Almost every day businesses such as yours and ours receive and ship numerous things. There is a checklist of sorts involved when shipping and receiving merchandise to make sure it arrives in one piece and undamaged. With the equipment that we all ship comes certain protection procedures, to secure products and/or supplies so that they do not get damaged during travel. Making sure we do all that we can to see that the equipment reaches its destination safely, will protects us and the shippers/receivers from assuming the liability for damage that may occur.
There are a few basic ground rules that apply when shipping equipment back to INFONETICS for repair, such as keeping the original packing materials (boxes). Keeping original boxes for terminals, printers, modems, systems, and any other new equipment is beneficial for all parties involved. The original boxes are very key in returning a product to the manufacturer and helpful in getting information about products. The packing material also plays a vital part in the safety of merchandise.
Printers, terminals and computers should always be packed correctly in their original boxes with the included Styrofoam end caps to secure the equipment in the box. Printheads should be fastened with the plastic retainer properly placed under the access cover to keep it from sliding during shipment. UPS and FED/EX are both difficult when declaring a claim for damage in shipping if the original box is not used. In fact, our policy is to not return ship a non-standard box without express written/faxed permission from you the customer. We’ll loan you one of our boxes (and charge you if not returned to us in usable condition) when returning equipment that arrived here in incorrect packaging.
When shipping smaller parts, pack them securely with bubble wrap (everyone’s favorite packing toy) so that during shipping, the part does not bounce around inside the box. We strongly discourage the use of packing peanuts as they tend to find their way inside any uncovered opening in the equipment, making for hours of extra work removing them later.
In addition, if the value of the equipment is more than $100, pay for the additional insurance option! UPS and FED/EX will only pay $100 if they happen to “lose” your package, and there’s nothing we can do about it on our end if you haven’t insured it. Everything we ship goes out with insurance included, unless you specify otherwise.
Last, but certainly not least, when shipping a product for repair please include a small note with a description of the problem and contact person’s name inside so that we know what problem to look for and can follow up on the equipment’s problem(s) efficiently.
Until later, happy shipping!