I wasn’t sure where to post this. So I’ll try here.

I was shipping a shotgun via UPS. I’d packed it very well using the styrofoam holders inside the box and bubble wrap. I taped it really well. It was tight.

As I was paying $57 to ship it insured, the UPS agent told me the insurance wouldn’t cover damage because UPS didn’t pack the item. She said they’d need to unpack it, repackage it in a UPS box, I’d pay another $47 for the packaging, THEN the insurance would cover damage.

I explained to she and her manager exactly how insane that was. I then went to the Post Office and shipped insured for $44.

I’d seen threads about UPS damaging firearms. When I had my experience I thought I’d post it so that others would be informed of what I was told.

Have a great evening!

Thought we weren't allowed to ship guns/parts ups now?

Don’t expect insurance from USPS to cover it either.

My UPS won't even ship unless you're an FFL anymore

I started to say, good luck getting anything out of the USPS. Unless you’re trying to move a 53ft van filled with “absentee ballots”. Then they will gitter done even if it takes all day and night!

Just a few minutes ago I opened two letters from UPS with charges of $-0.03 each, i.e. credit memos.

I have no clue what they are for since I haven't shipped anything UPS in ages. Each has an invoice number and a shipper number which mean nothing to me, for goods delivered on a date I never sent or received anything. There was a payment stub attached to each letter for that -3 cents which I need to return to get the credit.

Also included in each was an envelope that I'm supposed to add a 50 something cent stamp to and mail in to get 3 cents taken off my next charge.

They spent a lot more than 6 cents to send me two 3 cent credit memos and I'm supposed to spend over a dollar to get a 6 cent total credit on an account I haven't used in literally 10 years. Yeah.



So, what I'm thinking is that I won't send it in, then whatever funky billing procedure they have will add a minus late charge to those minus 6 cents, I won't pay that either and on and on and eventually they will owe me $-1,000.00. And if they don't pay I'll sue them for it...

What do you get when you ask 100 UPS employess the same question? ....100 different answers!

This sounds like you went to a UPS store.

UPS stores are privately/individually owned.

The individual owner can make up whatever nonsense about requiring them to repackage and double charge you, they choose. They are ripoff artists.

UPS hubs are entirely different. However now you need to have an account established, have an FFL, etc. I have not yet looked into all the requirements, but eventually will as I ship with UPS weekly.

Bottom line is stay out of privately owned UPS stores as they are horribly expensive and I have yet to be in one where anything involving a firearm was not a PITA.

My UPS Store will not ship firearms or ammo. I go to the local hub -- never had any problems. I do not buy insurance. I spend the money on building a wooden box that slips inside a generic cardboard firearms box (from Uline). I usually keep some old, padded gun cases around and put the gun in that inside the wooden box inside the cardboard box. Been told my packages could be dragged behind the UPS truck without damage. Takes a little time to make the box. I use wood I salvage from dumpsters. The one time I shipped in a padded plastic rifle case inside a cardboard rifle box, the gun was damaged -- never again.

UPS has gone "woke"...

Maybe it's just me, but there sure seem to be a lot of folks that don't know the difference between a UPS Store, aka franchise, and a true UPS facility.

I was aware the story sounded ridiculous before posting. I’m passing the info along anyway because it may save someone a problem.

I do know the difference between a UPS facility and a franchise. So that’s not the issue.

I also wasn’t told I needed an FFL to ship a firearm with UPS or the P.O.

I’m not trying to prove my intelligence or lack thereof. I simply thought it was incredible that I’d be told I could buy insurance and UPS would not cover in case of damage.

I have an account with ups. I package and print at home. Drop of at the franchise facility. Nothing said except: “Dropping off? Thank you.”
When I ship usps they pick up for free. The only claim I was refused was pirate shipping. How appropriate……

And my ups credit was .01

I have had no problems with USPS honoring insurance claims IF, BIG IF, the person receiving the item kept all of the original packing materials, including the box, as the USPS representative will almost certainly want to see them and confirm that the item was properly packed. The person receiving the package needs to initiate the insurance claim, as they have the packing materials and the damaged item.

OTOH, I have seen USPS deny an insurance claim because the person receiving the package refused to show the USPS representative the original packing materials. In my limited experience, small town rural post offices are easier to work with than any size of urban/suburban post offices. I do all of my USPS shipping from the small town of Waterloo, NE, and since I am shipping sporting goods on a regular basis, they recognize me and have always treated me right.

PS - I always send the buyer either the original, or a copy of, the shipping receipt, along with any refund due for overpayment of the actual shipping cost.

I fully agree with the various entities needing to see the packing materials to verify proper packing. Especially considering some of the pitiful packing jobs I’ve seen.
Generally the amount of insurance is the trigger. Anything under $100 isn’t too big an issue - that’s the level of included insurance for both UPS & USPS. Anything above that there is a legitimate need to verify proper packaging.

I had a rifle shipped in to my local FFL. The seller just wrapped it in a couple layers of padding and dropped it in an oversized cardboard box. It clearly got hit by something at the distribution center, and the stock was snapped. When I tried making a UPS claim on it, they said that since it wasn't packaged properly they wouldn't cover anything.

I've never had an issue shipping rifles or ammo through the UPS hub. I haven't done it recently though, and it looks like their website is showing you must be an FFL or some variation thereof so ship rifles through them.

I take pics when I am wrapping a package to be shipped and a final pic of the wrapped package showing the address.

I only deal in C&R and have a C&R FFL. 30 bucks for 3 years, problem solved.

USPS is NOT allowed to ask you if it's a gun.

^^^^ Root