ok first of all your not screwed but you really need to approach this the right way & YOU WILL GET PAID,first you need to understand that you did not buy insurance you paid a declared value fee & the 2 are not the same,no matter what you claimed as the value dhl will only pay you what you sold it for & the canceled check is your recipt,if you used paypal simply print out that transaction as proof,how ever your buyer paid you will be your recipt & if there is no record just go buy a recipt book & write one up,been there & done that & it work's.
it's not just dhl ALL shipping company's suck when it come's to paying off claim's & it never happen's over night,ups has an unwritten policy to deny all claim's on the ground's of improper packing & i would imagine that dhl is the same,you need to follow these step's as soon as possible.
1 contact the buyer & make sure he does not throw away any packing not even a peanut & not to hook the player up.
2 tell the buyer that he is not to let dhl show up to pick up the package under the guise that it need's to be taken to an inspection center,once dhl get's it they will ship it straight back to you without even looking at it.
3 call dhl & request an on site inspection of the damaged cdp & all packing & make sure the buyer knows that dhl will be calling to arrange a meeting,if dhl give's you a blast of s#!t saying you must let them pick it up you tell them that its not safe to handle due to the broken glass & sharp metal & they will give in.
4 call dhl & make a formal complaint of the driver's behavior & make sure you talk to a supervisor & tell them the lame ass excuse you allready got telling you that the driver get's hot headed.
5 call dhl & dont tell them anything about your claim just inquire about what their packing guideline's are for electronic item's are & make sure your packing meet's the guide line's,most shippers use the same standards.
6 take pic's of the packing & the damaged player & also get any pic's you might have of the player before they killed it,auction pic's are great if you auctioned it but ad pic's will work too.
7 print out any info you have on the sale of the player,if it was from agon just print out the ad & if it was from ebay print the auction.
8 gather any & all payment info you have regarding how your buyer paid you,that is your recipt not what you paid for it.
9 after dhl make's the on site inspection have the buyer take the player to a repair center & have him get a repair estimate or if it's damaged beyond repair have the repair center put that in writing,even if you have to send the player back to wadia it need's to happen as you will not get one red cent without an estimate or a statement saying the unit is damaged beyond repair.
after dhl complete's the inspection you are free to take or ship the player as needed to get a repair quote,after the repair quote is recieved you can call dhl & find out where to fax or send the estimate,if they will not let you fax it in do not just mail it,you need to use either ups or fedex so you can have a record of it's delivery,once the quote is recieved by dhl you need to start calling them to check the claim status.
every time you talk to somebody at dhl about anything write down what they say,what time ,day & date & what their name is,if your packing either met or exceeded dhl's guidelines make sure you point that out to every person you speak with,even if the person at dhl seem's to be on your side & is telling you all good thing's still write it all down.
if you approach this agressively & know the answer's to all the question's you will get paid but if you sit back & hope for the best you may as well grease yourself up because your gonna take it in the crapper.
i hate to sound like the voice of doom but what i just wrote is the way it is,occasionaly claim's are fast & simple where guy's get paid fast with no head aches but being that your claim is for 2k plus it's xmas time i would plan for the worst & have all your duck's in a row,ive been thru this quite a few time's & believe me if you cut them the slightest slack they will hammer you.
be smart,be agressive,be constant,get paid.
good luck
mike.
