Item sent for repair damaged in transit

ryantcb

Hi
My iMac is having a faulty hard drive repaired under warranty by apple. The courier collected the iMac which I boxed up and today I Get a call from the repairer saying the computer is damaged with a dent in the metal casing and smashed glass. They claim this is down to the poor packaging of the computer. Am I liable for the repairs that they are now trying to charge me of £280 or is it the liability of the courier after all a computer doesn't just get a dent and smashed glass Something had to Of struck it so who is liable courier or me?

arcon5

Laptops will damage very easily in transit. A large box and sone polystyrene is usually packaging of choice for such.

Who paid for the collection?
Who packaged the parcel and was any guidelines form packaging provided?
What are the terms of the warranty?

Nilrem

The big questions are:
1: How did you package it.
2: Who arranged the courier (you or the company)
3: Where the courier aware of what it was?

1: Is important because there are usually fairly strict requirements for packaging stuff to protect it, depending on the courier.

2: Is important because it determines who has to chase the courier, and potentially who is responsible for 3.

3: Is important because some couriers (well many of them) have exemptions for liability to damage to glass or screens unless specifically informed of it (due to the nature of glass/screens it's a much higher risk of being damaged in transit).


In theory you should, from memory package anything fragile in such a way that you can't easily damage it, often involving such things as the original packaging it arrived in, and often for good measure extra bubblewrap, as parcels can/do get stuff piled on top of them or falling on them in the van.

ILW

Was it sent in its original packaging?

ryantcb

arcon5 wrote: »

Laptops will damage very easily in transit. A large box and sone polystyrene is usually packaging of choice for such.

Who paid for the collection?
Who packaged the parcel and was any guidelines form packaging provided?
What are the terms of the warranty?

It isn't laptop it's iMac desktop.
It was packaged in original box except for a the top polystyrene. The lower level polystyrene was there.

Collection was covered by Apple.

I packaged the parcel and no guidelines were given as to how. I had emailed the company the day before arranged collection stating I was unavailable for collection on the day and to rearrange. They replied with a new date for collection. The next morning (morning of the original yet now cancelled day of collection) my door goes and it's the courier. I was not expecting anyone as it been cancelled so I had to quickly pack it away and in my haste left out just the top piece of polystyrene.

The item is out of warranty technically but because hard drive is faulty apple doing a recall

ryantcb

They arranged courier and courier new what the item was as it hada picture of the computer all over the box (original box)

Jinks

Items sent by courier have to be sufficiently packed as to avoid damage in normal transit conditions (such as being hauled around, stacked on and jiggled around in the back of vans). As someone who has been into a few iMac boxes, I think the fact that you missed the top polystyrene section is unfortunately the significant issue here, because that is what holds the iMac in place and prevents it moving as well as keeping the glass screen away from the sides of the box. Your iMac was probably wobbling around and banging against things as a result. I know it's late advice, but if this happens in the future you should not only use all available polystyrene but also fill any empty areas between the iMac and the sides of the box with some sort of packaging as well (even if it's just screwed up newspapers). It needs to have a layer of protection between the box and screen and not be able to move around in any way if the box is shaken.

There is one possible route you could go down - you said the courier arrived unexpectedly after a cancellation and you were in a hurry. Did the courier who arrived act impatiently or refuse to wait while you packed the item thoroughly? Because he arrived unexpectedly after you were told it was cancelled, that is an error on their part and he should have either waited until the item was packed sufficiently or returned at another time. If he refused to do this, you could try presenting this to Apple or the courier directly as evidence that the courier was lax in their service. This may or may not lead anywhere as it may be a matter of your word against the courier's, but possibly worth a try in case they are willing to cover some of the cost.

ryantcb

I'm asking for photos of damage. Sure ok it may rattle in the box may even break the glass but dent the metal casing?? That's not possible and if the damage is on a part where it wouldn't have mattered if it had to polystyrene top or not ( say centre) then it's negligence. I hope :-)

Jinks

You do have a point, anything serious enough to cause a dent in the alumimium casing must have been a serious whack. Hopefully Apple will realise that.

Good luck with it!

lovinituk

ryantcb wrote: »

It isn't laptop it's iMac desktop.
It was packaged in original box except for a the top polystyrene. The lower level polystyrene was there.

So you didn't pad out all the blank space? Big mistake if you thought that would survive the journey with out the top polystyrene. Entirely your fault for inadequate packing so you are liable.

mattyprice4004

Hang on, did you just leave the top half flopping about in the box?!