SHIPSURANCE BEST ADVERTISING

[38e_avenue]

Hi all, 

We had here several conversations about 3rd party insurance. I was always against, and preferred the famous "jar insurance"  (yes, I must admit, I did some expceptions, because sometimes I sell really very expensive items, so to just "sleep better" I purchased a few times a "real" insurance, but  never made a claim). 

2 months ago I sold an inexpensive item (20 dollars) to a buyer from Mexico. My 6th sense, developed during 25 years of doing business here, told me to buy an insurance this time. So I did, through Shippo, and the insurance charge is clearly visible on the invoice. 

Well, the item get lost (a proof my 6th sense worked perfectly 😄 ). I sent the claim for 30 dollars to Shipsurance, and today I got the answer: "The claim has been closed. The shipment was not insured." WHAT? Seriously, this is so absurd, that I am not even angry 😃

How do you like my SHIPSURANCE ADVERTISING? 

[38e_avenue]

A short update. 

Shipsurance finally admitted the item WAS insured, after I sent them the unique transaction ID provided by Shippo. 

What next? They ask me to contact the buyer by E-MAIL (yes!) and send him a form to fill out, confirming he never got the item. Apparently, an open INR case and the proof of the full refund I sent is not enough. 

A question to people using 3rd party insurance: is that normal? 

According to my experience, the buyer will not cooperate at all. Should I abandon? 

[ricarmic]

It has been a long time since I've had a non-cookie jar claim, but yes the last time my 3rd party was involved that was the process, surprisingly the buyer (in Brazil!!!) obligued!!!

[reallynicestamps · Accepted solution]

The minimum wage here in BC is 25c a minute.

How much time/money are you willing to spend on a $20 sale?

[38e_avenue]

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@reallynicestamps wrote:

The minimum wage here in BC is 25c a minute.

How much time/money are you willing to spend on a $20 sale?

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A good advice! Thanks! 😄

I just started to ask myself "what are you doing..?" 😃

There is no doubt, I already spent at least 2 hours on this, worth 28.50 (minimum wage in QC). 

I remember I had a similar claim about 8 months ago, or so. I refunded, next day I forgot. 

And here I see 2-week long horror coming ...... 

I abandon! 

[ricarmic]

So I guess the moral of the story is don't pay attention to spider senses for small $$ value packets after all, save the insurance costs since you'll drop anyway (ie it isn't worth all the paperwork time to make the claim) ....

[38e_avenue]

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@ricarmic wrote:

So I guess the moral of the story is don't pay attention to spider senses for small $$ value packets after all, save the insurance costs since you'll drop anyway (ie it isn't worth all the paperwork time to make the claim) ....

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More or less  .... 😃  ..... but it doesn't mean, that the cheaper items are less important - I treat all my customers equally - no matter how much they paid for the item. 

This item was insured accidentally. The buyer had only a few feedbacks, the destination was risky (Mexico), the insurance was cheap (just 1 dollar), so I said: "let us try and see, how it works". Accidentally, the item never reached the destination (read my explanation above about the 6th sense 😉

Last month I shipped several parcels to other international destinations. I would never insure anything shipped to UK, France, or Italy. But I insured a 200 dol. parcel to Estonia. Never had any problem with this destination, but the insurance was cheap, so I purchased it just to "sleep better".  I shipped also a 600 dol. parcel to California - not insured at all, but with a full tracking and signature.  

[reallynicestamps]

Mexico has a notoriously bad postal system. Your customer is likely telling the truth. A polite note when tracking does show delivery has a 50/50 chance of getting paid.

Americans are weird about Signature Confirmation. The sellers on dotCOM are terrified* that their customer will be angry that they have to pick up their purchase at the Post Office and sign, even though the PO is open on Saturdays.
But a shipment that is not signed for and therefore Undeliverable, is not required to be refunded either.

*actually that goes for all US sellers

[jewelryvintage]

 Just throwing out another insurance company out there for those who are looking.  I do recommend U-pic for insurance.  Easy to use, can insure just one item, good customer service.  You can use it as a guest buyer. 

I just had to put a claim in for a package lost to China, $190 USD. this package was not tracked, as you all know would cost a small fortune.  U-pic asked for documents regarding the sale. Not difficult.  I did not have to get an affidavit signed by my buyer stating they did not receive their package.  However, since this is my first claim it's possible that mutiple claims would result in getting affidavits.  They did pay out my claim for the item and the shipping charge. 

 Now that I am reading through some threads on here, I do wonder if the delivery time played a role and would like to see an extra month delivery time just to see if this would have happened.  The buyer did say that she would let me know if the item ever showed up. 

[38e_avenue]

Very helpful, thank you! I will try U-pic.  The affidavit part is the most disturbing - the buyer is usually angry, so any additional paper work might make her/him even more angry and result in a negative feedback. An open INR dispure and full refund made to the buyer should be sufficient proof of non-delivery for a reasonable insurance company. 

[38e_avenue]

A short update: Shipsurance finally PAID, and WITHOUT the affidavit! Still keeping Mexico blocked from future purchases.