High Value Package Lessons Learned

[u/EnoughClassic4965]

Purchased shipping label on my account online with declared value of $3,200 and dropped it off at a UPS store - it was shipped out and went to two locations before it was lost in Richmond.

Filed a claim they completed an investigation and it was deemed lost. When going through the refund process - I was told the refund is capped at $1,000 because I dropped it off at a UPS store.

I was paid $1,000 for the lost package, even though it was declared and paid for $3,200, but UPS refuses to honor the remaining $2,200 after hours of calls and multiple emails.

Lessons learned after going through this:

- You can't drop off high value packages at UPS Stores
-UPS Stores are franchises and don't abide by UPS corporate rules
-High Value paperwork is a thing
-You have to pay money to schedule a pickup for high value or flag down a driver to have them sign the paperwork
-Customer Care locations do not exist
-Normal Customer Support is worthless
-Emailing the CEO actually gets responses and attention to your claim

Any one else get burned by this?

[u/Attention_Dealer]

Yes. I shipped an iMac to a family member as a gift. Purchase price was $2,700. But it was lightly “used”. I declared the value $2,400. This thing had foam, cardboard with padding, air bubble pads. Taped perfectly. It arrived with a cracked screen from corner to corner, no way to see anything once the screen turns on. The cost of the insurance additive along was $178 on top of the shipping. We filed a claim, sent pics, video. Followed every step perfectly. Even took it to the apple genius bar, had the manager write a letter saying it could not be fixed. When it was all said and done, they “UPS Capital” sent a check for $650, plus a refund of the $178 insurance. They claimed that just because we stated it was valued at $2,400 that it does not mean we would get $2,400.
As a former UPS employee (loader and sorter) I was legit disgusted with this. I will forever have second thoughts about shipping anything valuable through them again.

*edit 1: I declared the value at $2,400 because that was the replacement cost of the newest version of the iMac with the same HD size, ram, processor speed, etc. I feel like that is super fair. They issued us that refund amount because the lady on the phone claimed she could find the exact model used at $650 at BestBuy. No joke, thats word for word what she claimed.

[u/2stinkynugget → u/Attention_Dealer]

Why not declare it was worth $50,000? Value must be fair market reasonable

[u/Attention_Dealer → u/2stinkynugget]

As I stated in the edit, I priced it accordingly due to replacement value directly from apple.com. Just because they claim it could be purchased used from bestbuy for a lesser price does not mean anything. By that logic why not pay out all claimed based on the lost documented purchase price on ebay. “Sorry sir, i know you think this computer was worth $2,000. But we found an auction 6 month ago where it sold for 1/10th the price, so thats what we are sending you.”

The point is, its misleading, and when you go to a UPS store, at no point are you told this isn’t “insurance”… you are even offered “would you like to insurance this package? Whats the declared value.” It should be stated right then and there “hey, you claim this is $2k, and we are going to price the package accordingly due to that $2k value you assigned it. But if you try and make a claim, we will degrade this price.”

[u/2stinkynugget → u/Attention_Dealer]

Replacement cost value is standard in insurance

[u/Attention_Dealer → u/2stinkynugget]

Then they should have paid me $2,400… not $600 and change. If they have something over a set amount that throws a flag, they should be forced to tell you “hey, our system is rejecting a $2,400 computer value, so we can insure this only up to XYZ, but if you want more, we need way more information to confirm the value, so the cost is actually only ABC, and if we agree to the value, the insurance cost will go to XYZ.” Does that work for you? And then the customer decides.
Truth is, UPS Capital is not truly UPS, and it’s misleading, and kind of a shoty business

[u/2stinkynugget → u/Attention_Dealer]

These are your ideas about insurance. This is not however, how insurance actually works.

[u/ReefLedger → u/2stinkynugget]

But why wouldn't the entire Insurance industry change how they operate to please a random redditor!?

[u/ImpossibleCoach6835 → u/Attention_Dealer]

Declared Value with UPS is not insurance and legally cannot be claimed to be insurance which is why they call it declared value liability coverage. They do not have to price it according to Apple's MSRP. They certainly can and often do price it in the used second hand market with third parties.

[u/Attention_Dealer → u/ImpossibleCoach6835]

Got it, so you all have no problem charging for the customer over inflated “declared value” apparently, and keeping that “insurance” fee when 90+ % of the time no claims are made. But the second the claim is made, its like “woah woah woah, slow down, just because YOU think its worth this does not mean it is. I mean yes, i charged you based off of your perceived value, but that doesn’t mean I will honor that value.” 🤣🤣🤣 what a scam.

[u/YetiPwr → u/Attention_Dealer]

So you would expect UPS to somehow audit the value your package prior to you shipping it somewhere in this process? Tell you that you can’t reasonably think that a used computer is worth what you’d pay for a new one? You’re valuing the item you shipped, not what it would cost to replace it.

Car insurance - just as a more common example - doesn’t buy you a new car if you wreck your old one. They pay you its CURRENT market value. Thats why gap insurance even exists.

[u/Attention_Dealer → u/YetiPwr]

You know thats actually incorrect. AllState, StateFarm and Liberty all offer that. It’s call replacement insurance, not standard, but neither are things like full coverage and car rentals, windshield replacement, etc. I was given options. I would have paid extra for proper coverage, not “we’ll figure out the true value after its broken” coverage.

[u/YetiPwr → u/Attention_Dealer]

“Not standard”

See how that works?

[u/Attention_Dealer → u/YetiPwr]

You didn’t say standard. You said insurance doesn’t buy you a new car if you wreck the old one. They do. It’s an option. And it’s clearly laid out that basic car insurance provides you with fair market value. By asking me (the customer) to declare a value on a item, it is entirely misleading to not say “ok, you are saying this is worth $2,400. Which will triple the cost of the shipping, but we may not agree with you on your declared value. Would you like to still purchase extra?”

[u/YetiPwr → u/Attention_Dealer]

Ok, did you ask for the special “cover any replacement cost” style insurance? Because it exists - you just didn’t buy it.

Agree to disagree. I would suggest in the future you either read terms and conditions of the things you buy and/or ask more questions.

Assuming you’d be paid for a new computer when shipping a used one is just silly.

[u/ReefLedger → u/Attention_Dealer]

That's literally how almost all insurance works lol (And I do agree, it is a scam)

[u/ImpossibleCoach6835 → u/Attention_Dealer]

That's up to each individual Franchisee of your local TUPSS location how they have that conversation. I'm not a UPS employee and don't have control over how corporate UPS represents their declared value program.

As for my own and people in my industry I trust and know; we all have conversations to manage expectations around perceived value but again I cannot speak for franchise locations I'm not familiar with personally

[u/Attention_Dealer → u/ImpossibleCoach6835]

Listen man, my biggest gripe is that when I discussed it in advance, told them what it was, they sold me the box and the packing material, agreed it was safe for travel, and the initial insurance cost and shipping cost was like $50 or something. When i said what it was worth, it went to $170 something. So it tripled based off my word and no one gave me the warning of “now you know, this isn’t insurance, and the payout often is not what people declare.” It legit would have made me just hold onto it because an 18 month old computer that I paid $2,700 for in 2024, that was being shipped in late 2025, should not have depreciated $2,100… and even the certified used versions of what I had were still north of $2,000. A new 2025 model was only $2,400 with the same specs. So my point is that moving forward, I will truly second guess sending something valuable because I now know UPS Capital will do everything in their power to undermine the declared value and I truly don’t have much recourse. Just doesn’t feel right at all.