[meteorite-list] Dealers, Sellers: Please INSURE your shipments

[R N Hartman]

Aloha Gary,

I'd also like to know more about seller's experiences collecting insurance 
from the USPS.  They tell me that unless you can document a tangible basis 
for cost that you paid (invoice, receipts, etc.) you can not collect even 
though you hasve paid for insurance.  This is difficult to do if you are the 
finder (I picked it up off the ground!) and seller of the specimen. Or, for 
example, you buy from a foreign source for 12 cts a gram a meteorite that 
turns out to be a Martian worth $2000/g., you can only collect the 12 cts. 
if it is lost in transit when you sell it.

 I think that you need to insist that the seller personally guarantee the 
value of the shipment either by insurance or otherwise, but have it be his 
responsibility. I doubt that you would have much luck collecting insurance 
from a foreign country yourself.

And I don't think FedEx is much better.  We had a tracked and signed parcel 
shipped to us from Switzerland once (membrane boxes) which Fed Ex delivered 
in error to an attorney's office in the Bahamas!   FedEx tracked it and they 
lost it.  Even though someone signed for it, they denied they recived it. 
Then it took several months before we could get FedEx to pay for the loss 
even though it was insured.

Ron

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gary Fujihara" <fujmon at mac.com>
To: "MeteorList" <meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 3:59 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] Dealers, Sellers: Please INSURE your shipments


>
>
> I have been the victim of theft after discovering that over $1600  worth 
> of meteorites were missing from a shipment I received from  Argentina.  I 
> had noticed the package felt light, but discovered that  the US postal 
> service is not responsible for thefts of the contents of  international 
> mailed items that are not insured.  This shipment was  not insured and so 
> I will in all likelihood take the full brunt of  this loss.
>
> Thievery by customs officials, foreign and domestic postal workers and 
> other individuals or organized groups inside and outside the US is a 
> possibility!  I believe most packages arrive at their destinations  with 
> their contents intact, but feel it is negligent and at the very  least 
> unconscionable not to insure shipments at or above the full  value of the 
> contents.  I know it costs more to do so, but please  consider insurance 
> especially for foreign shipments.  Mailing specimen  cards and paperwork 
> separately from the meteorites can also prevent  thieves from knowing what 
> those "Mineral Samples" are.
>
> Is it fair for me, the buyer to take the loss alone for this theft?  I 
> personally don't think so, unless I was given a choice and elected not  to 
> insure.  I would hope that the seller (an IMCA member who, to his  credit 
> is working with me) would have a sudden rush of conscience and 
> compensate, or share the loss with me, since his act of omission  provides 
> me with little if any recourse.  What are my rights, and what  can I do? 
> Do other dealers insure their shipments?  What is SOP?
>
> Gary Fujihara
> AstroDay Institute
> 105 Puhili Place, Hilo, HI 96720
> (808) 640-9161, fujmon at mac.com
> http://astroday.net
>
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