Shipping Insurance for Cameras
May 28, 2018 09:55:29 #
When ordering merchandise, read the terms and conditions of the seller carefullly, especially whether the shipment is FOB origin or destination. If FOB destination, the shipper owns and is responsible for the package until it is delivered to you and you accept it. In that case, a damaged package can be refused and the shipper is responsible for insurance claims and/or replacing the damaged merchandise. BUT, if it FOB origin, then you own it the minute it leaves the shipper’s dock, and any damage is between you and the shipping company, and it is your responsibility to file any necessary claims.
May 28, 2018 09:55:30 #
olemikey
Loc: 6 mile creek, Spacecoast Florida
USPS and UPS both work very well here in rural Florida, followed by DHL and then FEDEX. FEDEX drivers very rude. I guess its a little different in each part of the country.
May 28, 2018 09:58:28 #
As I said, some of them were first edition, almost impossible to replace. I had spent years collecting them, about 34 books all total. I was sending them to my daughter who was in Memhis, TN at the time. All I got back was a torn up shipping label. They went from Chattanooga, TN to Atlanta, GA and somewhere in between got lost, stolen or destroyed. POOOEY on the USPS!
May 28, 2018 10:11:21 #
UPS, USPS, and FedEx and all those odd ball small carries all share a common trait. If most of the sorting is automated, when things go right, all is transparent and items get shipped and delivered without incident. When something goes wrong, $h!t hits the fan and finger pointing begins. And these snafus aren’t just limited to shipping. There’s plenty of examples out there regardless of circumstance.
May 28, 2018 10:16:41 #
How times have changed. U. S. Mail used I be the most dependable, safe way of sending anything. They used to send diamonds through the mail. My biggest problem with Fed Ex is that they deliver packages to the wrong address. Thank God I have honest, thoughtful neighbors. There really isn’t a good alternative, UPS isn’t any better.
May 28, 2018 10:19:24 #
StanMac
Loc: Tennessee
I don’t understand the vitriol for the USPS. I’ve never had any issue with shipping anything with USPS. My gripe with FedEx/UPS is they are very inconvenient to use. Their terminals are located miles away in an obscure place somewhere in the warehouse district, not in a convenient downtown or nearby business district location like my USPS office. The nearest UPS office to me only accepts walk-in shipping between 1:00pm and 5:00pm - limited hours like that are certainly not customer focused. The nearest FedEx office is halfway to the neighboring town. As for delivery, one never knows when FedEx/UPS will drop your package off. My USPS delivery is made within an hour to hour and a half window the same time practically everyday. I’ll take the USPS any day for convenience and consistency.
Stan
Stan
May 28, 2018 11:47:15 #
Blame it in part on eBay and the shipping of over-insured used stuff. There even items that will not be insured at any cost. They are supposed to make money insuring stuff, so they try to limit there losses.
May 28, 2018 12:26:36 #
The problem with UPS (for me at least) is that they will only accept high value items at their Customer Centers - for me, despite living in a state capital, that is nearly 30 miles, 40-60 minutes, plus tolls to go to the other side of Baltimore.
FedEx will not insure for more than $1,000 unless you have a commercial account with them.
USPS Priority Mail will insure up to $5,000, although the insurance is ungodly expensive - 1.35% of the declared value.
The issue only arose when I had lenses on loan from Canon and needed to return them. All my other shipments to Canon are at their cost as part of CPS.
So if your shipment is valued over $5,000, the only option is UPS (who will insure up to $50,000). Between $1,000-5,000 it's USPS Priority Mail, under $1,000 it's UPS or FedEx
FedEx will not insure for more than $1,000 unless you have a commercial account with them.
USPS Priority Mail will insure up to $5,000, although the insurance is ungodly expensive - 1.35% of the declared value.
The issue only arose when I had lenses on loan from Canon and needed to return them. All my other shipments to Canon are at their cost as part of CPS.
So if your shipment is valued over $5,000, the only option is UPS (who will insure up to $50,000). Between $1,000-5,000 it's USPS Priority Mail, under $1,000 it's UPS or FedEx
May 28, 2018 13:22:20 #
mikegreenwald
Loc: Illinois
Nobody has a corner on losing packages - all do well most of the time, and all foul up occasionally.
My personal worst was a small (wings-removed) airplane in a 4’x4’x30’ crate air freighted from Europe to O’Hare.
It didn’t show up. After a couple of weeks of searching and waiting I filed a claim; naturally the insurance comppany didn’t pay, but sent a detective to search for the very expensive item. Eventually he found it in a holding area IN HONG KONG! It’s was then shipped to me at O’Hare, arriving over a month after the original scheduled date, along with a big bill. I refused to pay the bill, and there was no further collection attempt ever made.
All of which proves only that it’s better to be lucky than smart. I rarely insure anything, and that has paid off handsomely. However, in this case the insurance was compulsory; it paid by finding my package, not money.
My personal worst was a small (wings-removed) airplane in a 4’x4’x30’ crate air freighted from Europe to O’Hare.
It didn’t show up. After a couple of weeks of searching and waiting I filed a claim; naturally the insurance comppany didn’t pay, but sent a detective to search for the very expensive item. Eventually he found it in a holding area IN HONG KONG! It’s was then shipped to me at O’Hare, arriving over a month after the original scheduled date, along with a big bill. I refused to pay the bill, and there was no further collection attempt ever made.
All of which proves only that it’s better to be lucky than smart. I rarely insure anything, and that has paid off handsomely. However, in this case the insurance was compulsory; it paid by finding my package, not money.
May 28, 2018 16:06:48 #
PGHphoto
Loc: Pittsburgh, PA
johntaylor333 wrote:
I recently had an evaluation loan of a couple of u... (show quote)
Not sure what FedEx office you tried but I routinely ship my camera gear and insure for $4000. They sometimes require to see the content of the pelican case and verify it is properly packed. Other then that, no issues with purchasing insurance at all. Maybe it was the packing that got rejected as not strong enough ?
May 28, 2018 16:24:49 #
John, we have the same issues, having no pickup/dropoff facilities in our county and have to drive to our state capital, or pay for a pickup. We've never had a limitation on insurance with UPS, perhaps they've changed their carrier since last year. Have you considered using DHL? DHL is about the best, but they usually pick up the packages at a post office; to see them back in action in the US at all is welcome indeed.
We sold a couple of collectable items to a VP at a large corporation, who wanted it shipped air/overnight; we shipped DHL and insured it to full replacement value (or what we thought it would sell for if you could find another like it); catastrophic damage/loss is the only term that applies, not delivery insurance. That's all you can reasonably claim if the plane goes down or a careless employee actually runs a forklift into/over/through your item, terminating it. DHL picked the item up at noon and had it sitting in the gents office before he or the morning mail arrived the next morning, at 8AM. It's extremely rare the insurance is ever invoked, and represents a huge chunk of profit for these folks. UPS and DHL has always been happy to sell us any amount insurance we care to pay for, but it's steep indeed after $5K; you could make two shipments and that can lower fees, in the case of a lens and body. UPS always likes to say that they've never had any claims or issues if the UPS store is the party to pack your items and ship for you. Saying their cartons and packing is guaranteed is dubious. I let them pack an item for me once, that had something heavy on it, popped the corner of the carton open and looked like an elephant had sat on it; plenty of foam peanuts kept the shipment from disaster though. The guaranteed packing claim subsidizes the UPS store. If you package it well and photograph the procedure, you'll be fine. Good luck. sv
We sold a couple of collectable items to a VP at a large corporation, who wanted it shipped air/overnight; we shipped DHL and insured it to full replacement value (or what we thought it would sell for if you could find another like it); catastrophic damage/loss is the only term that applies, not delivery insurance. That's all you can reasonably claim if the plane goes down or a careless employee actually runs a forklift into/over/through your item, terminating it. DHL picked the item up at noon and had it sitting in the gents office before he or the morning mail arrived the next morning, at 8AM. It's extremely rare the insurance is ever invoked, and represents a huge chunk of profit for these folks. UPS and DHL has always been happy to sell us any amount insurance we care to pay for, but it's steep indeed after $5K; you could make two shipments and that can lower fees, in the case of a lens and body. UPS always likes to say that they've never had any claims or issues if the UPS store is the party to pack your items and ship for you. Saying their cartons and packing is guaranteed is dubious. I let them pack an item for me once, that had something heavy on it, popped the corner of the carton open and looked like an elephant had sat on it; plenty of foam peanuts kept the shipment from disaster though. The guaranteed packing claim subsidizes the UPS store. If you package it well and photograph the procedure, you'll be fine. Good luck. sv
May 28, 2018 16:47:32 #
I spoke to UPS on the phone and they told me I could not ship a $4,500 package through a UPS Store and that I could not have it picked up. My only options was a UPS Customer Center 30 miles away.
I also called FedEx and they told me that they would only insure $1,000 maximum!
I looked at the DHL website and I had to request a quote, so it looked like they were only interested in business shipments. Maybe I was wrong on that.
I also called FedEx and they told me that they would only insure $1,000 maximum!
I looked at the DHL website and I had to request a quote, so it looked like they were only interested in business shipments. Maybe I was wrong on that.
May 28, 2018 16:59:36 #
European way of doing business...Request a Quote for an item that they would sell for $30 or less... Pain in the A$$...
johntaylor333 wrote:
I spoke to UPS on the phone and they told me I could not ship a $4,500 package through a UPS Store and that I could not have it picked up. My only options was a UPS Customer Center 30 miles away.
I also called FedEx and they told me that they would only insure $1,000 maximum!
I looked at the DHL website and I had to request a quote, so it looked like they were only interested in business shipments. Maybe I was wrong on that.
I also called FedEx and they told me that they would only insure $1,000 maximum!
I looked at the DHL website and I had to request a quote, so it looked like they were only interested in business shipments. Maybe I was wrong on that.
May 28, 2018 17:33:13 #
UPS phone information is essentially unreliable and as varied as count stars in the sky, especially with the infuriating script-readers over seas, that don't care about your shipment. After the whoppers they gave last year after a two day electrical blackout in a regional hub, we trust what we can verify by actuly putting eyes on with their 'help'. We never bother with with these folks on the phone; they read scripts on a screen. If you're lucky to snag a US call center, zip through the prompts and when tier 1 people answer, respectfully request a US member of their management team. You have a 50/50 shot at that, but sometimes that isn't any more helpful, sorry to say. Even management may just give you what they read on their screen; if that's not anything that helps, but they deal with zillions of irate customers a day, and it's a CYA think with most of them. We've had better luck corresponding with management in email, sometimes, but only when invoking their late delivery clause, which they always try to weasel out of. They aren't the company they used to be.
Negatives aside, we've never been turned down in person for shipment/insurance at a shipping center. Shipped an 85 lb combo organ to LA last year; not made since the 60's and not replaceable; insured it for $2000, no issues. Can't even find an ebay sale for one that works. An local independent broker estimates $400 for catastrophic destruction, value of 8K, practically salivating to think we'd actually pay that. Best guess only, go to an actual UPS center (ignore fedex green/saver, that's an exercise in pain). Sometimes the assistant/mgr and then his manager at the Federal Express main ub is a better source, but they only ship red and blue; it's high, which is why we deal only with the UPS main center. Email/check with DHL; still of the opinion DHL will be able work with you. In the end you'll have to accept the best quote/offer extended/allowed, then cross your fingers, say your prayers and rejoice when it all goes well, when you'll realize that 99% of the time, nothing bad happens. Amazing isn't it. Good luck. sv
Negatives aside, we've never been turned down in person for shipment/insurance at a shipping center. Shipped an 85 lb combo organ to LA last year; not made since the 60's and not replaceable; insured it for $2000, no issues. Can't even find an ebay sale for one that works. An local independent broker estimates $400 for catastrophic destruction, value of 8K, practically salivating to think we'd actually pay that. Best guess only, go to an actual UPS center (ignore fedex green/saver, that's an exercise in pain). Sometimes the assistant/mgr and then his manager at the Federal Express main ub is a better source, but they only ship red and blue; it's high, which is why we deal only with the UPS main center. Email/check with DHL; still of the opinion DHL will be able work with you. In the end you'll have to accept the best quote/offer extended/allowed, then cross your fingers, say your prayers and rejoice when it all goes well, when you'll realize that 99% of the time, nothing bad happens. Amazing isn't it. Good luck. sv
May 28, 2018 19:03:35 #
The UPS store is not related to UPS. The UPS store is a collection point and a place where you will pay triple to ship items. Never go to a UPS to ship anything unless it is prepaid and you are just dropping it off.
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