There is a 30 day window within which a claim can be filed with the carrier on your behalf, IF the total of the WOOD in your order is substantially damaged. You MUST follow the guidelines and steps below.
Guidelines & Background: If yours is one of the infrequent cases where in-transit damage has occurred, it is usually during fork-lift transfer from one truck to another at the freight company's terminal(s) on the way to the final destination. When you sign for your delivery and before you leave the pick-up terminal or the delivery driver leaves your delivery address: Make sure that you have inspected for any major damage to the wood and, if there is, it must be noted on the driver's / delivery person's page(s) of the delivery paperwork, and you retain a copy of that. The driver / delivery person is required to file that back at the terminal office. Without notes on his / her paperwork, the freight company can deny any knowledge of and liability for damage, and a claim cannot be made on your behalf regardless of whether there is significant damage. We cannot emphasize strongly enough that you must keep a copy of any notes made on the driver's page of delivery paperwork. Freight companies will not accept anything made after the time of delivery - e.g. notes made after the fact on the "customer copy" or customers' photos made after the time of delivery. Your copy of notes on the driver's / terminal operator's page could ultimately be the only way of verifying to the freight company that there was any damage. As you read the following numbered steps, bear in mind that in past rare instances of in-transit damage to an order we very quickly did the right thing by our customers by sending replacement product totally at our own expense both for product and shipping, only to find that the customer had not documented in-transit damage sufficiently - or at all, leaving us unable to recover any cost against the freight company. Simply put, we were too trusting.
SO...
Follow all these steps:
1. Check the condition of your delivery on arrival and before the driver leaves, or before you load the order if you are picking up at the carrier's terminal. Compare it with the pre-dispatch photos(s) we have already emailed you of your order.
2. Don't panic and DON'T REJECT damaged cartons or bundles: Scuffs, damage to and tears in the packaging are NOT considered substantial damage to the wood. Is the WOOD damaged? Is the damage significant? Be realistic about this: Even if there appears to be damage to the ends or sides of a couple of boards, this is unlikely to have affected all the contents of a specific carton.
3. Make a common-sense judgement as to whether the amount of damage is likely to affect completion of your project - our recommendation to purchase sufficient for 10% waste includes not only culling for appearance, off-cuts, lay-out, etc., but also for culling for minor damage to a few boards, whether in-transit or by contractor during installation.
4. If the damage is sufficient to prevent completion of your project, then obviously we will assist you as best we can, provided the steps outlined here have been taken.
5. DOCUMENT IT: Whomever takes receipt of and signs for the delivery must make notes of any SIGNIFICANT in-transit shipping damage directly on the Freight Company's delivery paperwork and keep the customer copy with those notes. If no copy is provided to you by the freight company, make notes on the delivery driver's paperwork and make a copy of the relevant page/s - e.g. run a photocopy or take photos of the relevant page with your smart phone.
6. Set any un-useable boards aside, and tally and photograph these. The carrier's claims adjustor has the right to inspect these boards.
7. If you/ your contractor chooses to trim and use damaged boards, these are EXCLUDED from the tally of damaged boards ("you nail it, you own it").
8. If the amount of damage at time of delivery is significant enough to prevent completion of your project and a claim needs to be made with the shipping company on your behalf, you will need to forward all that documentation to us. We cannot process any claim on your behalf regarding damage to delivered goods without that proof of documentation.
9. NOTE IN PARTICULAR, store credit requested by you as a result of in-transit damage will NOT be provided without proof of documentation noted on the Freight Company's delivery paperwork, and documented and photographed tally of un-useable boards in sufficient quantities to prevent completion of your project.
10. DO contact us to let us know. Provided that the notations have been made on the delivery paperwork and damaged boards documented at the time of delivery, a claim on your behalf can be processed if ALL the contents of a carton are damaged or if the damage is substantial enough to compromise completion of your project.
11. NO replacement product or "store credit" at our expense will be provided for damage that occurs during installation, and will also not be provided after installation of a floor has been completed. (Believe it or not, for example, we actually had a customer come to us 21 months after completing their flooring installation wanting a replacement carton of flooring for so-called damage that they contended had occurred in transit but for which they had never provided documentation - and their contractor had installed the purportedly damaged flooring. Astonishing, isn't it?)
Guidelines & Background: If yours is one of the infrequent cases where in-transit damage has occurred, it is usually during fork-lift transfer from one truck to another at the freight company's terminal(s) on the way to the final destination. When you sign for your delivery and before you leave the pick-up terminal or the delivery driver leaves your delivery address: Make sure that you have inspected for any major damage to the wood and, if there is, it must be noted on the driver's / delivery person's page(s) of the delivery paperwork, and you retain a copy of that. The driver / delivery person is required to file that back at the terminal office. Without notes on his / her paperwork, the freight company can deny any knowledge of and liability for damage, and a claim cannot be made on your behalf regardless of whether there is significant damage. We cannot emphasize strongly enough that you must keep a copy of any notes made on the driver's page of delivery paperwork. Freight companies will not accept anything made after the time of delivery - e.g. notes made after the fact on the "customer copy" or customers' photos made after the time of delivery. Your copy of notes on the driver's / terminal operator's page could ultimately be the only way of verifying to the freight company that there was any damage. As you read the following numbered steps, bear in mind that in past rare instances of in-transit damage to an order we very quickly did the right thing by our customers by sending replacement product totally at our own expense both for product and shipping, only to find that the customer had not documented in-transit damage sufficiently - or at all, leaving us unable to recover any cost against the freight company. Simply put, we were too trusting.
SO...
Follow all these steps:
1. Check the condition of your delivery on arrival and before the driver leaves, or before you load the order if you are picking up at the carrier's terminal. Compare it with the pre-dispatch photos(s) we have already emailed you of your order.
2. Don't panic and DON'T REJECT damaged cartons or bundles: Scuffs, damage to and tears in the packaging are NOT considered substantial damage to the wood. Is the WOOD damaged? Is the damage significant? Be realistic about this: Even if there appears to be damage to the ends or sides of a couple of boards, this is unlikely to have affected all the contents of a specific carton.
3. Make a common-sense judgement as to whether the amount of damage is likely to affect completion of your project - our recommendation to purchase sufficient for 10% waste includes not only culling for appearance, off-cuts, lay-out, etc., but also for culling for minor damage to a few boards, whether in-transit or by contractor during installation.
4. If the damage is sufficient to prevent completion of your project, then obviously we will assist you as best we can, provided the steps outlined here have been taken.
5. DOCUMENT IT: Whomever takes receipt of and signs for the delivery must make notes of any SIGNIFICANT in-transit shipping damage directly on the Freight Company's delivery paperwork and keep the customer copy with those notes. If no copy is provided to you by the freight company, make notes on the delivery driver's paperwork and make a copy of the relevant page/s - e.g. run a photocopy or take photos of the relevant page with your smart phone.
6. Set any un-useable boards aside, and tally and photograph these. The carrier's claims adjustor has the right to inspect these boards.
7. If you/ your contractor chooses to trim and use damaged boards, these are EXCLUDED from the tally of damaged boards ("you nail it, you own it").
8. If the amount of damage at time of delivery is significant enough to prevent completion of your project and a claim needs to be made with the shipping company on your behalf, you will need to forward all that documentation to us. We cannot process any claim on your behalf regarding damage to delivered goods without that proof of documentation.
9. NOTE IN PARTICULAR, store credit requested by you as a result of in-transit damage will NOT be provided without proof of documentation noted on the Freight Company's delivery paperwork, and documented and photographed tally of un-useable boards in sufficient quantities to prevent completion of your project.
10. DO contact us to let us know. Provided that the notations have been made on the delivery paperwork and damaged boards documented at the time of delivery, a claim on your behalf can be processed if ALL the contents of a carton are damaged or if the damage is substantial enough to compromise completion of your project.
11. NO replacement product or "store credit" at our expense will be provided for damage that occurs during installation, and will also not be provided after installation of a floor has been completed. (Believe it or not, for example, we actually had a customer come to us 21 months after completing their flooring installation wanting a replacement carton of flooring for so-called damage that they contended had occurred in transit but for which they had never provided documentation - and their contractor had installed the purportedly damaged flooring. Astonishing, isn't it?)