Advice: USPS lost commission

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

Hi again!

I need a little help.

Long story short, was commissioned for a fursuit, made it, mailed it on August 25th and it hasn't been seen since August 30th. There is no update to the tracking or anything.
I filed a claim with USPS for the full amount (roughly ($2,200) with proof of the transactions and they offered to pay me $70. I don't even know where they pulled that number from, it doesn't even make sense with the insurance; I filed for an appeal.
Client says that they called their local post office and that an investigation has been opened.

I don't know what more I can do and I'm honestly scared. I haven't spent the money but USPS just lost an expensive, one-of-a-kind costume I can't exactly replicate and, ideally, would like to have them refund me in full for the item they lost.

If it comes to it, how do I go about out-of-pocket calculating a refund for my client? They already have the tail in their possession so I would subtract that from the total cost, but what about things like the cost of materials and such? Is it "cheap" to keep those funds?

Anything would be really helpful right now. I cannot afford to remake the costume again. The $70 USPS tried to offer me doesn't even cover the cost of the fabric.

Comments

[cknsausage.livejournal.com]

Might it be worth looking into whether it's legal to record phone calls where you live? Some places all you need is the knowledge of 1 party (so, yourself) and then you have proof of whatever run-around they're giving you. Some places need both parties to know though so definitely be careful with this. Though this can be a bit complex when it comes to showing a third party, so definitely if you think you want to do this look into it more / possibly consult legal help.

I don't think you should default to having it come out of your own pocket if you paid out for insurance AND have all the receipts! Gather evidence and escalate it until you get your money back. It's not blackmailing, it's enforcing the service you paid for (insurance) which is essentially a contract: 'pay us x agreed amount and if something goes wrong within y specifications, we will reimburse you'. Or at least that's how all insurance I've ever had worked like. They will try anything not to pay out for something that expensive though.

Do you have the paperwork still on what they specifically cover? Or was it like, an online ToS type thing?

[laughsatthunder.livejournal.com]

WOO BOY I do not feel comfortable recording a conversation over the phone, haha. That DEFINITELY feels like blackmail. They also have that disclaimer when you call about "this call may be monitored for quality" so here's to hoping someone heard the conversations I had and inform their workers that, yes, the shipper can file a claim. I don't think that's my biggest issue here though.

I do not want to have to pay out of pocket but if they're trying to give me $70 then I don't know what to expect as a positive outcome at this point. I honestly don't have high hopes. I can pray that the costume arrives in one piece but that's really it.

I went in person and mailed the fursuit in a 16x15x14 box. They print out a receipt with a tracking number and I gave that to my client.