Pack and Post

Review: In August of 2013, my sister-in-law used the Pack and Post to insure and ship a crystal bowl. The bowl arrived broken. I contacted the Pack and Post immediately and was told to send a photo, which I did. I did not include a picture of the packing material because I was not asked to, and I was never told to hang on to the box full of broken glass. Subsequently, FedEx denied the claim. The box was packed by my sister-in-law, insured at the Pack and Post, and broken by FedEx. Apparently, the box should not have been insured without being inspected for proper packing, but it was. The manager of the Pack and Post said that he would contact FedEx and ask them to reopen the claim, case # #[redacted]9 - I have heard nothing from him. This issue remains unresolved.Desired Settlement: The bowl was insured for $500. I provided, as requested, a photo of a similar bowl valued at over $500. The Pack and Post needs to honor the insurance policy that they charged for and issue a check payable to Hilary Andrews, the sender of the bowl.

Business

Response:

This bowl was broken as a result of improper packing by your sister-in-law. It’s unfortunate, and I sympathize with you for the loss of a valuable object. However, neither FedEx nor Pack and Post are responsible for damage to items improperly packed by customers.

When a customer requests that a self-packed item be declared for over $100, we do inspect the package for obvious signs of insufficient packaging. Our employees are also trained to ask follow-up questions to help determine if the package is packed properly, and to offer suggestions on packaging and insurance options. Since it would be impractical to open and inspect every customer-packed shipment, we don’t generally open customer packages unless we suspect a problem. I wish that we had caught your sister-in-law’s packing errors on this shipment, and we strive to catch them all. As you mentioned, we opened a claim with FedEx on your behalf, and we followed up with them again after the claim was denied to plead your case. Because the claim was denied due to improper customer packaging, we cannot honor your request for reimbursement.

Business

Response:

FedEx determined that the package was insufficiently packed based on the photos that you submitted of the broken bowl and intact box. Neither FedEx nor Pack and Post are responsible for damage caused by customer packaging.

I'm very proud of our customer-service record at Pack and Post, and I'm disappointed that we weren't able to explain the claims process and result of this claim to your satisfaction. We did explain the claim requirements to you, and we made multiple attempts to resolve the claim with FedEx on your behalf. I understand that you are displeased with the end result that the claim was denied. However, the reason it was denied was not because of any failure on our part during the claims process. The claim was denied because the package was in fact improperly packed.

Consumer

Response:

Review: 9858827

I am rejecting this response because: You stated to me, on the phone, that your employees should have opened the box and inspected the packing before insuring. I told you that your employee shook the box and said that it would be okay. FedEx had no photo of the packing material because your employee did not ask for one. You are correct that the box was not damaged. I can only assume that it was dropped. In any event, an insured item was broken and as the business that insured the package, I hold you responsible.

Regards,