Cue repair covered by postal insurance?

[brokenarrowjbe]

Hey everybody, I ordered a custom cue. When it arrived, there was damage to the forearm above the wrap about 6 inches, area is about a 1/4 inch. The box is a little banged up and has a small slit/puncture spot.

I was filling out the claim and it says they cover the repair of the damage. I can't tell if the ding is only on the finish or goes through to the wood. There is not really any local repair guys I am aware of that could refinish the cue. How do I get estimates for the repair? Or should I write off the cue, let insurance cover it? Thx, John

 

[macguy]

Hey everybody, I ordered a custom cue. When it arrived, there was damage to the forearm above the wrap about 6 inches, area is about a 1/4 inch. The box is a little banged up and has a small slit/puncture spot.

I was filling out the claim and it says they cover the repair of the damage. I can't tell if the ding is only on the finish or goes through to the wood. There is not really any local repair guys I am aware of that could refinish the cue. How do I get estimates for the repair? Or should I write off the cue, let insurance cover it? Thx, John

I am just going to give my opinion, you won't get anything and they will systematically wear you down till you give up. usps insurance is worthless. I had only one claim and it took 9 months to get paid and I am not even going to waste your time with what I had to go through, Good Luck.

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

Even though the maker said he would not refinish it, I have three other estimates. It is a nice looking cue and seems well balanced. I have never really had a cue shipped that was not bubble wrapped for protection. So I am good either way, refinish it or take a band saw to it and insurance can pay it. The shippong label says insured right on it, I just don't know if it was insured for full value, or if the shaft and joint protectors, which are not damaged, I keep and they pro rate the value of the butt. I have all the cancelled checks and money orders ready to go, along with the invoice. 9 months, 6 months waits? How long does it take to see damage, cost of item, and pay up? It was damaged when I received it. Isn't that what the insurance is for? John

 

[Bigjohn]

Is it a valuable cue? If not...it may not be worth the hassle. If so, don't stall. Take good pics of the damaged box and cue and present them with your claim, immediately. Then send the cue back to the maker for repair.

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

I am taking the cue in to the Post Office tomorrow morning. The maker said he would not refinish it. I have at least three other cue guys that said they would for between 100 and 150, The cue and wrap were over 750 not counting shipping, joint protectors, etc. Total including incidentals, around 850.00. The ding may not even go through the clearcoat, but I paid for flawless. I was told it was perfect when wrapped/shipped (only in a couple of newspaper pages/triange box) and to turn it in for insurance. I will use one of the other three I got the estimates from to refinish it unless the post office wants to pay up full value. Only got one person saying that they(the post Office) paid up in a timely fashion. I am afraid to even hit a ball before talking to the post office. Also the maker has not responded to any of my follow up emails about needing the receipt for an insurance claim. This is after the phone call in which he said he would send me the info I needed to file the claim. John

 

[macguy]

Even though the maker said he would not refinish it, I have three other estimates. It is a nice looking cue and seems well balanced. I have never really had a cue shipped that was not bubble wrapped for protection. So I am good either way, refinish it or take a band saw to it and insurance can pay it. The shippong label says insured right on it, I just don't know if it was insured for full value, or if the shaft and joint protectors, which are not damaged, I keep and they pro rate the value of the butt. I have all the cancelled checks and money orders ready to go, along with the invoice. 9 months, 6 months waits? How long does it take to see damage, cost of item, and pay up? It was damaged when I received it. Isn't that what the insurance is for? John

From my little experience, unless the box, (actually your most important piece of evidence), is majorly damaged you can't prove it was not either already damaged or you did it after opening the box. They will also claim it was not properly packaged and the packaging needs to stand up to reasonable handling even if marked "Handle with care".
Here is the biggest part, did the package arrive with plastic bag around it and a note from the post office telling you they damaged the box?

Just last week my wife bought some shoes off ebay and the box was crushed when it arrived. It came in a plastic bag with the note from usps saying the package was damaged. It didn't matter the shoes were fine but if you didn't get that note from the USPS in their opinion the damage to the box, if any, they didn't see as a problem. From that point they will not take responsibility for anything. The insurance is only pretty much of value if the package never arrives at all. Of course if that happens you still can't file a claim for 90 days as they investigate. It is a carefully set up system to never pay, the insurance is basically worthless. Either way though I believe the shipper is the one who has to file the claim. I really wish you good luck but if you get paid in the scenario you have laid out you will certainly be the exception. Keep us informed I hope it works out.

I didn't tell you about the time I sent a COD and the mailman didn't collect the money even though it was delivered and signed for. The post office suggested I contact the buyer and collect it myself. Of course at that point he would never admit the cue ever being delivered, the maid had signed for it, and I got stiffed for the $300.00. The post office was nice though, they refunded me the $5.00 I paid for the COD.

You know the truth is, it is the fault of the cue maker. The cue was not packaged properly it sounds, even if the box was banged around a bit it should not damage the cue. I would just return the cue and leave it at that.

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

If that happens, his name is going up on the forum. It was not even packed in newspaper, it was wrapped in two pages, one at the top of shaft, one to finish shaft, same for butt. I have no control over his packing. He did put a couple of crumpled up pieces at the top and bottom, but they were not helping much. I heard something when the mail lady handed the box to me out the window, but we are country delivery and I figured it was her fan belt or a valve knocking. Silly me.

 

[kvinbrwr]

If that happens, his name is going up on the forum. It was not even packed in newspaper, it was wrapped in two pages, one at the top of shaft, one to finish shaft, same for butt. I have no control over his packing. He did put a couple of crumpled up pieces at the top and bottom, but they were not helping much. I heard something when the mail lady handed the box to me out the window, but we are country delivery and I figured it was her fan belt or a valve knocking. Silly me.

Not only do you have no control over his packing, but neither does the PO. They have a right to assume that sufficient care was taken to protect the item they were insuring, and trust me, if you think it was not enough coverage, they are going to agree with you 100%.

Plus the whole time you are waiting for them to (rightfully it sounds like to me) deny your claim, you are going to be out the cue and the money. Am I right in understanding that the cue maker is the one that sent you this cue, packaged this cue, and is now saying he won't repair his own cue?

Thanks

Kevin

 

[cuedoctor]

Not only do you have no control over his packing, but neither does the PO. They have a right to assume that sufficient care was taken to protect the item they were insuring, and trust me, if you think it was not enough coverage, they are going to agree with you 100%.

Plus the whole time you are waiting for them to (rightfully it sounds like to me) deny your claim, you are going to be out the cue and the money. Am I right in understanding that the cue maker is the one that sent you this cue, packaged this cue, and is now saying he won't repair his own cue?

Thanks

Kevin

The shipper is the one who has to file the claim and its his responsibility to properly package the cue and it sounds like he didnt. I think the post office will definately refuse any claim because it wasnt packed properly. This isnt no-fault insurance your buying there has to be resposibility on the shippers fault to pack it right. Kevin has shipped alota cues and he will tell you if you take the proper care there will be no problem. Those triangle boxes are not made to protect a pool cue and especially if you dont use bubble wrap your asking for trouble. I had a bluegrass cue shipped to me 5 years ago thrown in a triangle box with 2 rubber bands around it and one piece of tape on each end. This was from one of az's top sellers who was just starting out and there's a nice bluegrass out there with one shaft missing right now so figure out what happen:wink:. I recently shipped 2 cues to china and went to the ups store down the street and paid 5 bucks for a solid tube container and they both made it to china with no problem. The problem most of the time is the shipper is clueless about shipping requirements and then they get attitude when it gets damaged. If this cuemaker wont even repair the bump on your cue even if he is paid for it well that says alot about him. He should be responding and trying to help you get this resolved.

 

[pwd72s]

Anpther good case for insisting a cue be bubble wrapped & placed in a PVC tube.

 

[macguy]

Anpther good case for insisting a cue be bubble wrapped & placed in a PVC tube.

Although this is all after the fact but if you are buying a $700.00 cue you don't skimp on shipping. It is surprising how many guys don't want to pay anything. I insist it be sent over night by either Fedx or UPS. It may cost another $20.00 or so but so what. South West cue will only, (or at least they used to) only ship over night. I don't want my cue even an fairly inexpensive cue floating around in a post office.

In fact referring back to this thread, I can't imagine a cue maker who would ship a cue they just labored over for who knows how long, through general mail with the post office. There is no reason to.

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

Well, He did not bubble wrap it, it is dinged and " I ship all my cues that way." I am trying the post office in the morning, he also supposedly had a three day guaruantee. John

 

[kvinbrwr]

Although this is all after the fact but if you are buying a $700.00 cue you don't skimp on shipping. It is surprising how many guys don't want to pay anything. I insist it be sent over night by either Fedx or UPS. It may cost another $20.00 or so but so what. South West cue will only, (or at least they used to) only ship over night. I don't want my cue even an fairly inexpensive cue floating around in a post office.

In fact referring back to this thread, I can't imagine a cue maker who would ship a cue they just labored over for who knows how long, through general mail with the post office. There is no reason to.

Everybody has their own preference on shippers, based either on personal experience or word of mouth. My opinion is based on my personal experience of some 12 years of shipping valuables and I ship exclusively through the post office. Like I said, everyone has their own opinion based on their own set of facts, but I shipped the $55K Gus box cue USPS Registered Priority Mail and it got there without a hitch (talk about sweating a delivery).

Thanks

Kevin

 

[kvinbrwr]

Well, He did not bubble wrap it, it is dinged and " I ship all my cues that way." I am trying the post office in the morning, he also supposedly had a three day guaruantee. John

John

If he has a 3 day guarantee, use it now to ship the cue back to him. He can fix it or return your money and let him deal with the insurance claim if he thinks he can make that work.

Kevin

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

I bet you wrapped in something besides a sheet of newspaper and packed it so it would not bounce around in the box. I emailed to follow up on our conversation on what I needed to do to file the insurance claim, no response. I have now officially asked for a RMA per the three day guarantee. John

 

[kvinbrwr]

I bet you wrapped in something besides a sheet of newspaper and packed it so it would not bounce around in the box. I emailed to follow up on our conversation on what I needed to do to file the insurance claim, no response. I have now officially asked for a RMA per the three day guarantee. John

John

I'm blessed with a slightly OCD wrapper/shipper and she went nuts on that cue (I don't think she slept for the 2 days it was in transit). The buyer claimed he could have driven his truck over it with no damage.

This thing is the seller's responsibility. He wrapped it, he shipped it, he holds the insurance. Send the cue back and demand it gets fixed or refunded and if he thinks there's a claim there, let him file it.

Kevin

 

[brokenarrowjbe]

Waiting on response from last email, will be going to Post Office in AM. Website States have to have a RMA number to send back. Still hasn't responded to email following up phone conversation about making postal insurance pay, I thought I could file claim, but USPS website says I need original receipt, which I pretty much thought was the shipping label that says insurance on it. If the insurance will pay for it, what is better to use for refinish clearcoat or epoxy? Both estimates in same ballpark. Thanks for all your input, John

 

[Str8PoolPlayer]

I had this same problem with a Case I shipped last year that was damaged
during transit. It was very well packaged and "FRAGILE" was written in RED all
over the package. You could see where something at the Post Office had punctured
the box severely, the Cue Case was also punctured badly, and an Insurance Claim was in order.

I went directly to the Post Master at my local P.O. and she read me the "fine print" on the Claim Form which clearly states that the Recipient must file the Claim and also turn over the item and packaging to the Post Office. The items are then shipped to a location in St. Louis ?, where they are inspected and a determination is made whether to Repair, Refund a partial amount (and merhandise), or Refund the FULL amount including shipping cost ..... Fortunately, this paricular Claim was settled quickly and the Buyer received a Check for the full amount from the Post Office.

My Buyer and I were fortunate to resolve the problem in a reasonable amount of time, but I have heard many HORROR stories from others who received absolutely NO resolution whatsoever.

Good Luck to You in your quest.

 

[kvinbrwr]

Waiting on response from last email, will be going to Post Office in AM. Website States have to have a RMA number to send back. Still hasn't responded to email following up phone conversation about making postal insurance pay, I thought I could file claim, but USPS website says I need original receipt, which I pretty much thought was the shipping label that says insurance on it. If the insurance will pay for it, what is better to use for refinish clearcoat or epoxy? Both estimates in same ballpark. Thanks for all your input, John

John

The seller has the original receipt which will be needed to file the (to be denied) claim.

Kevin

 

[kvinbrwr]

I had this same problem with a Case I shipped last year that was damaged
during transit. It was very well packaged and "FRAGILE" was written in RED all
over the package. You could see where something at the Post Office had punctured
the box severely, the Cue Case was also punctured badly, and an Insurance Claim was in order.

I went directly to the Post Master at my local P.O. and she read me the "fine print" on the Claim Form which clearly states that the Recipient must file the Claim and also turn over the item and packaging to the Post Office. The items are then shipped to a location in St. Louis ?, where they are inspected and a determination is made whether to Repair, Refund a partial amount (and merhandise), or Refund the FULL amount including shipping cost ..... Fortunately, this paricular Claim was settled quickly and the Buyer received a Check for the full amount from the Post Office.

My Buyer and I were fortunate to resolve the problem in a reasonable amount of time, but I have heard many HORROR stories from others who received absolutely NO resolution whatsoever.

Good Luck to You in your quest.

Yup that's how it works. The buyer takes the item and all original packaging and it all gets sent to St Louis. If the buyer is filing a claim without the receipts (which the seller has) the whole process is slowed down while they wait for the seller to do his part and send his stuff. Plus, if you do it in this 2 party way, the chance of the item and packaging and original forms never getting together increases. The best way to do it is have the seller send the buyer the original date stamped insurance receipt and sign off the claim on a USPS insurance claim form, but in this case, all that does is is have the buyer wait so he could hand all the stuff to his USPS office at the same time, all so he can have a claim denied and probably have the cue lost forever (plus acquiesce to the seller's claim that this problem is the buyer's which I don't agree with).

Kevin