Call Kurtis: FedEx Broke My Antique Chair, Then Refused To Pay My Insurance Claim

MANTECA (CBS13) -- When Jamie Meredith said FedEx damaged an antique chair she tried to ship and wouldn't pay her insurance claim, she wasn't happy.

"It looks like someone threw it," she said, slicing open the layers of plastic her chair was wrapped in to reveal the wooden frame of the chair.

It wasn't cheap to ship the antique chair, which has been in her family since the 1920s -- but instead of arriving in one piece, it ended up right back on her door step, damaged.

FedEx returned it with a wooden leg split and dangling from the rest of the carved wood frame.

She paid an OfficeMax store $229 to pack and send the chair to her sister -- and said she bought the insurance which covered up to $500.

So why won't FedEx pay her claim?

"I think I'm getting the runaround," she said.

FedEx denied her claim, saying its customer is actually "the FedEx Authorized Ship Center," which is Office Max! But when Office Max submitted a claim, it was denied again.

"She ought to get the money back," said consumer attorney Stuart Talley.

Talley said if you ship anything through a third party like Office Max and it's unclear who's to blame for the damage, you can sue both in small claims court.

Although Talley thinks FedEx should just pay the claim.

"FedEx should be stepping up to the plate to make this right," he said. "I don't know why they wouldn't."

FedEx pointed us to Office Max, which told us "it appears the initial claim that our store filed with FedEx on Jamie's behalf was declined due to a paperwork error."

Office Max stopped responding to Call Kurtis, but cut Meredith a check for $500, and also refunded the $229 she spent on the shipping and packing.

"I will never, ever ship through FedEx," Meredith said.

If you're sending anything oversized of of any value, it's important to make sure it's properly packaged or your insurance claim may still be denied. We don't know whether that could have played any role here.