posted on December 15, 2000 03:51:17 PM
Can someone please tell me what should be done and by whom? A buyer jsut contacted me that the item I sent was broken on arrival. It was insured through the post office. Do I submit the claim? or send the insurance reciept to the buyer and let them handle it? Please advise! This is the first time that this has happened!
posted on December 15, 2000 04:13:34 PM
You go to the post office and sign a claim form bring a copy of your insurance receipt . The post office will send a copy of the form to the buyer for them to sign and you will be given a refund in about 30 days. You will need to refund the buyers money. He can also do file the claim.
I think that if the item is damaged, have it sent back to you so you can see the damage.
Then you can file the claim yourself.
Refund his money after he signs the claim form.
I just had a buyer send in a claim form. I think he is just trying to get his money back. Get the item for free. I have sent out over a thousand packages and never had any damage. My items are fragile so I go the extra mile when I package. Unless a car ran over his package several times there is no way the item could have been damaged. Unless he damaged it himself after it was out of the packaging.
posted on December 15, 2000 04:22:35 PM
I believe it depends on who is named as the recipient, at bottom of Insurance Form, where it asks Recipient Name and Address. If Seller puts themselves as recipients, I believe they have to start the claim (hard to do without having the package at home)...If recipient is the BUYER then, they have to initiate the claim. They need to take the box with 0riginal packaging materials and of course the broken item., to Post Office.
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posted on December 15, 2000 04:35:47 PM
I had an item I purchased on ebay arrive broken, really broken. The box didn't look bad at all. The seller had pictures, I'm sure it was fine when she sent it. I e-mailed her and she asked me to return it. She filed the claim and sent me a refund. I think whoever files has to be able to show the damage. I felt bad because I wanted the item but the seller was super nice about it. There was nothing wrong with her packing and as I said, the box wasn't all smashed up. Guess I never will know what happened.
posted on December 15, 2000 07:30:48 PM
I have done this a few times.
If the damaged Item was insured for less then $50 Frist email your buyer tell them do not toss out the package or the Item.
Make a copy of the insurance receipt send them the Orginal receipt they can take the Receipt package and damage to there PO for a full payment on the Insurance on the spot no waiting no questions asked.
If the Item was insured for over $50 go to the PO get the Insurance claim form make out your part send it to the buyer to make out there part then it goes to the post office and all you can do is wait for them to pay. http://www.Dman-N-Company.com
posted on December 16, 2000 01:57:27 AM
My PO Office has told me that the seller should send the insurance receipt to the buyer and the buyer makes the claim.
The worse thing a person can do is return the broken item back to the seller as the post office has no way knowing during what shipment it was broken in. Besides it looks strange that a seller would take in an item for a claim that had an insurance receipt that was filled out in buyers name. It makes it look like the buyer didn't like the item and returned it to the seller and now the seller may be trying to make a claim because they lost the sale.
The only time a seller makes a claim is when the item never arrived and it was lost or stolen during shipment. Remember insured packages have to be sign for and this is the PO's proof the item was delivered. This is the first thing the PO checks for when a package is reported undelivered.
When I know I am getting a breakable item through the mail. I open it at the PO and if the item is broke I go back to the counter and show the clerk that it was broken before I even left the PO office and ask for a claim form (I live in a small town and they remember this) I then go home and contact the seller and ask that they send me the insurance receipt and a bill of sale so I can make a claim myself. I then return to the PO Box with the item, all packaging, insurance receipt, claim form, and bill of sale and make my claim.
posted on December 16, 2000 03:22:21 AM
Hi, bridgette - I get insured items through the PO all the time, and have never been asked or required to sign for them.
posted on December 16, 2000 07:40:37 AM
brigette and dman3 are right on--make a copy of the insurance receipt for your records and mail the original to the buyer. The buyer should take the insurance receipt, the damaged item and the original packing to the PO and file the claim.
I've been told (and maybe some of the PO employees on the board can confirm this) that the item and packaging should NOT be returned to the seller to file the claim. Reshipping the item voids the insurance claim, since you cannot prove that the damage occured during the original shipping.
Alternatively, the buyer can take the item and the package and file the claim, and their PO will send you the forms for completion, but this adds to the length of time before the buyer gets his money. The form can be filled out to pay either you or the buyer. If you choose to refund now and receive the insurance payment yourself, be sure that the damage is definitely due to abnormal handling (i.e. the shipping box shows damage), as the claim may be denied if the PO determines that the item was inadequately packed. <b>The PO does not pay insurance claims for items damaged due to inadequate packing!!!</b>
