What can I expect in a UPS damage claim?

the 1st thing you can expect is for ups to pull a fast one,they are going to send a truck to your buyers house to pick up the speakers to take them to an"inspection center" tell ups that you need onsite inspection & that you will not allow the speakers to be transported from site.

even though you tell ups most of the time they still try to pick up the item instead of sending an onsite inspector,once ups has the damaged speakers in their hands they will send them back to your doorstep without asking you.

the second thing you can expect is for the ups inspector to deny your claim on the grounds of improper packing no matter how they are packed"unwritten policy" but as long as you know the ups packing guidelines & followed them or better than thats easy to beat.

the third thing is that after you get an onsite inspection you will no longer be dealing with ups you will be dealing with their insurance carrier,ups does not insure their own shipping its outsourced,the insurance carrier will then send you some forms to fill out & request a damage repair estimate at that time your buyer will have to do a lot of legwork lugging the speakers to a dealer for a estimate.

with electronics it isnt so bad but with speakers damage claims are a nightmare & unless your carefull everybody looses,as Kennyt said above if only one speaker received damage ups will not pay for the pair,cabinet damage can never be repaired without costing as much as buying a whole new speaker & if you didnt sell them for msrp they will only pay what you sold them for no matter how high you insured them for so cabinet repair is pretty much out of the question.

if both speakers have not recieved damage its going to be a long hard road & your buyer or you will end up getting screwed,some reading between the lines here helps,both speakers need to recieve damage for ups to pay for them both.

mike

gretsch.

its really not as bad as we are making it sound,as long as you stick to your guns & know all the answers to the questions they throw at you in advance you will get paid,the key here is to be sure that both speakers have cabinet damage.

i have had claims into the thousands of dollars & ups always pays as long as you let them know right from the start that you are not going away,you need to get on the phone with your buyer & get your stories straight & talk about all of this before ups gets into the mix,as long as both of you are on the same page you should get paid in full.

if as i mentioned in my last post you shipped the speakers with a ups outlet you need to make sure that you start a damage claim from the exact local where you shipped from & try to do it in person.

of all the shippers ups pays off easier & faster as long as you dont approach this like a door mat.

mike.