The engagement ring was sent off to be sized last summer, but it got lost in the mail and now the bride-to-be is having a tough time getting the US Post Office to pay the insurance claim.
Amanda Hall now has a replacement engagement ring. The first one was given to her by her fiancé during a cruise last year.
"He bought it on the cruise, got down on one knee on the cruise and it was very sweet," she recalled.
But that ring needed to be resized, so Hall says she sent it in a US Post Office provided Priority Mail box to Florida and even took the step of insuring the ring for $500, which is just a fraction of the ring's worth. Hall even watched the ring's progress to Florida using her tracking number.
Hall said, "So I checked it that next Monday and it said the package was refused, returning to sender."
Hall says pictures show the shipping box that came back to her. The ring's box was still inside, only the ring itself was gone.
Hall said, "The box was ripped open on the sides."
She then filed a claim to get the $500 in insurance.
"Then I got this letter that said it was denied," Hall said.
Hall says the post office told her the package was not packed properly, so she appealed the decision but it's been weeks with no word from the post office.
"That's when I contacted you," she said.
We gave the post office a couple of weeks to look into the matter, and late Tuesday afternoon we were told, "After further investigation into this matter and receipt of additional information, the claim has been approved and will be processed for the insured amount plus postage paid."
Hall says she will never ship valuables the same way again, but if she or anyone else does, they can get private insurance from shipping stores that can replace the full value of a missing item. The private insurance is not expensive, about a dollar per $100 of value, so a $1,000 engagement ring can be fully insured for about ten bucks.
