Have you ever collected on insurance????

UPS - I bought two sets of cables from different sellers here at Audigon. Both agreed to ship COD / UPS. Both arrived the same day and I give the money orders to the driver. Next are calls from the sellers asking about payment. Turns out UPS lost both money orders. Their solution? Threaten me. I had to pay them again. I had to help find out what happened. I had to get them the serial numbers of the money orders. The more they threatened the more I told them to go to hell. After I told their lawyers I would sue them if they didn't leave me alone they stopped. Bad experience.

FedEx - Sold a preamp to someone on Audigon. When it arrives he tells me the box shows damage and one channel won't work. Gets a repair estimate. He reports the damage to FedEx. FedEx sends me the check, as shipper, I endorse it and send it to the buyer. Good experience.

Pilot Air - I bought a set of speakers in NYC and had them shipped by air freight by Pilot. Pilot actually sends them by truck and someplace in route smashed one of the crates destroying the speaker cabinet. Claim made, claim denied, suit filed. I ask them to pay for the damage. They accuse me of fraud. Finally, we go through court ordered mediation. The panel makes a recommendation to settle which I can live with. I accept. I find out they accepted. Under the court rule, the case is over, settled for the recommended figure. Now their lawyer tells me they don't want to pay because they thought I would turn down the award. If they knew I would have accepted they would have rejected. I guess I tricked them. Now I'm told the check is in the mail. Almost exactly one year. Horrible experience.

Some companies behave well and others don't. I try to avoid dealing with the ones that aren't.

I once shipped a painting to a buyer via UPS. It was double-boxed and otherwise packaged exactly in accordance with UPS recommendations. When it was delivered, the box had been pierced through-and-through by some object perhaps 4cm in diameter. Buyer refused delivery and (praise God) took polaroids of the damage. Then began the saga. UPS insisted that the package be held for their inspection. Claim denied: "improper packaging." Denial appealed. UPS then produced photos of a bogus box, claiming that it was the one used for shipping. I contacted the buyer who provided his polaroids. God love the man, he had included the delivery man in the photo. I threatened UPS with a call to the DA regarding criminal fraud. Got personal phone call from "senior VP" at UPS telling me that it was all a horrible mistake and, oh, by the way, would I mind just sending back the bogus photos sent to me "in error." Check arrived by overnight delivery. Case closed.

There is no level of sleaze to which these jokers will not stoop.

Will

One way to make collecting on a claim if you are the buyer is to have the seller make you the shipper, that way you are more able to control the claim process.

Three claims, and three successful collections within 6 weeks of the claim, from FedEx Ground. But you MUST follow through, fax and refax because they always lose your first 2 claim forms, make phone calls to Claims Service to check on status, write and fax again, and finally you get your check. At least I did, but it's frightening. First two claims were for damaged items; last claim was for speakers apparently stolen from buyer's doorstep where driver left them without a signature.

Over the years, I have had two items damaged in shipment, both were speakers; one pair was shipped by UPS, the other was shipped by Fed Ex. The damage was cosmetic in both cases (corners dented no doubt from dropping a box on end). I had purchased shipping insurance for full replacement value on both shipments. Before boxing the speakers up for shipment, I had a friend/witness carefully inspect the speakers and test their functioning. I also took pictures of the condition of each speaker (all sides) and packaged them carefully (which I also documented with photos). Finally, when I took the boxed-up speakers to the shipper, I asked the shipping clerk to inspect the boxes to ensure the packaging was satisfactory from their perspective. The FedEx clerk said the packaging was fine; the UPS clerk asked me to open my speaker boxes (which I did) and instructed me to add some additional styro-peanuts on top of the factory packaging (which I also did). I made note of each clerk's name and what they said about my packaging.

When the speakers arrived damaged, I had in hand irrefutable photographic evidence and a sworn statement from a credible witness, as well as assurance from the shipping clerks that my packaging was acceptable. I documented all of this in my claim statement. In both cases, the claims were settled immediately (checks sent to buyer/receiver within about 2 weeks). Thus, my experiences filing an insurance claim with UPS and FedEx were both positive, and I have continued to use both shippers without incident.

Bottom line: We live in a world where some people try to cheat the system by filing false insurance claims; if you can show your shipper that you aren't one of these people, the shipper is much more likely to resolve your claim quickly and favorably. You can do this by carefully documenting the pre-shipment condition (cosmetic and functional) of any fragile item you will be shipping, and then having the shipping clerk inspect/approve your packaging and contents. Damage happens; claim rejections don't have to. Don