Marine gets a not-so-special delivery

ELIZABETH, NJ (WABC) -- It was a not-so-special delivery for one young United States Marine. Expecting a new laptop, instead, he got a boxful of car parts in the mail. Good thing his mom insured the package with the postal service, right? Wrong. For the past year the sergeant's mom's has had a battle on her hands to get the USPS to pay off her claim.

"I just feel (it's) unfair, unfair." That's Ana Garcia's reaction to the way she says the U.S. Postal Service treated her.

Back in February 2008, she sent a box to her son Edgard, who is a Marine. "We sent the laptop and it was insured by the post office," recalled the Marine's mom.

It was a Dell laptop bought by her son with money from his summer job. But when the package arrived it was a different box with Ana's address label cut out and taped to the top. And inside? No computer, only something resembling an automobile carburetor.

Ana wasn't terribly worried. She had insured the box for $800, the price of the laptop. But when she sent a claim to the USPS, it was denied. "I've been fighting this for a year and a half. It's been denied twice already."

Now, Ana's out of work, struggling to stay afloat. A replacement computer is beyond her means. "I'm laid off. There's no way. There's no income, it's whatever I get from my unemployment."

So we made two calls, one to the computer's manufacturer, Dell. The other, to the postal service.

And double good news. The USPS agreed to pay the full claim ($800) and Dell Computers stepped up to donate a new Studio 15 laptop.

Ana was relieved and thrilled, "That's the best news I've had in days. It's been a year with this fight. Thank God. It could've never have been done without you guys.

In Elizabeth, Tappy Phillips Channel 7 Eyewitness News.

----

Story by: Tappy Phillips

Produced by: Steve Livingstone

---
STORY BY: Eyewitness News reporter Tappy Phillips

Get more 7 On Your side »

• Comment Now
• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•