Topic: What to do about USPS?***EDIT***It turned out o.k.!!!***

[balou2]

EDIT!!!
EVERYTHING TURNED OUT O.K.!  The stock wall wort is the only thing not working...weird.

Folks,
My apologies if this gets a little preachy, but I am BENT OUT OF SHAPE right now.  Here's the story.

A few months back, I put my D-100 up for sale.  Shaggy bought it quickly, I sent it to Japan at my expense, only to have him receive it in a condition OTHER than what it was when I sent it.  The unit that I sent was in NEAR-MINT condition, and damn near regular "MINT" as it was used only as a back up deck.  I was the original owner and put less than 100 hours on it.  When he received the unit, there was a small dent in the upper portion of the door, to which I was COMPLETELY shocked, not to mention I felt like an ass.  The long and the short was that I sent him back his money via paypal, but I had to cover shipping to come back (as to be expected).  So...in the end, I had a damaged unit in hand (no pun intended), and was out $65 for shipping.  I went to the post office where I initially mailed from and was told that since I did not purchase insurance there was nothing I could do.  O.K....lesson learned...BUY INSURANCE.

So, here we are in March and I decide to sell my t-mod+ UA-5.  Goes up in the yard, and bam...several PMs from folks ready to buy.  The unit is also in near-mint condition...probably as good a condition as any unit could be after being used in the field.  The original post stated how clean it was and came with all original packaging including the box, and the box was still in the original celophane.  I packed the UA-5 in its box, sealed it tightly, then packed it all inside another box, which contained multiple inches of breathing room around the UA-5 box, filled with shock absorbing packing material...it was packed very well.

So, today I get an email from the buyer.  He was stoked about a 3 day turnaround, as well as the pack job and the appearance of the unit, but tells me the unit will not power up.  I'M FRIGGIN' HOT.  I have exchanged multiple emails with the buyer and he has attempted every way possible to power up the unit.  I trust him when he says it is not working, as we have had a FLAWLESS transaction up to now, and let's face it...powering up a UA-5 does not take a brain surgeon.

Now WTF would you do?

At this point, I feel I need to offer a full refund to the buyer as he did not receive a functioning unit.  I DID buy $600 worth of insurance (amount of sale), but has anyone else had experiences like this?  This is a load of BS in my opinion, and besides being a pain in the ass for me, the buyer and my reputation, I'm losing expensive equipment. 

Do I need to have the unit in-hand to file the claim at USPS?
How do I prove to them the unit was functioning prior to shipping?
Any hurdles that you know about?

This fuckin' sucks.

Mike

[MattD]

Here's a start: http://www.usps.com/insuranceclaims/welcome.htm

[jeromejello]

no real help here... but if you file a claim and get your money back (6 bills) i would be interested in taking the broken ua-5 off you hands 

[poorlyconditioned]

no real help here... but if you file a claim and get your money back (6 bills) i would be interested in taking the broken ua-5 off you hands 

Yeah, not much can go wrong with a UA5.  There are no moving parts ... unless USPS sets them in motion!!!
+T for your troubles.

  Richard

[balou2]

no real help here... but if you file a claim and get your money back (6 bills) i would be interested in taking the broken ua-5 off you hands 

Yeah, not much can go wrong with a UA5.  There are no moving parts ... unless USPS sets them in motion!!!
+T for your troubles.

  Richard

Thanks guys, but that begs the other question.  These things don't have moving parts.  For a unit not to power up, it surely must be something simple like an internal connection.  Either way, I'm still pissed.

Has anyone actually filed one of these claims?

[kskreider]

Mike, +T for the troubles.  Not sure what to say about the d100 other than lesson learned.  (buy insurance)

WRT the UA5 file a claim.  It will be a pain in the ass, trust me.  If they are anything like UPS they will make it difficult for you.  I filed a claim when I shipped my PC from right to left and they smashed it up pretty bad.  They took pics and less than a week later cut me a check.  But I had to make a bajillion phone calls, be there for an inspector to take pics, estimate time and materials to replace the damaged parts, and then take the time to get all the parts and fix everything myself.  However, you bought the insurance.  Go use it!  Oh yah, and switch carriers for a bit.  (either that or switch post offices)

[balou2]

Mike, +T for the troubles.  Not sure what to say about the d100 other than lesson learned.  (buy insurance)

WRT the UA5 file a claim.  It will be a pain in the ass, trust me.  If they are anything like UPS they will make it difficult for you.  I filed a claim when I shipped my PC from right to left and they smashed it up pretty bad.  They took pics and less than a week later cut me a check.  But I had to make a bajillion phone calls, be there for an inspector to take pics, estimate time and materials to replace the damaged parts, and then take the time to get all the parts and fix everything myself.  However, you bought the insurance.  Go use it!  Oh yah, and switch carriers for a bit.  (either that or switch post offices)

So here's the next question then: how do I prove that it didn't work prior to shipping it?  I'm sure part of the reason shipping facilities hassle people is due to fraudulent claims.  I'm not really worried, as I'm being truthful, but it will be hard to simply say "well it worked before I sent it, now give me six bills".

I just want to have all my ducks lined up prior to marching down there, 'cause it's gonna be hard enough to be cool over the whole thing.

[poorlyconditioned]

no real help here... but if you file a claim and get your money back (6 bills) i would be interested in taking the broken ua-5 off you hands 

Yeah, not much can go wrong with a UA5.  There are no moving parts ... unless USPS sets them in motion!!!
+T for your troubles.

  Richard

Thanks guys, but that begs the other question.  These things don't have moving parts.  For a unit not to power up, it surely must be something simple like an internal connection.  Either way, I'm still pissed.

Has anyone actually filed one of these claims?

Well, given shipping only (and not voltage or other trauma...) it is probably a connection.  But who knows where.

The first thing I would do is take it out of the case and see if it powers up.  That could be shorts from the board to the case, eg., bent metal or damaged insulating material.

Next, look carefully at the circuit board for cracks or loose connections (there are lots of ribbon type connectors).

If that doesn't work, start checking voltages on the parts and work backwards.

I'd offer to help you, but you'd have to deal with not only USPS, but cross-border shipping delays (I'm in Canada), due to the war on everything (drugs, terrorism, or whatever), the package will probably be "inspected" rigourouly.

  Richard

[itook2much]

no real help here... but if you file a claim and get your money back (6 bills) i would be interested in taking the broken ua-5 off you hands 

IME, those 6 bills will be more-or-less buying your broken ua-5 from you.  They're not likely to trust you that it doesn't work, hand you $600, & then allow you to tke the equipment for repair (less than $600).  Insurance usually covers replacement value, so they'll keep the broken ua-5 & expect you to use the $600 to replace it.

That's the way it's always worked for me, ymmv.

[bgalizio]

no real help here... but if you file a claim and get your money back (6 bills) i would be interested in taking the broken ua-5 off you hands 

IME, those 6 bills will be more-or-less buying your broken ua-5 from you.  They're not likely to trust you that it doesn't work, hand you $600, & then allow you to tke the equipment for repair (less than $600).  Insurance usually covers replacement value, so they'll keep the broken ua-5 & expect you to use the $600 to replace it.

That's the way it's always worked for me, ymmv.

That's the way things have worked for me too. Though, in my case, it was a broken 45, so they let me keep the record.

[balou2]

Thanks for the advice and stuff.  +t's all around.
Mike

[Kevin Straker]

When I moved back to SC from Colorado I mailed an "art glass" tube. Even with some extreme packing it got busted in to a thousand pieces. I had insurance. Go to the PO with the busted item and fill out the claim form. It's supposed to take 6 weeks, but it took 6 months for me to get my 200 back. I did finally get it back though. Good luck.

[Geoff G]

Total bummer man.  It'll work out....

[Lengthwise]

typically usps can be a pain with this, but hell fedex owed me $80 for so long I just gave up on it

[J.Maye]

Mike, +T for the troubles.  Not sure what to say about the d100 other than lesson learned.  (buy insurance)

WRT the UA5 file a claim.  It will be a pain in the ass, trust me.  If they are anything like UPS they will make it difficult for you.  I filed a claim when I shipped my PC from right to left and they smashed it up pretty bad.  They took pics and less than a week later cut me a check.  But I had to make a bajillion phone calls, be there for an inspector to take pics, estimate time and materials to replace the damaged parts, and then take the time to get all the parts and fix everything myself.  However, you bought the insurance.  Go use it!  Oh yah, and switch carriers for a bit.  (either that or switch post offices)

So here's the next question then: how do I prove that it didn't work prior to shipping it?  I'm sure part of the reason shipping facilities hassle people is due to fraudulent claims.  I'm not really worried, as I'm being truthful, but it will be hard to simply say "well it worked before I sent it, now give me six bills".

I just want to have all my ducks lined up prior to marching down there, 'cause it's gonna be hard enough to be cool over the whole thing.

First step will be editing this post to DID work prior to shipment .  J/K