posted on September 9, 2000 10:55:24 PM
(a repost from rec.photo.marketplace, I did not write this, I found it interesting.)
Unfortunately, as a businessman, I have more than my fair share of
experience fighting both the USPS and UPS in court for insurance claims.
My experience has been that neither will pay an insurance claim without a
fight. I have had to file claims in circuit court in each instance -
including lost packages (How can I be responsible for a package that the
USPS or UPS lost? I write the return and shipping addresses on the box,
affix a shipping label over the written addresses, and include an invoice
inside the box that has the names and addresses of the shipper and
recipient.). At least I am batting 1.000 in court.
I presently have three claims in litigation - one against USPS for 7 COD
packages that were delivered without collecting the payment (Domestic Mail
Manual, that regulates USPS, states that USPS is the liable party in such
cases, not the recipient - without a signature, USPS cannot prove the
package was actually delivered.). The USPS made a settlement offer, but
refuses to include court costs. Two local medias are investigating this
lawsuit. Local press can be very persuasive to a party wishing to get out of
something that it knows it can't win.... and when facing an opponent who is
not intimidated by its size and bureaucracy.
The two UPS claims are interesting. One involves a package that was opened
and the contents removed while in UPS' possession. UPS refuses to pay the
claim as it says that we can't prove anything was actually in the box in the
first place (then what weighed 4 pounds when it was shipped according to
UPS' own scale? The box was empty at delivery - a small, empty box doesn't
weigh 4 pounds.). We have 6 witnesses to the contents that were shipped and
the state of the package upon delivery. This should be an easy case to win.
The other involved a similar situation. We shipped a bike in a brand new
manufacturer-supplied bike box. These are heavy duty boxes with double
bottoms and industrial staples. The box was perfect and dry when shipped (or
UPS would not have accepted it). When it arrived at the customer, it was
waterlogged and half of the bottom was missing - as were about $1,000.00
worth of parts. The bike frame inside was also badly damaged. UPS claims it
is not responsible for water damage as this is an "act of God". Act of God
my rear end! It was an act of negligence.... someone at UPS left it where it
got wet. Also, we put two bikes in the same kind of bike box and soaked it
with water. We could not get the bikes inside to break through the bottom,
even when we tossed the box up and down. The only way the shipped box could
have lost half of the bottom is by mechanical means - this does not rule out
employee theft.
During my last hearing in court, the judge related an investigation against
UPS by one of the local law enforcement agencies. Apparently, it discovered
numerous instances of employee theft from packages received for shipping
from the Portland Shipping Center.
Sorry for the lengthy rant, but I feel my experiences might prove
encouraging to others facing similar circumstances. Fighting the USPS and
UPS in court is a lengthy, frustrating process (not expensive, though). But
the victory will feel good. Most important, both of these organizations need
to know that they cannot ride rough shod over their customers. The more
times they lose in court, the less likely that they will continue such
behavior. This is exactly waht's happending in the auto insurance industry.
