I wasn't aware of that when I bought them - which was true, as I thought they were legal - and b) I would only use them for my personal pleasure. To my surprise, they let me have the CDs!
Yeah - they almost always seem to reject the first claim... And UPS can be HALF the price of USPS I was shocked to discover, though it's generally more.
Which is just wrong. You pay to transport a lost or wrecked item, then spend days getting reimbursed, and you're still out the shipping cost!
