I have collected on every claim that i have made and learned a LOT about how these work along the way. Some have been resolved in as little as two weeks, others have taken almost a year. I currently have one in "litigation" with Fed Ex that is going on 6 months now.
I have to share one "disaster" that happened to me with UPS. I purchased two pieces from a gentleman in California. These were going to be for a friends system that i was building him. The seller packed them in the original boxes and sent them on their way to me here in Chicago. When they showed up, one box looked beat to hell ( power amp ) while the other one ( preamp ) looked good. As it turns out, the amp looked and performed fine but the preamp, the one with the "still pretty" box, was DOA. It did power up but just wouldn't pass any signal. The seller filed a claim and was completely co-operative in trying to get this resolved.
UPS picked up the package for inspection as they normally would. They took it back to their claims center for inspection. Since they have no way of verifying performance on every type of electrical device known to man, they basically assume that if it still lights up and was not run-over by a steam roller, it still works. As such, they denied the claim and returned the package to the seller in California. After quite a bit of a hassle, they finally sent out claim forms so that we could get an estimate of repair. Since it was my merchandise, the seller signed a waiver forwarding all rights to any claims over to me and re-shipped the preamp. Upon its' arrival, i was going to get an estimate and then submit that to UPS. Here's where it gets screwy.
Upon the return trip to me, UPS somehow lost the already damaged preamp. We then had to file a claim on this, making two claims on the same component on two different trips. Needless to say, i was not happy and neither was the seller. UPS gave us both the run-around and said that they were looking for the package.
After a LONG time of not hearing anything, i contacted the seller to see if he had heard anything from UPS. He told me that they had notified him that they had found the preamp and asked if i had gotten it. Of course, i had never received it. He had told UPS that it was my property and they should return it to me. He had just assumed that i had gotten it and everything regarding the damage claim was worked out on my end. After all, i had no reason to contact him since he had already signed a waiver and forwarded all of the paperwork over to me.
Upon further investigation with UPS as to where the preamp ended up at, they took it and sold it at a UPS damaged goods auction !!! Needless to say, i now had an open and shut case against them. All told, they ended up paying me for both insurance claims and refunding my money on both shipping charges. While some might say that it was not worth all of the hassle and headache, i ended up doubling my money in the long run. Long run it was, as this one took almost exactly one year !!!
On another occasion that took almost a year, the original shipping clerk had screwed up on the insurance amount. One piece out of a multiple box shipment was physically damaged but was still fully functional. Due to the way that she entered the insurance value at the time of shipment, i ended up getting THREE TIMES the amount of money that i paid for this unit ( which was the most expensive out of the four ). Needless to say, UPS ended up paying for all four of the pieces that i bought AND left me with a unit that still worked fine ( but was kinda ugly ). I can live with those kind of "damages" : ) Sean
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I have to share one "disaster" that happened to me with UPS. I purchased two pieces from a gentleman in California. These were going to be for a friends system that i was building him. The seller packed them in the original boxes and sent them on their way to me here in Chicago. When they showed up, one box looked beat to hell ( power amp ) while the other one ( preamp ) looked good. As it turns out, the amp looked and performed fine but the preamp, the one with the "still pretty" box, was DOA. It did power up but just wouldn't pass any signal. The seller filed a claim and was completely co-operative in trying to get this resolved.
UPS picked up the package for inspection as they normally would. They took it back to their claims center for inspection. Since they have no way of verifying performance on every type of electrical device known to man, they basically assume that if it still lights up and was not run-over by a steam roller, it still works. As such, they denied the claim and returned the package to the seller in California. After quite a bit of a hassle, they finally sent out claim forms so that we could get an estimate of repair. Since it was my merchandise, the seller signed a waiver forwarding all rights to any claims over to me and re-shipped the preamp. Upon its' arrival, i was going to get an estimate and then submit that to UPS. Here's where it gets screwy.
Upon the return trip to me, UPS somehow lost the already damaged preamp. We then had to file a claim on this, making two claims on the same component on two different trips. Needless to say, i was not happy and neither was the seller. UPS gave us both the run-around and said that they were looking for the package.
After a LONG time of not hearing anything, i contacted the seller to see if he had heard anything from UPS. He told me that they had notified him that they had found the preamp and asked if i had gotten it. Of course, i had never received it. He had told UPS that it was my property and they should return it to me. He had just assumed that i had gotten it and everything regarding the damage claim was worked out on my end. After all, i had no reason to contact him since he had already signed a waiver and forwarded all of the paperwork over to me.
Upon further investigation with UPS as to where the preamp ended up at, they took it and sold it at a UPS damaged goods auction !!! Needless to say, i now had an open and shut case against them. All told, they ended up paying me for both insurance claims and refunding my money on both shipping charges. While some might say that it was not worth all of the hassle and headache, i ended up doubling my money in the long run. Long run it was, as this one took almost exactly one year !!!
On another occasion that took almost a year, the original shipping clerk had screwed up on the insurance amount. One piece out of a multiple box shipment was physically damaged but was still fully functional. Due to the way that she entered the insurance value at the time of shipment, i ended up getting THREE TIMES the amount of money that i paid for this unit ( which was the most expensive out of the four ). Needless to say, UPS ended up paying for all four of the pieces that i bought AND left me with a unit that still worked fine ( but was kinda ugly ). I can live with those kind of "damages" : ) Sean
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