posted on January 28, 2003 12:00:25 PM new
I'm in the middle of dealing with a FedEx Ground claim that has become extremely tiresome. I had china mailed to me and there was some breakage, but 3 different FedEx employees did NOT tell me that I had to provide original packaging for the claim--even after I asked if they were SURE I only had to submit the actual breakage.
Well, I have appealed the denial of the claim, so I think I'll eventually get money back, BUT I was informed that china has a limit of $100 (even though the box was insured for $400).
I am providing the link below to their limits of liability, so you sellers and buyers can steer clear of FedEx Ground if you're dealing with expensive items that are on this list. They still have great rates, but some valuables are best sent by other methods. Thank goodness there was damage to only a couple of my items!
posted on January 28, 2003 12:06:07 PM new
more and more usps claims are denied due to external box did not show damage,also usps has guidelines on packing.
so it looks like fede xp and ups are doing the same,did the seller do a good job packing??
posted on January 28, 2003 01:55:04 PM new
Well, it's a little difficult to say. If I had packed them, I would have used more cushioning between the nested items--but I'm a bit obsessive about shipping fragile items. BTW they were double boxed, but there was no room for peanuts or anything between the items and the interior box--there were peanuts and bubble wrap between the outer and inner boxes.
The outer box didn't appear to be heavily damaged, but a flat, hard drop could have caused the breakage. Since only 3 of the 16 items broke (and they were at the bottom of the stacks), I decided that it was reasonable to start a claim. The proceeds won't cover a purchase from Replacements Ltd., but I might get a fabulous eBay deal at some point!
posted on January 28, 2003 08:26:27 PM new
I have been using RPS (FedEx Ground) for at least 8 years. I have sent hundreds of sets of china by them all over the US. Iuse Van Line Dish paks. They are double walled & very sturdy. The secret is in the packing. I rarely have a piece broken. I just shipped 94 pieces of china to Replacements Ltd. in NC. I live in CA. It was packed in 2 dish packs. Not a piece was broken. I have been dong this for 8 yrs. & have the packing down to a science. It took me less than 2 hrs. to wrap & pack all of this china.
posted on January 28, 2003 09:14:35 PM new
It should not be your responsibility to file the claim. The buyer rarely has the information necessary to properly complete a claim form. The seller should handle that. I ship a lot of china and pottery plus other fragile items through FedEx and on the rare occasion there is a damaged item, I refund the customer immediately and file the claim with FedEx. As Sanmar has stated several times before, if anything gets broken in transit, it's the fault of whoever packed the carton in 99.9% of the cases. If the seller can't convince FedEx to reimburse him,
then he deserves to get stuck and should switch to selling items made of rubber or steel.
The light at the end of the tunnel will turn out to be an oncoming train.
posted on January 29, 2003 01:37:33 AM new
sparkz,
When I looked at the claim form, the only information that I had to get from the seller was the original postage paid and the declared value. Since the condition of the box and contents required my input, as well as the fact that FedEx had to set up a date to pick up the broken items, I felt like it was better to do the claim myself. Besides, I got a very good deal on the china, and I filed the claim for the true value of the items instead of the eBay price. I had to do a P.O. claim once, and I used a printout from Replacements Ltd. as proof of value.
posted on January 29, 2003 04:52:28 PM new
If you would have made the shipper file the claim I bet there would not have been a problem. I only had to file a claim one time for for damage.(I have shipped well over 1000 packages with them with no trouble) The buyer called fedex and they came back to his house and picked it up.(he kept the undamaged items) Then they inspected it and returned it to me so I could file the claim. They paid quickly without any questions.
posted on January 31, 2003 02:24:26 AM new
I am surprised Fed Ex accepted anything other than your bill of sale as proof of value. I have filed three claims through UPS and they required a copy of the auction in all instances.
In their words, "it is only worth what you paid, not replacement value"
posted on January 31, 2003 05:41:07 AM new
If the box was insured for $400 and there were 16 pieces inside the box, then the 3 broken pieces are only claimable for $75 total.
In which case, more than likely, FedEx would pay the claim without a hassle.
Anything over a $100 claim is given to their insurance company and that's where things get hairy. The insurance company will do everything in their power not to have to pay the claim if they don't have to.
Since FedEx has stated in their terms they will only insure up to $100 for china, they will probably only offer you $6.25 for each broken piece, if at all.
posted on January 31, 2003 01:40:58 PM newrarriffle
Since this china was not a unique item where the value was impossible to determine without a bill of sale, I see nothing wrong with providing an independent, third-party valuation (fortunately, Replacements Ltd. has the prices on their website). That seems to be the only way to estimate the TRUE value. What if my sister had sent me family china that had been purchased years ago? There would be no bill of sale available, so a published price list would be the only way to go. When the value of an item can be independently verified (new items with MSRP or used china with website prices), I don't believe it should matter that I got a "good deal" through an auction. If I can independently prove (through a published source) that an item is "worth" a certain amount, I think that's what the insurance should pay, and that's the way I processed the claim (since there's no guarantee that I'll ever be able to get it at that price again).
toollady
Is there somewhere that FedEx states that enough insurance needs to be purchased to cover all items? It seems to me that the sender or recipient has the option to insure for whatever they want to. The box may have been insured for $400, but the replacement cost far exceeded that. I "gambled" that if there had been breakage it wouldn't be a total loss. Also, just because there were 16 items insured for that amount does not mean that all items were worth the same. If there had been a coffee pot and 15 saucers, the coffee pot would have been worth MUCH more than the other items.
Without eBay, I might have a real life...
[ edited by mcbrunnhilde on Jan 31, 2003 01:42 PM ]
posted on January 31, 2003 02:31:06 PM new
I was not attacking you or your claim, I was just stating the Fed Ex surprised me. I always use UPS myself for heavy items and that is how they do it.
In all honesty though...I once won a bid on a price quide...it never showed up. I then received a claim form that the seller had filed with USPS...now this book sold for $11.00 plus $1.50 shipping, and I didn't request insurance, the seller took it upon himself to add insurance??? Very fishy smelling...Anyway the claim form had a value of $40.00...I not only refused to sign it with that value on it, I wrote the USPS a note informing them that the seller was trying to rip them off.
posted on January 31, 2003 05:21:21 PM newrarriffle and toollady
In re-reading my response to your comments, it does sound as though I were on the defensive. I definitely did not feel attacked, and I sincerely apologize if either of you felt like I was putting down your opinions/comments. I simply used the subjects you brought up to expand on my reasons for viewing this insurance claim the way I did.
I have learned a tremendous amount about eBay from reading the postings here, and I always recommend this website when I run into a newbie seller who needs some real-life help and info from experienced eBayers.
rarriffle
It does sound like your seller was trying to work the system. However, adding insurance to every package just in case of non-delivery seems to be a bit costly and unproductive (given the very small chance of a box being totally lost). Perhaps he had been screwed by the P.O. before and figured that since he bought $50 worth of insurance he should get as much as he could out of it!
posted on February 1, 2003 12:51:05 PM new
I have to disagree with you as to valuation. FedEx will only pay you what you paid for it. That is fact. They don't care what it is worth, only what you invested in it. Forget getting a 3rd party involved. That is why the the original invoice is required. Be careful, if you get nasty with them, you will end up getting Zero. In all of the time I have shipped china with them, I have been denied only one claim for $66.00. My billing usually run $200.00 a month. I ship from 12,000 to 15,000 dollars worth of china a year, all through FedEx.
posted on February 1, 2003 04:25:10 PM new
How does FedEx determine value in the scenario someone mentioned of sending the valuable and old family china? There won't be a bill of sale if it's a gift.
posted on February 1, 2003 11:15:24 PM newenglandii
That's when Replacements Ltd. is a godsend, since they can provide proof of current value for hundreds of new and old china, crystal and silver patterns. I wonder if those are about the only used products where you can get a true "retail" value instead of an arbitrary (and inflated) "book" value.
We had two extra sets of china (through inheritance) that needed to be distributed to my sisters in Tennessee and Virginia. One was an old Lenox set (Princeton) that I have not been able to find a single used piece of, and the other was a large Haviland set. There's no way that I would trust either of these sets to the tender mercies of a parcel shipper, and sending it by a moving company would be extremely expensive. I had to go to New York last fall, so I opted to drive (from the west coast) and deliver the china personally. If I had been unable to do that, I would have had the china appraised and selected a method of shipping where I could be sure that any loss would be completely covered--which means that I'd still be stuck with these sets!
posted on February 4, 2003 04:56:18 PM new
Well, it looks like the squeaky wheel gets the grease. After having my original claim denied, reviewed, and then denied again, I finally (after several phone calls) spoke last week with the woman who had handled my claim. I reiterated that I was VERY upset about the denials since FedEx had more than once failed to give me accurate information. I guess I must have been very persuasive (or they simply wanted me to GO AWAY), because I got a check in the mail today for $100 plus postage reimbursement! It won't cover the cost of buying from Replacements Ltd., and it probably won't cover an eBay purchase unless I get a very good deal on them. At least this is an acknowledgement that they screwed up and are willing to take responsibility for it!
The big lesson in all of this is...no matter what they say, they will need to see ALL packing materials in order to process the claim!
posted on February 4, 2003 07:42:05 PM new
OK. Did you get what you paid for the item??\\If so, then don't #*!@, you got your money back. What did you expect?
