TV news station helps man collect insurance payout

Call it the power of the microphone and camera.

A reporter with NBC7 In San Diego proved to have that special touch — the risk of bad publicity? — in helping a man in Escondido, California, collect insurance money he said he was owed when a UPS store near his previous home in Illinois failed to properly pack his television set, which arrived damaged in his relocation west.

Noel Rodriguez said he brought his TV and a UPS-purchased box into his local UPS store in Illinois, claiming he told the clerk there that the TV was wrapped in plastic with an added layer of bubble wrap but “knew it wasn’t going to be enough” so he enlisted the help of the store to repackage it, according to the news station report. 

Mr. Noel told a reporter that a UPS employee added some popcorn inside and sealed the box, charging him for the shipping and insurance for up to $1,000. 

“I was excited, I finally got some TV,” Mr. Noel told the reporter. “Opened the box and it was destroyed.” 

He thought the damage would be taken care of so he filed an insurance claim — but not so, as UPS marked the shipment “self-packed,” the station reported. “They denied the claim because I used inferior bubble wrap, non-UPS bubble wrap,” Mr. Noel told a reporter.

Mr. Noel then asked NBC 7 Responds, a news segment that helps consumers solve problems, to help him get his insurance money. A spokesperson for UPS responded quickly with a statement: “According to the store they say that they sold the box to Mr. Rodriguez but he supplied his own packing materials and packed the box himself at The UPS Store location … When an item is self-packed the responsibility falls on the shipper/customer to ensure UPS packaging guidelines are followed in order to make the shipment eligible for declared value coverage.” 

And yet UPS agreed to pay Mr. Noel $1,000 for his TV and refund what he had paid to ship the package, according to NBC7.