Shipping Insurance

I don't bother. If the find out its beer, they won't pay.

 

I definitely pay for the insurance. I've had one box break sent via UPS, and they paid out on it. I had another box that was lost in transit entirely, and they paid on that too. In both instances, I got a check that sufficiently covered the value I placed on the contents.

 

If the trade value is significantly over $100 I will add insurance and if something happens I hope they will pay out. I ship UPS normally so the firs $100 is covered.

 

FedEx is the same, the first $100 in insurance is free, so why not have it, if they find out is beer it violates the service agreement so you won't get anything back anyways.

 

I never buy insurance. The carriers set the price of their insurance assuming that they will have to pay out on some percentage of packages going through their system, right? However, they don't pay for beer if the package is damaged because it violates terms of service, right? So, you'll most likely only get paid if they actually lose the package. Therefore, you're being overcharged for this insurance because you're not eligible for most of the benefits you paid for.

If the only time you're going to get to file a claim is if the package is lost, then do what you can to reduce the changes of a lost package. Write the tracking number on the box so they can get it to it's destination even if the label falls off. This makes the chance of needing insurance for a lost package much less likely.

And, as previously mentioned, you get $100 worth of insurance by default which can help cover you in the unlikely event of a lost package. Cool. Go with that and be done with it. It's not perfect, but it does help offset some of the risk of the unlikely event of a lost package when you've done everything right.

 

Wrong. I've been paid out when a bottle broke in transit. FedEx still delivered the rest of the package and refunded the insured cost for the WHOLE package. Awesome.

I always get insurance to $150/200 depending on what I'm shipping. Only costs a few bucks and is totally worth it. See Retail's post above too.

 

You claimed beer and got it refunded or did you say that it was something else? Did you provide photos of the damage? I've had boxes that coming to me that weren't delivered and listed as damaged/destroyed. Attempts by the shipper to get them paid were refused because it was beer.

So perhaps, we can go with "your mileage may vary if you get lucky and they don't realize that it was beer you were sending and you lie about what was in the box when you file the claim" rather than "Wrong."

Edit: BTW, congrats on claiming the whole box even though only one bottle was damaged. Sounds like you won.

 

You asked if you were right. I simply responded with an appropriate answer.

FedEx never mentioned anything about "beer," nor did I have to claim what was in the box. They just removed the broken bottle, re-taped the box, issued me a "damaged package" notification with claim instructions, and delivered it to the recipient. I filed my claim online and received my money ($125.) The recipient got his beers too, since the one that broke was an extra.

Yeah, I definitely won. But it's happened to others too, and is worth the extra few bucks for insurance if your beer's worth more than $100.

 

That's fair, i did ask. =) Ok...previous statement adjusted. "They may or may not pay you out on it depending on the extent of the damage and if they notice it's beer, right?"

I'd still argue the value. I've had one box damaged and destroyed in over 300 sent. I've had no boxes lost. At least in my case, insurance doesn't look like that good of a deal. Esp when I know they may not pay. Pack em well, write the tracking number on the box to reduce the risk of it being lost, and forget paying for extra insurance above $100. Of course, only my opinion.

 

You need to weigh the cost of insuring over $100 vs. the value in the box. Insurance isn't very expensive, and if you're sending a bunch of walez, you need to cover your ass.

Obviously if you're not sending $100 in beer, you're fine without.

 

I shipped a growler that got completely and utterly destroyed by a forklift. They even told me it was destroyed by a forklift. I got paid out $100 for a growler, plus got refunded the cost of shipping. Ever since then, I've definitely been willing to fork over a couple extra bucks to insure my shipment. I'd be devastated if I shipped out a nice box, and not only lost it, but didn't get compensated for it, then had to ship my trading partner out another box. Fuck that.

 

Wow, what was in that growler that it was worth $100?

 

I had a couple other bottles in there with it. I failed to mention that. lol