Have you ever collected on insurance????

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

In short, I had a terrible time collecting from UPS on an amp that was fully insured but arrived DOA. They had even inspected it at the UPS drop-off center. I now use FedEx ground as much as possible. Fed Ex also gets the COD check back to you in one or two days. For UPS it takes between 10 days and forever to get the check.