How do I file a shipping insurance claim for international shipment to U
September 20, 2018 4:51 AM Subscribe
I ordered something which was shipped from the local postal service in central Europe and delivered by USPS to me. It arrived broken. I took pictures of the well packed item, squished box, etc. Seller asked me to go to my post office and file an insurance claim is it is fully insured. How do I go about doing that since they didn't buy the insurance from USPS?
Back up a step. You were entitled to receive a product in good condition. That's not what you got. The seller should reimburse you through banking channels, or you should charge back the purchase on your credit card. It's the seller who should make the insurance claim, or not, it's their choice and their responsibility.
posted by JimN2TAW at 5:43 AM on September 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
posted by JimN2TAW at 5:43 AM on September 20, 2018 [7 favorites]
Yes, I agree with Jim. It's the seller's responsibility to get the item to you in good condition, or you don't owe them anything.
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:54 AM on September 20, 2018
posted by The Pluto Gangsta at 5:54 AM on September 20, 2018
I’m going through this with a product shipped from Japan. It is a slow process and not well documented on the USPS website.
First, keep everything—broken product packaging, labels, all of it. The Postal Service will want to inspect it.
The seller needs to contact their local PS to begin the claims process. That PS will contact the USPS and you will get a letter with details on the claim and instructions to take the package and broken items to a local Post Office for inspection. This won’t be a local branch office, but the main office for your region (the folks at my local branch, who are wonderful and helpful in every way, had no idea WTF to do about a broken plate sent from Japan). You will have to surrender package and goods. You can speed things up slightly by bringing the stuff in on your own and having the inspection done. You will leave with a receipt for your goods, and a filled out damage claims form describing the damage, your address, a claim number, etc.
Then you wait for both postal services to work through their claims processes with each other. I filed my claim 9/4 and we haven’t yet been paid. (I have a reminder on my calendar to follow up tomorrow.).
Good luck.
posted by notyou at 6:09 AM on September 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
First, keep everything—broken product packaging, labels, all of it. The Postal Service will want to inspect it.
The seller needs to contact their local PS to begin the claims process. That PS will contact the USPS and you will get a letter with details on the claim and instructions to take the package and broken items to a local Post Office for inspection. This won’t be a local branch office, but the main office for your region (the folks at my local branch, who are wonderful and helpful in every way, had no idea WTF to do about a broken plate sent from Japan). You will have to surrender package and goods. You can speed things up slightly by bringing the stuff in on your own and having the inspection done. You will leave with a receipt for your goods, and a filled out damage claims form describing the damage, your address, a claim number, etc.
Then you wait for both postal services to work through their claims processes with each other. I filed my claim 9/4 and we haven’t yet been paid. (I have a reminder on my calendar to follow up tomorrow.).
Good luck.
posted by notyou at 6:09 AM on September 20, 2018 [2 favorites]
It's the seller's responsibility to get the item to you in good condition, or you don't owe them anything.
That's not necessarily true. Some agreements leave the decision whether or not to accept the risk of damage in transit to the buyer and specify that any remedy for damages it to be worked out through the insurance process, not by an instant refund.
In this case, notyou is almost certainly correct in that the claim needs to be filed with the postal service that the insurance was purchased from.
posted by Candleman at 6:58 AM on September 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
That's not necessarily true. Some agreements leave the decision whether or not to accept the risk of damage in transit to the buyer and specify that any remedy for damages it to be worked out through the insurance process, not by an instant refund.
In this case, notyou is almost certainly correct in that the claim needs to be filed with the postal service that the insurance was purchased from.
posted by Candleman at 6:58 AM on September 20, 2018 [1 favorite]
Some agreements leave the decision whether or not to accept the risk of damage in transit to the buyer ....
Quite right. Read your contract, OP. If there's no contract and no relevant correspondence, ask for a refund based on reason, justice, and morality.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:24 AM on September 20, 2018
Quite right. Read your contract, OP. If there's no contract and no relevant correspondence, ask for a refund based on reason, justice, and morality.
posted by JimN2TAW at 11:24 AM on September 20, 2018
(And to update my situation: I received a message from the Seller in Japan that Japan Post has paid on the insurance claim and the matter will close soon. I have opted to have the Seller ship a replacement rather than ask for a refund. This has taken nearly a month to resolve and the process is not clear, but it does work.)
posted by notyou at 11:28 AM on September 24, 2018
posted by notyou at 11:28 AM on September 24, 2018
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by arnicae at 5:14 AM on September 20, 2018