Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted May 28, 2015 Been thinking about the insurance I just bought on a $350 vinyl shipment - you buy car or auto insurance in case an unforeseen occurrence happens at no fault of either the owner of the car or insurance company, you buy travel insurance in case you have an emergency and cannot complete your trip as planned - (sold by the travel company), The post office is the only entity I can think of that sells you insurance to you in case they do not complete the service you paid them to do. . . . and they damage/ lose (fail the job hired to do) enough that we pay the fees . . . .Things that make you go hmmmmmmm 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 28, 2015 From my experiance, they will give you a refund of service (their job) if they fail to deliver. Insurance covers your personal property (of which, the value is indetermined until you define it). 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted May 28, 2015 From my experiance, they will give you a refund of service (their job) if they fail to deliver. Insurance covers your personal property (of which, the value is indetermined until you define it). I have a few dozen first class packages they lost that disagrees with that scenario. the point being what other service provider (other than package delivery) sells you insurance in case they fail to do their job. would be like going in for and oil change and do you want insurance in case we can't do it? with auto and home the insurance company has no influence if there is a collision or loss - only package services can get you to buy insurance for the instance where the person selling you the insurance is the one losing or damaging the property. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 28, 2015 Well Dakota, I agree with your sentiment, but I think its more prevalent and not isolated. The USPS isnt the only business that sells insurance for when they fail to do their job properly. UPS and Fedex do the same thing for values over $100. If you transport a car via rail with Amtrak Autotrain, they sell insurance in case rocks fly up and damage your car, even though its in their possession. Travel insurance covers situations where the airline/cruise line is responsible, but not liable because of contract clauses. As for not getting a replacement of service, please speak to your postmaster next time. They have been accomodating the few times I've had trackable discrepancies on uninsured packages. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr300s 1,272 Posted May 28, 2015 He must work for the Post Office... because they have lost a ton of my stuff also for years and they always deny it like UPS does. Like I always said it seems that the Post Office never has to be held accountable for it actions. Just saying it like it is ... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 28, 2015 Rough crowd.... Check this link to one of my packages that went MIA. https://tools.usps.com/go/TrackConfirmAction_input?qtc_tLabels1=9400110899236431503839 When i presented that to the post office, they shipped the replacement free of charge. I sure as hell dont work for them, rofl. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr300s 1,272 Posted May 28, 2015 Yeah they shipped it again but did they pay for the item that was in the missing package? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 28, 2015 Nope! Just saying, if you have veritable proof, I've gotten them to cover shipping. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mr300s 1,272 Posted May 29, 2015 I really don't give a crap about $1.94 shipping , so big deal they cover that , what about the $18.99 case I now lost. It makes us look like the bad guys so we have to eat the lost and replace the item. In the case of Scott his graphics can get real expensive when he has them lose one... 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted May 29, 2015 the discussion today was about a package that the vinyl was $350 - would be a fool not to insure it - but just hit me as funny that the person selling the insurance is the one that creates the need for the insurance.its like if I was selling a sign and I was to offer insurance to the customer in case I don't complete the sign. I am in full control of if I complete the project successfully, but if I don't complete a few anyone down the road wanting a sign would buy the insurance (of course if I was the only option for buying the sign from - like the only affordable small package delivery service.) now you could say for mid priced packages you could use fed ex or ups - and have the same scenario - the person that might lose or destroy your package has done that enough that they can sell insurance to you for more profit (kinda like betting on their failure) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 29, 2015 I view it more like pay for use service. Piecemail style. For small packages, USPS is cheap. It's cheap because you bear the risk. They essentially decoupled insurance of value of contents from their job of delivering a package. Its kind of like how Spirit airlines decoupled all aspects of flying. (Terrible customer service aside). Why pay for Secretariat when the donkey of Juan Valdez will do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 29, 2015 By the way, I was a project manager / structural engineer for a corrugated packaging company. I can't begin to tell you how many people fail to properly ship items. We are talking about weak boxes, poor dunnage, bad palletization, poor load distrobution, improperly sized boxes. You'd be surprised how many people store stock U-line boxes (or chineese boxes) for long periods of time. Over time, moisture eats at the strength of a box, and age can deteriorate the liners and medium.Alot of times the person shipping the package is the cause of shipping sustained damage to the contents. In those events, the insurance coverage subsidizes client incompetence and penalizes people who correctly package their products. Insurance should be much cheaper and guarantee only delivery and cases of gross incompetence on behalf of the shipping company. Just trying to explain where my perspective comes from. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jaybyrd 3,770 Posted May 29, 2015 Wish I'd saved some pictures over the years but usps has used some of my shipments for wheel chocks or at least that's what they looked like when they arrived. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wildgoose 4,200 Posted May 29, 2015 From a business model perspective (talking private industry not Gov USPS) it's an interesting problem they have. Joe blow walks in and has a package to ship across the country. The cost is $12. His item may be a $3 clamp off a 72 Mazda or a custom CNC milled tripod bracket worth $400. It's pretty tough to have any kind of built in price that will cover damages that could occur from all kinds of possible scenarios including idiot employees of your own shipping company or wrecks or dogs eating things at the door..... So how do you come up with a safe model that protects you as a shipper while still keeping the price reasonable enough to stay down with the competition? Pay as you go insurance for the value of whatever you put in there probably makes as much sense as anything else. That way the people who are just needing to send something of little value aren't made to near the risk that would come from the high end items if it were on the shippers shoulders. Kind of like pressing shirts that the owner supplies, I always tell them that I will do it but if I screw up it's their risk because they didn't allow me to have the mark-up on the shirt to allow me to take the risk. There is little or no way to compensate people for the time sensitive issues that arise from a screw up either. I have bee pretty upset a few time when I paid for expedited delivery or quicker shipping and it took basically as long as it would have normally anyway. At least we don't live down in south america where things can take months to show up if ever. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dakotagrafx 7,297 Posted May 29, 2015 ropie just got a package a week or so ago that I sent priority about 2 months ago. heck I didn't even know it was missing till the day we left on vacation.guess I shouldn't have joked with them yesterday - today mail carrier (sub) dropped mail and didn't pick any up. my mother has the same carrier across town and 2 people on their st had the same thing and one of them caught the guy - his response was he is paid to drop off the mail not pick it up. I drove home and grabbed my outgoing mail - took it down and had a chat with my friend that said it was a common thing they heard today about him. looked about 18-20 in little sports car and flip attitude when he dropped of the second piece of mail just a bit ago when I got home. I chose not to say more to him - for my own well being. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Command 97 Posted May 29, 2015 Wish I'd saved some pictures over the years but usps has used some of my shipments for wheel chocks or at least that's what they looked like when they arrived. I've had my share of damage leading to RMA's too. Got a metal rolldown display here from USC that became bent and broken by the time it got to my door. If you've ever seen a ups offload line, its a bunch of college aged students chucking packages like shot put. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtrocker 60 Posted May 30, 2015 What kills me is when you pay for 2 day priority and a week later, it still hasn't shown up and you can't collect on it, because it isn't damaged, it's lost. And in the mean time, YOU are stuck with covering the item with the person you are sending it to. Right now, I'm pretty much hating USPS. The last 4 things I've shipped out 2 day priority have taken a lot longer than 2 days. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BannerJohn 1,324 Posted May 30, 2015 welcome to USPS..where you have to pay EXTRA to make sure that they do what you've already paid them to do in the first place/ 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dirtrocker 60 Posted May 30, 2015 I really don't give a crap about $1.94 shipping , so big deal they cover that , what about the $18.99 case I now lost. It makes us look like the bad guys so we have to eat the lost and replace the item. In the case of Scott his graphics can get real expensive when he has them lose one... This is something that bothers me. Shipping a mass produced item, not really a big deal if you have to replace it. Shipping a one of a kind custom item, replacing it isn't so easy. Years back, I had to ship a custom Harley tank. And it was one that had a lot of graphics on it and many hours of work on it, so having to replace it meant, getting another tank and having to repaint the entire thing. Add the cost of the masking, primer, paint, pearl, metal flake and all the rest of the materials, even if the insurance covered everything, it's still weeks lost and an unhappy customer. They lost the tank for 4 weeks. In the mean time, I'm making up a new tank, which was money out of my pocket and getting it ready. Finally, it shows up at the customers. Luckily, I had packed it well enough that the tank wasn't damaged, even though the box looked like it had been through hell and back. So then, I was stuck with a tank I had paid out extra money for, no buyer for it and no idea how to finish it. Because no matter what I put on it, it won't be what a new customer would want. Plus, having it on the shelf with finished paint, means it WILL get scratched at some point. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lablover 218 Posted June 2, 2015 Been thinking about the insurance I just bought on a $350 vinyl shipment - you buy car or auto insurance in case an unforeseen occurrence happens at no fault of either the owner of the car or insurance company, you buy travel insurance in case you have an emergency and cannot complete your trip as planned - (sold by the travel company), The post office is the only entity I can think of that sells you insurance to you in case they do not complete the service you paid them to do. . . . and they damage/ lose (fail the job hired to do) enough that we pay the fees . . . .Things that make you go hmmmmmmm WOW We're gonna have a long drive...LMAO Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
