Filing for insurance with Canada Post. Advice?

[needsmorerobots]

I sent a large package from British Columbia to the US via tracked shipping end of November. Unfortunately it was caught in the great USPS gridlock of 2020 and didn't arrived til the first week of January.

The package came damaged, like it had been kicked around and met with the occasional sharp object.

For the second time in a row on this, my only 2nd large package I've ever sent, I now will need to refund a big sum because the electronic product that was within doesn't work (I'm starting to see a pattern here). What is the process to file insurance through Canada Post. What evidence do I need? Do I have to have the buyer go through opening a ticket on me as part of the process or do I just refund the person?

Thanks in advance.

[recped]

If your buyer needs a refund for a damaged shipment they should open a claim (Not As Described), you can refund through the claim without requiring an actual return. This will ensure that your eBay fees are refunded to you and the buyer will get a refund of the payment plus any Sales Tax they may have paid.

You can file the claim online with Canada Post, you should ask your buyer to retain the item and the packaging in case it is required. If the buyer can provide pictures that would be good, you can attach the pictures when you file the claim.

Be aware that Canada Post may attempt to weasel out of paying by claiming the packaging was deficient.

[pjcdn2005]

You should ask the buyer to open a return request. Then you have a choice of 'return and then refund' or just refund without a return.   If you go through ebay then you will get your ebay fees back.

[coolthings123]

I had a run around with Canada Post about 6 months ago with an item damaged in transit.  Unfortunately it was not resolved to my satisfaction and I am out a couple of hundred dollars because of it.   It was a diecast vehicle that I shipped to the US.  The buyer contacted me to say it had been damaged enroute.   It actually looked like the Canda Post/USPS people had dropped kicked the box or flung it off the pack of the truck.  The buyer had sent me photos of the damage.  I take pride in packing my items securely for shipment but it really looked like the postal people went out of their way to see if they could make the contents of the box rattle.  I asked the buyer to open a case for item not as described and refunded his money with the silly notion Canada Post would make good on the claim.  I soon learned Canada Post IS NOT YOUR FRIEND in these cases.  In my opinion the people at Canada Post Claims Department must get paid based on the number of insurance claims they are able to deny.    But, I digress.  I dutifully went to the Canada Post website and filed an online claim because it is up to the sender to initiate the claim.  I filled it all out and was given a ticket number and I waited, and waited.  I finally received an email form letter a couple of weeks after I opened the claim.  I was advised Canada Post was unable to contact the buyer to confirm the damage so they closed the case.  I had provided them with both the buyer's email address and phone number.   The letter also said if I can get the buyer to contact them they would reopen the case.  I contacted the buyer and asked him if Canada Post contacted him about the damage could he please respond so I could get my money back for the car.  He said no problem but he had not been contacted by Canada Post.  I contacted Canada Post and left a message for the claims person advising him I had contacted the buyer and he is prepared to confirm the damage if they contact him.  So, again, I waited and waited and several more weeks passed.  Received another form letter email saying they were not able to contact the buyer to confirm the damage so they closed the file.  So again, I contacted the buyer who stated he had in fact responded to a Canada Post email.  So, I phone Canada Post and actually speak to a human.  Didn't do much good because he was simply a drone (as I mentioned before getting paid to deny claims)  He stated it is their policy to attempt contact twice.  If it is unsuccessful they close the file and will not reopen it.  I told him my buyer had stated he responded to the email Canada Post had sent him.  As it turns out the buyer cannot simply reply to the email as it is sent from an un-monitored  email address.  The buyer actually has to contact Canada Post Customer Service to verify the claim.  I told the drone I have photos.  He didn't care.  I told the drone I had no trouble emailing the buyer so why was Canada Post having a problem.  He didn't care.   I asked if he would reopen the case.  He said he would but it would not do any good.  He pointed out the two strike rule again.  True to his word I received another form email several weeks later indicating they had closed the file.   And these idiots keep going on strike for more money because they do such a bang up job of investigating their own mistakes.  Kind of a like doctors and lawyers investigating their own malpractice.  I have rambled and I apologize.  If you make a claim with Canada Post make sure you can get your buyer on side and ask them please to contact Canada Post Customer Service directly with the ticket number to confirm the damage and the value of the damage.  In closing,  I paid Canada Post's ridiculously high postal rates for Expedited Parcel and I also paid extra for shipping insurance.  So,  I paid for a service which Canada Post did not deliver on and I also paid to protect myself in the event they did not deliver on their service.  Screwed on both.  Canada Post has the ability to wear you down.   Full blown bureaucracy.  David and Goliath.  Whatever you want to call it.   I got tired of fighting for a couple of hundred dollars.  Obviously Canada Post needs the money far more than I.  It sucks.