Narrative Summary

I sold a $200 vintage jacket on eBay and shipped it using UPS SurePost. Tracking showed the package arrived at my local UPS facility but was lost before it was ever handed off to USPS for the final delivery. I filed a claim with UPS. A week later, my claim status changed to "Investigation Pending," and a rep told me that because it was a SurePost package, they had to wait for USPS to conduct a secondary trace. A month went by with both carriers pointing fingers at each other, keeping my claim completely frozen.

The Resolution Strategy

When multiple carriers touch a package, claims adjusters will exploit the operational gray area to stall investigations indefinitely. They hope you'll get tired of acting as a middleman and abandon the claim.

Using the Authori shipping appeal generator, the drafted response aggressively halted the finger-pointing using UPS Tariff Item 540. The appeal letter legally isolated the primary contract of carriage.

The appeal argued that my financial contract was executed exclusively with UPS, not USPS. Therefore, UPS's decision to subcontract the last mile of delivery does not sever or delay their primary liability to the shipper. By citing Tariff Item 540's mandate for prompt resolution, the letter forced UPS to stop waiting on USPS and process the claim based on the failure within their own network. UPS closed the investigation and issued the $200 check.