Travell doll information for hosts AND owners......

[Sail-Away]

While Emmy is missing I thought this might be the time to add some information for you all.......

INSURANCE: Only the sender of the item can file for the insurance claim. Like wise the sender must be over 18 to file the claim on the package.They will be the ones to receive the payment from the postal service.

DO NOT SEND YOUR DOLLS OUT TO ANYONE WHO IS NOT VERIFIED OF AGE TO REPLACE YOUR DOLL.

This is not a a slight to anyone under the age who is appart of the board. When I say under age I mean younger than 18.

Do insure the package for the full replacement cost. Include anything that is in the box AND the shipping fees for you to get the replacements. Emmy's full replacement value is in excess of 200.oo USD! The postal service will NOT give you additional funds for the lost items. Likewise they will also not file on a package that was not insured so you can't work your way around it either. Tried that route too.

I am thinking that we need a way to VERIFY the age of a member wishing to host that would not be subject to public display or out on the net for everyone to see. I figure anyone holding an ebay account or a paypal account could be a verifiable member of the board. Like I deposit 1 cent into the verified paypal account and the host sends it back giving verification of the member of something.......Ideas in this field would be great........

Also, given some of the other issues. I am thinking of making a little application to set onto the AGTD website that members could fill out and send to the owners searching for hosts. What do you think?

That information would only be given to myself or to the owners so there could be two contact points for the owners and collectors. Kind of a neutral party of sorts. I think given that we are having some cotact issues this might make things a bit easier to work through.

Any ideas in this arena would be great...

[Em10254]

I agree about the insurance, and no hard feelings, but I'm under 18 and I started the program. Just wanted to say that I feel TERRIBLE about the Emmy situation. I've been so busy lately and only read the boards now, but I feel so bad and hope you do find her.

[swazini]

I would recommend over-estimating your insurance claim even and request more than you might need. Also...DON'T let your husband mail it for you! Mine didn't request near enough insurance for missing Emmy! [img]eek.gif[/img]

Liz, the age thing must be a rule with the PO. I guess my only recommendation on this subject is to have the person who is under 18 have their parent mail the package in their own name to prevent any future problems.

[annkirstin]

I think people under 18 like Liz can be good and responsible hosts and should be allowed to do it. However, I believe that you should enter into an agreement with the parents/guardians to have them purchase the insurance so that you could actually collect on it should a package get lost. I think it has been said here before (in Jeanette's sticky, perhaps?) that the doll's "mom" needs to get permission from an under-18 host's parent or guardian in the first place anyway, before OK'ing the host's participation. It would be easy to get an agreement about insurance purchasing at the same time, I think.

[Sail-Away]

OK so then the question that remains is HOW do you find out that another member is under age IF like my daughter they are not suppose to release that information if they are a minor?

What is the most efficient and most curtious way to figure that out and not release that to the general board membership?

LIke if they aren't verified they need to have thier parents contact the owner or what? I know there are plenty of good under age hosts here......but how do we keep them AND the owners safe and protected when it comes tho their dolls and their privacy?

Or what is an Owner does not wat it regularly known on the board for where he or she lives? How can we regulate that without being or feeling forced to release that?

Should owners set up a systems for their own dolls to be hosted or should we have a more general way of doing this? What do you think? Should I make a reference page that has the names of membership who have hosted a doll before?

Guess I am just trying to make this a good thing for everyone and not make anyone singled out here...... [img]graemlins/wonder.gif[/img]

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ August 12, 2004 01:33 AM: Message edited by: Sail-Away ]</font>

[annkirstin]

Usually what happens is someone posts a thread offering their doll for a trip. People usually sign up in that thread or send the doll's "mom" a private message. Once the doll's mom knows who's interested, she can ask privately, via email or PM, if potential hostesses whose ages are in doubt if they are under 18 or not. Then if they say yes, she will need to communicate directly with the parent/guardian to get an agreement. (Like the doll's mom will say to the host, "Please have your mom or dad send me an email about this.") Since this is all done privately, the information is not released on the board at all. If someone under 18 wants to host a doll but it not allowed to say she's a minor, then she has to know upfront that she will not be able to host a doll so she should not even sign up for one.

The same goes for where a person lives. Every person who is involved obviously has to give her address to the doll's mom, and the doll's mom has to give that same information to whoever has the doll before that particular host, so the doll can be sent on. So everyone who participates knows upfront that if they aren't comfortable with giving that information out to anyone, they cannot participate. All of this information sharing is done privately, so again, no information is shared on the board.

<font color="#051E50" size="1">[ August 12, 2004 12:00 PM: Message edited by: Ann, Samantha fan ]</font>