USPS Does USPS cover anyone's claims? Saint Louis Missouri

I am going to try to make my report as simple as possible, and with the rage I am feeling right now, that may be difficult. I'll try to break it down.

I am a member of a military family. Husband is currently deployed. We are currently stationed at Ramstein AB, Germany. As our dollar to euro rate has pretty much been horrible for the last 3 years, many consumers shop online because while AAFES tries, they just can't get everything in overseas. I chose to shop online for a GPS system. I was purchasing it for my husbands birthday. It came in during July 07. The USB cables that were sent with it (I think) were defective so of course I contacted the company and was told it would be no problem to return the entire system, and they would replace it. Great customer service. The GPS unit was approx $500.00, so of course, when I mailed it back to the company, I insured it. Who wouldn't? $500.00 is no drop in the bucket.

Back and forth via e-mail, time went on and the customer service rep I was sending it back to told me that she never recieved it. Because it was sent from and APO address I had to wait, I believe, 130 days before filing a claim.
I filed my claim after waiting the 130 days and had all my documentation. I then received a letter from the USPS Department of Claims in St. Louis. The letter stated that my claim was missing my address and the address I had mailed the package to.

Well, I looked at the copies of the paperwork that I sent, and my address was actually on it, but they were right I had provided the name and phone number of the rep I sent the package to, but not the mailing address. So, I typed up a letter with all the information that was asked for. The letter stated that a response had to be recieved by 23 Feb 08 or the claim would be cancelled. In my letter with the missing information, I also detailed that I had not received the letter until the week before, and that I was sure my response was late, but please take the missing information and complete the claim process. I also asked to be contacted if there was a problem with processing anything because my response was late.
I never received a response.

I did figure that processing claims took time and that I wouldn't hear anything for a month or two. In May 2008 I became concerned because I hadn't heard anything and I contacted the help desk via e-mail. I will also say now, that if you want to try to contact anybody in a way other then e-mail, names and phone numbers are not readily and easily found on the websites. That is why I went the e-mail route.

This is the e-mail traffic that ensued, and this does not include the phone calls that I made as well to the help desk and while the personnel was very curteous and friendly, they all told me no problem that the claim would be processed.

e-mails:


Sent: Tuesday, May 13, 2008 2:36 PM
To: Help Desk, Accounting - St. Louis, MO
Subject: claim status


Good afternoon,
I filed a PS Form 1000 through my post office on 3 January 2008. In February, I received a letter from USPS stating that the claim was incomplete because I did not provide the full address of where the insured package was addressed to and to provide that information. I mailed a letter with the missing information to the address that was stated in the letter.
It is now May, and I have not heard anything about my claim. The insured mail receipt number was VG 711 474 902 US.
If someone could please let me know the status of my claim I would greatly appreciate it. $500.00 is a lot to just write off, and I've been waiting for it to re-purchase the GPS system that was lost in the mail.

thank you for any assistance,

very respectfully,


Date: Wed, 14 May 2008 16:46:55 -0500
From: helpdeskaccounting-st.louismo@usps.govhotmail.com

Dear ,

Article #: VG711474902US

Thank you for contacting the Accounting Service Center. This claim was closed on 03/06/2008 due to inactivity or no response from the customer. It can be re-opened at the customer's request. (Information was never received.) Letter requesting a complete name and address for both the mailer and addressee was mailed to you on 01/23/2008. Claim can be reopened when the requested information is received by this office. This information can be mailed to:

USPS
Claims and Inquiry Section
PO Box 80141
St. Louis, MO 63180-0141


Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 1:10 AM
To: Help Desk, Accounting - St. Louis, MO
Subject: FW: claim status


Good morning,
I recieved the message below and I did in fact recieve the letter (as stated in my previous e-mail) requesting a complete name and address for both the mailer and addressee. I responded with the information in a letter that was mailed back to the address listed in the letter.

Was this letter not received? I am told to send a request in writing again in the message below, however if I mailed a reponse once already and it was not received I am hesitant to mail a response again. Is it possible to accept this e-mail as a request to reopen this claim that I was not notified was closed?

In addition, the complete name and address for the mailer and addressee is as follows:

Mailer:

xxxxxxxx

Addressee:

xxxxxxxx

I greatly appreciate any assistance you can provide. The letter I sent previously was mailed during the last week of February, so it definitely should have arrived. I also sent a previous e-mail asking if it had been received, but never got a response.

Thank you for the help,



Date: Fri, 16 May 2008 14:26:04 -0500
From: helpdeskaccounting-st.louismo@usps.gov
To:


Dear ,

Thank you for contacting Accounting Help Desk. I forwarded your email to our Claims Department. You should receive a response within 8 business hours..
Your reference number is 3278692.



Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 8:08 AM
To: Help Desk, Accounting - St. Louis, MO
Subject: RE: claim status


Good morning,
I still have not received a response to the below e-mail thread and I wanted to make sure it wasn't forgotten about. Is there a different customer support office I should be contacting?
Again, thank you for your assistance,


Date: Wed, 21 May 2008 13:54:27 -0500
From: helpdeskaccounting-st.louismo@usps.gov
To:


Dear ,

I'm sorry you did not get a response from the claims dept. I have sent ticket 3288236 to them with a request to reopen the claim and accept the address you've provided for the addressee. I am also requesting that they email you back with a response.

Thank you,

Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10:37 AM
To: Help Desk, Accounting - St. Louis, MO
Subject: RE: claim status


Good afternoon,
I would like to get a status update on ticket 3288236. I did not receive an e-mail back from the claims department, and this has been happening to me time and time again. Every time I call, the customer service rep (who is always very friendly) sends and e-mail to the claims department and I get no response. Then, I go through e-mail after e-mail like the ones below and I get no response. Obviously e-mails to the claims department isn't working. Is there another route I can go? I feel like I have given ample time to receive a response and I keep getting blown off. I'd really like to talk to someone else directly, but I am always directed to the customer service desk. While you guys try to be helpful, what ever e-mails or requests your sending obviously aren't being taken care of.
Are there no managers or anyone I can speak with regarding this issue?

Once again, thank you for any assistance you can provide. Who ever is at the claims department (though they seem to have no name and no phone number) is lucky to have the help desk people buffering angry calls. :)



: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 15:46:51 -0500
From: helpdeskaccounting-st.louismo@usps.gov
To:


Dear

The prior ticket that was sent to the claims dept. was accepted and is updating the data. I do suggest, however, if you still have the deficiency letter, to return the letter also with the requested information.

Thank you,


So, it's been over a month since the last e-mail and I sent another update request this afternoon. I don't know what the heck I'm supposed to do next?
I followed all the rules, filed everything I was supposed to, but I'm just at my wits end. I'm so tired of getting ripped off by large companies it drives me insane. Usually I leave it alone, I figure lessoned learned. But darn it, I insured my package, it wasn't received. I want my money! And why aren't there any managers to speak to? It's crazy!

Onceagain
APO
U.S.A.

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