My husband is in the United States Army, and was deployed to Iraq for the first time from April to August.15 months total, one of the longest deployments since WWII.
While he was away, I, and our 2 daughters waited for him in Friedburg, Germany, his current non-war duty zone. What my husband really appreciated while he was away was recieving mail.
So, we sent him lots of mail. But, especially boxes, filled with his favorite things. DVD's, CD's, Books, Candy, Clothes, Video Games, etc. He asked me to send him our laptop computer, so that he could play his fav. Games when he was not out on missions. He told me to make sure I got insurance, so that the box would be easier to track, and that way he could be sure we would be reimbursed, just in case something happened.
So, I took the comp to the post office, boxed it, addressed it, insured it for our purchase amount ($3,000, we financed it), and mailed it. This was November 3rd 2003. November goes by, and, no laptop, December, no laptop, January, February, March, April, May 13th, I file a claim for the un-delivered, insured box.
June 21st, box still unrecieved by my husband (currently on a 30 day mission in Karbala) I recieve a letter from the claims division in St Louis, that states that the box was delivered on Novembver 13th. It also stated that they were going to locate a copy of of the delivery record for our item, and that if I wanted a copy of it, I could shell out $21.00 to get it.
We, of course, appealed the claim, and we were denied again. We got the delivery redord, and it showed that someone had received the package, and had in fact signed for it, someone by the name of Clarence Cox. We thought, ok, there is our proof, right there, my husbands name is Christopher Fullington. He never signed for it, and he never received it.
So, we appealed again, and by this time we were back in the states, in October. Our appeal was of course denied, for the 3rd time. The claims department informed us, that since the package was indeed signed for, and received, that we had no case. Next, we went to our Arizona congressman, who was no help at all, (Thanks Mr. McCain, Really.)
Now, November, we were in our new duty station, (by the way, Kansas really is just dirt, and hay.) We went to JAG, to see what could be done about this, we were in FACT ripped off. Jag told us, that we could not try to claim illegal actions against the USPS, because they are a government agency. And as a serviceman, you cannot sue a governmant agency.
We tried a lawyer off post, and he told us the same thing, that since, technically, my husband BELONGS to the Army, he signed over all rights as an American citizen when he joined the Army, in 1998, he cannot file any claim, against a government agency. We tried one final appeal to our claim, and were, yes, denied. Why, because the box was signed for, and received, it didn't matter that my husband neither signed, nor received the package.
They also infromed us, that not only would we not get the insurance money, we would also not be reimbursed the $31.20 for the cost of insurance, on the package. I could have sworn I heard the woman from the usps claims department cackaling on the phone when she gave us this news. As if she informed us out of spite.
Well, that is my horror story, for the USPS. I still have all the paperwork on it, so people can see that we do have proof. I would like to add that my husband is now currently back in Iraq, he was redeplyed in January of was shot in the back in June, came home for recovery, and was sent back out in October. Don't worry, he is doing well, and will return home in January. Hope no one else has this preoblem, very stressful, and annoying.
To recap: package mailed with insurance, package not received, not reimbursed for loss of insured package. Go Army!!!
Rebecca
Fort Riley, Kansas
U.S.A.
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