In accordance with the May 20, 2011 to me from the Supervisor, Domestic Claims Accounting Services (attached as Enclosure 1) I request review of my claim.
I believe my claim was improperly denied and am particularly upset that the letter at Encl. 1 provides no basis for denial.
After review of the following sequence of events, I believe you will agree.
1. I advertised the item in question (a .50 caliber muzzle loading rifle) on-line in the HuntingNet.com black powder forum with numerous pictures of the item ( see Enclosure 2). As you can see, the item is without damage.
2. As a result of the advertisement, the gun was sold to (name) of (address), and shipped to him on 25 Feb 2011, insured for $400. (See Enclosure 3)
3. On 28 Feb 2011 Mr. (name) notified me by e-mail that the gun was received, but was damaged. (see Enclosure 4) As a result, I agreed to refund his money and pay for return shipping to me. I requested that he place the gun in the original packaging and box and put the whole works inside another box to return it, which he did..
4. The Dixie Cub rifle is manufactured by the Italian company Davide Pedersoli, and is available in the U.S. from only two distributors, Dixie Gun Works and Cherry’s Fine Guns. Advertisements from those two companies are attached as Enclosures 5 and 6 as an aid in establishing the value of the gun. Although these guns sell for $750 new, the one I sold for $400 was in used but in excellent condition.
5 The service and warranty point for Pedersoli in the U.S. is Charles Erb Firearms of Fredericktown, PA. I contacted that company in an attempt to obtain a replacement stock for the gun, and was informed by e-mail on 5 Mar 2011 that replacement stocks are not available. (see Enclosure 7)
6. I explored the possibility of repair with Furniture Repair & Refinisher (name & address), who informed me that the stock cannot be restored to original condition due to the type and location of the damage. Repair would involve removal of the barrel from the stock, removal of the brass furniture from the stock, stripping the original finish, steaming the dents, gluing the split area, restaining and refinishing the stock, and reinstalling the brass furniture and barrel, Repair work is likely to be visible and he would make no warranty as to the final results.
7. On 22 Mar 2011 I filed a claim on-line with all supporting documents including the advertisement used to sell the gun, pictures of the undamaged gun prior to shipping, pictures of the damage, the insurance receipt, etc. (see Enclosure 8). As a result, I received an e-mail from USPS acknowledging the claim and advising “if your claim is missing any required information, we’ll contact you so we can quickly process the claim”. (see Enclosure 9)
8. Sometime during the week of 28 March 2011, I visited the Elmwood Branch, New Orleans, LA Post Office and inquired as to who I had to see to inspect an insured/damaged item for which I had filed a claim on-line. I was told by a very pleasant and (seemingly) knowledgeable lady that I would receive instructions from the on-line system as to the next step, and that I should await those instructions. That sounded logical to me, given the quoted section from Enclosure 9 in the above paragraph.. I can identify that person by name and description, but would prefer not to do so unless absolutely necessary.
9. The next communication I received was an April 30, 2011 letter from the Supervisor, Domestic Claims (see Enclosure 10) informing me the claim was denied because evidence of damage or loss of contents was not provided to the US Postal Service within 30 days.
10. I then returned to the Elmwood Branch Post Office and spoke to Mr. (name), Lead Clerk. Mr. (name) was extremely helpful. He inspected and confirmed the damage to the gun and inspected the packaging of the original shipment, which he found satisfactory. He then assisted me in completing a PS Form 1000, Domestic Claim or Registered Mail Inquiry (see Enclosure 11). I also provided him a copy of the enclosures to this letter. He retained the damaged item and original packaging.
The above sequence of events brings us back to 20 May and the letter at Enclosure 1, a denial with no reason stated.
I purchased insurance in good faith, packaged the item properly with ¼” thick Styrofoam planks on each side of the gun, wrapped in numerous layers of newspaper, and packed tightly in a heavy carton with Styrofoam “peanuts”. I filed a claim in a timely manner and provided all possible and reasonable documentation.
I believe the $400 claim should be paid in full. I also request refund of my original $20.55 (Priority Mail) shipping fee to Mr. (name) and the $19 that I reimbursed Mr. (name) for the (non-priority) return shipmen to me.
Sincerely,
Signature
As you can see, I sent that letter on May 27th. Last Thursday, I received a telephone call from a woman at the Claims Appeals Office. She wanted to know if either I or the buyer had a Federal Firearms License allowing shipment of a gun via U.S. Mail.
When I said "no, neither one of us has a FFL, but I didn't ship a "firearm", I shipped a black powder muzzle loading rifle", she said "what's that". I explained muzzle loaders to her. And the law regarding muzzle loaders not being classified as firearms under the Federal statutes. And that they are exempt from USPS firearm shipping regulations. She ended the phone call by saying "I'm gonna have to check on that, and call you back".
SUCCESS!!! Well, she never did call me back. But today - 17 weeks and 6 days after filing my initial claim - I recieved a check in the mail from USPS for $422.50. (They didn't pay the $19 for return shipment to me.)
NEVER GIVE UP DAMMIT! (But you'd better have lots of documentation and be prepared for a fight.)
__________________
My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
Well you had better luck than what I had with United Parcel Service.
That package must have really gotten slammed.
Is the rifle now in possesion of USPS? I wonder what will become of it.
__________________
"Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean everyone is not out to get you"
Is the rifle now in possesion of USPS? I wonder what will become of it.
Yes, they kept the gun. I believe it will go up for sale at the next P.O. auction (unless someone steals it first).
__________________
My wife says I'm totally nuts, but I think I'm Semisane.
Things I've Learned: (1) It's not possible to please everyone, but quite easy to piss everyone off. (2) If you love animals as I do, then you're not a vegetarian. (3) There's no need to act stupid, even if you're very good at it. (4) If you eat right and exercise, don't smoke or drink, you're going to die anyway.
Remember the .50 caliber Pedersoli Dixie Cub I advertised in the classifieds back around the beginning of this year?
Well, I sold it and shipped it via the U.S. Post Office (insured) on Feburary 25th.
Now you have to read a long letter for the rest of the story.
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As you can see, I sent that letter on May 27th. Last Thursday, July 21st., I received a telephone call from a woman at the Claims Appeals Office. She wanted to know if either I or the buyer had a Federal Firearms License allowing shipment of a gun via U.S. Mail.
When I said "no, neither one of us has a FFL, but I didn't ship a "firearm", I shipped a black powder muzzle loading rifle". She said "what's that". I explained muzzle loaders to her, and the law regarding muzzle loaders not being classified as firearms under the Federal statutes and their being exempt from USPS firearm shipping regulations as clearly as I could. She ended the phone call by saying "I'm gonna have to check on that, and call you back".
SUCCESS!!! Well, she never did call me back. But today - 17 weeks and 6 days after filing my initial claim - I recieved a check in the mail from USPS for $422.50. (They didn't pay the $19 for return shipment to me.)
NEVER GIVE UP DAMMIT! (But you'd better have lots of documentation and be prepared for a fight.)
Good job Semi, that is amazing that you did get payment. I was amazed that they didn't lose all the paperwork a time or two.
__________________
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One reason that documentation and keeping every letter, etc.. is so important. Way to go Semisane. I too have a habit of keeping every little scrap of paper on things like this.
__________________
"Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, a total wreck, screaming Yahoo, with a big smile on your face."
Good for you Semi. Way to go after them. I sort of had an instance like that but fortunately my end was 'clean'. Many years ago I shipped a mint condition Winchester Model 71 (348 Win) to a gentlemen with an FFL for a substantial amount of $$. I shipped it in a hard gun case that I picked up at Walmart for about $20, and put the hard case in a cardboard box. I of course insured it. A few days later this 'gentleman' called me and decided he didn't want the rifle. So I told him to ship it back. Well he did, but he decided to keep my hard gun case and did a poor job of packing the rifle. When I went to my post office to pick it up, the muzzle was sticking out of the box with a severely smashed crown. I refused delivery and sent the knucklehead an email that I had refused delivery due to damage and the rifle was his and that I hope he had the sense to insure it. I don't know what happened to the rifle after that.
__________________ PLEASE NOTE THAT DUE TO THE RISING COST IN AMMO PRICES I WILL NO LONGER BE FIRING A WARNING SHOT.
A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.
I'm not as good as I'm gonna get - but I'm better than I used to be. "Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil - it has no point."
I shipped an expensive used air pistol by Fedex in a plastic case across the country and it arrived with a small piece of wood cracked off the grip.
The buyer had Fedex inspect the damage and then filed a claim for a brand new grip. When that claim was denied he asked me to call Fedex and talk to a claim supervisor which I did.
The supervisor told me that there was no way he would pay for a new grip because the original grip was heavily modified and not like new. I agreed with him that the grip was used and that the damage was basically fixable. I told him that I was looking to get about $50 for the buyer just for the devaluation and repair.
Fedex ended up paying a little over $90 to satisfy the claim including shipping reimbursement and the damage which was very fair. It was almost 1/2 the cost of a new grip and the buyer was satisfied receiving that amount.
So it was an accord in satisfaction as far as the sale was concerned.
I didn't have him ship the gun back, at least not until it could be determined how much Fedex would pay. He took the photos and I ended up resubmitting the claim. It helped that it was sold on Gunbroker through a listing, and Fedex had started a partnership with Gunbroker offering shipping discounts to sellers.
I'm happy with Fedex and usually save some money over the post office by shipping with them. Not always but in many cases when it's not something covered by flat rate shipping or if they're only small items. In those cases I use the post office.
You deserved your whole value back and the post office delivered that to you. They certainly do charge enough for insurance, seemingly more per every $100 than Fedex does. And I'm glad for you that they held up their end.
Way to go. I work for the federal government myself (Coast Guard) and have some experience handling hearings/appeals. Many times the first "decision" is by someone/some people who are evaluated by the number of decisions they process. It is not untill the appeal that the matter is really looked at by someone who has any idea of what the rules are.
The lesson is always appeal (if you believe you are right), keep inside any deadlines, always document and keep all the paperwork. You did everything right.
Going POSTAL
