(WSVN) - She had a few pieces of jewelry she mailed out and smartly got insurance in case it didn’t make it. It didn’t. It was stolen, and when she filed for insurance to replace the jewelry, she was told, we aren’t paying. You might not believe why, which is why she called Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Imagine Rafaella’s day, with three boys, two dogs, a turtle.
Now add a cat and a couple of chickens.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “I love the craziness with all these chickens. I kind of like a little bit of the craziness. It makes the day very different every day. It’s a lot of fun.”
Throw in their full-time jobs and Rafaella and her husband are busy, but she still finds time to take care of herself.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “I had my initials on it. I like my jewelry. I am a girly girl. I like my my things, you know?”
Recently, she had these three pieces of jewelry that needed work done.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “I sent one of my favorite pairs of earrings. I sent a bracelet. I sent a necklace. They repair it, they clean it, and it’s part of their service that they do.”
Before closing the box, she took pictures of the jewelry and then headed to the post office.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “The total value is about like, I think, $1,600, so I was kind of nervous about sending all the pieces together. I paid for tracking and insurance.”
The postal service took over and the bad news came in when things arrived in Philadelphia.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “And they delivered it to Lagos in a bag that said this was opened and had no contents.”
The box had been ripped open and her three pieces of jewelry were gone.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “But then my first, right after, I had that reaction, I was thankful that I got insurance, so I immediately filed the claim with the USPS.”
But first she was told she had to have receipts for the three items.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “Yes, all the pieces that I got were gifts, and I’ll tell you, that was kind of a challenge because I didn’t know I needed to have proof of purchase.”
After she got the receipts, she filed her claim. The postal service responded, “We need the box you shipped the jewelry in.”
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “So I immediately called Lagos and said, ‘By any chance, do you guys still have the box that was delivered?’ and they said that their protocol is to photograph everything, and they discarded the box. They don’t usually keep it.”
Rafaela notified the post office.They replied.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “And they’re giving me a hard time and denying my claim on the grounds that I didn’t provide the box, the damaged box.”
You have to be determined to successfully raise three boys and keep up with a handful of animals, so Rafaella appealed the postal service’s decision claim.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “That they still denied my claim.”
But Rafaela still wasn’t going to mail it in and give up.
“I didn’t know who to call, and I always watch Help Me Howard and Channel 7, so I was like, I’m going to call Help Me Howard, and maybe they can help me get to the bottom of this.”
Well, Howard, legally what can you do if your claim is denied?
Howard Finkelstein, 7News legal expert: “The post office has a lot of hoops you have to jump through. For example, if they refuse to pay your claim, you have to appeal through the post office at least two times. If they refuse that, you have to sue in federal court, and that is expensive. Rafaella did everything she was supposed to do, but dealing with the federal government is sometimes just not fair.”
We contacted the United States Postal Service in South Florida. They were great.
They asked Rafaella to appeal the decision again. She did.
The postal service then contacted Rafaella letting her know her claim was approved for payment for the full $1,600.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “Wasn’t expecting to get everything approved like that that quickly.”
Rafaella can now enjoy the kids, the cat, the chickens after that call to Help Me Howard.
Rafaella Correa-Pinto: “I’m super excited, and I’m so thankful that I contacted you guys because it really helped me save time and getting this process done.”
Glad we could help you out, and if you are battling a business, one thing: be persistent like Rafaella. Don’t give up.
Or, if it’s a small amount, you might want to say, let it go. You don’t need the aggravation.
Or a third option: let us fight for you.
Got a real jewel of a problem? Don’t give up and mail it in. Let us deliver a solution to insure you get satisfaction.
With this Help Me Howard, I’m Patrick Fraser, 7News.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
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