Even though he paid for shipping insurance, a Carlsbad man said he couldn’t get the United States Postal Service to pay up after a drum part he sold online went missing in the mail.
“I got into collecting drums back in the 80’s,” Matt said.
Since then, Matt has purchased and sold drum kits and individual drums online. Four years ago, Matt sold something called a ‘throw-off’ from a 1940’s snare drum.
“There’s a little lever you switch to make it sound like a Tom-Tom or you move it up and it sounds like the actual snare drum,” Matt said.
Matt sold the part to a Brooklyn man and paid the extra $2.35 for postal insurance through the U.S. Postal Service.
“A couple of weeks later, the man called and said ‘Hey where’s my part?’” Matt said. “I eventually refunded his money assuming I would be refunded by the post office.”
Matt gathered the paperwork and submitted the claim to USPS but it was denied. Matt appealed the decision but it was also denied.
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“And then the third appeal, they said ‘well actually you didn’t prove the value and by the way, that’s your final appeal. Have a good day,’” Matt said.
Matt said he had sent the USPS the ‘Proof of Value’ required but USPS wouldn’t budge. Matt gave up on the claim until he saw an NBC 7 Responds story about trouble someone else was having with a USPS package insurance claim.
Click here to see that story.
“If you can get the money, that would be great,” Matt said.
A representative with the USPD told NBC 7 Responds insurance claim records are purged every three years, so they had no way of confirming what Matt had sent them. A few weeks after we contacted USPS, Matt finally got the answer he was looking for when the Postal Service called to say a refund check would be available for him to pick up at his nearest post office.
In an email, USPS spokesperson Eva Jackson told us, “upon further review of this case, the U.S. Postal Service will honor Mr. Henken's claim. Claims for lost or damaged items must be submitted to the Postal Service no later than 60 days with acceptable proof of value. For more information on how to file a claim, visit this link."
If you would like to know more about what the USPS considers ‘Proof of Value’, click here
