[78-L] Question about insurance

[David Lennick]

"Anyone ever successfully file a claim for a damaged item & have
the postal service pay out? If so, how long did it take?"

Yes..it took a couple of months and I had to return the broken discs (18 out of 
a shipment of 60). This was a bit maddening because I could have transferred 
the cracked discs and salvaged the audio, but I think that because I knew the 
discs were partially damaged when I picked up the shipment at the PO, I had to 
leave the broken and cracked ones there and take an insurance claim form. There 
was also a complication whereby the insurer would only reimburse the SELLER, 
not the buyer..they sent him the payment and he then sent it to me. Not sure 
why this was the case.

As for lost items, I will never deal with DerWilly because a disc never arrived 
from him and he refused to make good on it.

If you use P**pal and have it linked to AMEX, you can file a claim for loss or 
damage with them..I've had refunds for missing shipments a couple of times even 
when the original seller had vanished. (From Amex, not P**pal.)

dl

Malcolm - Venerable Music wrote:
> Yea, I recently had the same experience on eBum although it was from a 
> non-recognizable seller who has since had his account cancelled.
> I won a rather expensive record (Bay Rum Blues by Ashley & Foster on 
> Vocalion) and as I always do, sent proper packing instructions along with my 
> payment (which I received a disgruntled "I know what I'm doing" reply to).
> When the box arrived, it was obviously mishandled by the postal service, so 
> I crossed my fingers as I opened it up. When I found that the record was 
> taped between 1 square (each side) of cardboard that had obviously been cut 
> from a used box (as it was creased where the old box would fold), and was 
> only sparingly padded with wadded up plastic grocery bags, my heart sank! 
> Sure enough, it was in three big pieces!
> 
> I notified the seller that the record was broken & I wanted to return it for 
> a refund. He then instructed me that he had purchased insurance (out of his 
> own pocket) and I could file a claim if I wanted. Just to check out the 
> situation, I followed up through the postal service, and indeed, the 
> receiver of the damaged merchandise can file an insurance claim. Here is the 
> kicker, it takes up to 60 days for them to respond at which point they can 
> refuse to pay the claim if they deem the item was packaged improperly! Well, 
> when paying by Paypal (which is all you can do on ebum these days), you can 
> file a dispute within 45 days that the item arrived significantly not as 
> described. At that point (after the seller has a chance to respond), you can 
> send the item back with delivery confirmation (or some manner of tracking) 
> and paypal will put the money back in your account once they confirm it has 
> been delivered.
> 
> I then instructed the seller that he could also file the claim for the 
> broken record at which point they could deny him coverage because of 
> improper packing, but I would not be on the hook for it. As far as I can 
> tell, the only time postal insurance really works in if the package is lost 
> in space?? Anyone ever successfully file a claim for a damaged item & have 
> the postal service pay out? If so, how long did it take?
> 
> Really, if it were any kind of reputable seller, he should have just 
> refunded the money. At most asking for the seller to return the damaged item 
> so he could pursue an insurance claim. I have received other broken records 
> in the mail before and most sellers refund your money with very little 
> hassle - myself included.
> In fact, if it does show up broken, I usually feel that it was due to my 
> faulty packing as it should be strong enough to stand up to that angry 
> gorilla and survive!
> 
> Taylor, if your friend is still having a problem, tell him to open a dispute 
> through paypal - but it must be within 45 days (I think), so don't delay too 
> much!
> 
> Malcolm
> (the other, other one in Georgia)
> 
> Venerable Music - http://www.venerablemusic.com/
> 78rpm Auctions - http://www.vmauctions.com/
> Venerable Radio - http://www.venerablemusic.com/samphpweb/index.html
> On Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/venerablemusic
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Taylor Bowie" <bowiebks at isomedia.com>
> To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
> Sent: Sunday, January 03, 2010 1:50 PM
> Subject: [78-L] Question about insurance
> 
> 
>> A friend of mine recently had a very unpleasant go-round with a well-known
>> eBay record seller who sent him a cracked record.  When my friend asked 
>> for
>> his money back,  the seller demanded that my friend file the insurance
>> claim.
>>
>> I've bought and sold books and records through the mail for many years, 
>> and
>> on the few occasions there was a problem...I never expected the buyer to
>> file the claim about something I'd sold and which arrived damaged or not 
>> at
>> all.  I would refund the money and then file my own insurance claim.
>>
>> Any of you other buyers or sellers run into this?  Seems to be that it's 
>> the
>> responsibility of the seller to follow through on problems with a 
>> purchase,
>> and not the buyer.
>>
>>
>> Taylor
>>
>>