by Charles Miller

With American Independence Day upon us, I am reminded of a story I read a half-century or more ago. A personality in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (I believe it was a radio disk jockey) was annoyed that the City of Brotherly Love was forever associated with an old bell that could not even be rung because there was a huge crack in it. A movement was born to urge repairing the crack in the Liberty Bell and somehow or another picketers appeared at the Whitechapel Foundry in London that had cast the bell in 1753 and was still in business. They jokingly carried signs picturing the broken bell and asking "What about the warranty?" The Whitechapel Foundry reacted with typical British aplomb saying they would be glad to recast the bell at no charge. "Please return it freight prepaid in its original shipping container."

This business of hanging onto the original box is something I often mention to clients who have purchased a new computer, tablet, printer, or other peripheral. I tell them if they have the room to store the box they should keep it along with the original purchase receipt for the duration of the warranty. Several times I have seen manufacturers use not having the original box as a dodge to weasel out of honoring a warranty. To put it succinctly, I tell folks, if they do not have the original purchase receipt and the original box then they probably do not have a warranty either.

In defense of manufacturers who do warranty the merchandise they sell, I can understand the motivations behind requiring the original packaging be used when returning a defective product. That packaging, the cardboard box along with the styrofoam packing, was carefully designed to see a computer, printer, or other product safely through the perils of transoceanic shipping from factories half-way around the world. When a customer endeavors to return a defective product, and does so by haphazardly packing it for shipping in a box not designed to protect it, then it is very possible the item could be further damaged in transit to the warranty station.

That is almost exactly what just happened to a client who decided to ship his expensive 27-inch iMac computer from the states to San Miguel. Unfortunately he entrusted the packaging of his computer to some inept shipper who did a completely inadequate job of correctly boxing up the computer. When it arrived in San Miguel the glass of the screen was smashed. Had the owner saved the original box the computer would have most likely survived its trip unbroken.

Fortunately, the story about the cracked Liberty Bell had a much happier ending. In 1976 when Queen Elizabeth II visited Philadelphia during the celebration of the American revolution bicentennial she gifted the city a six-ton replica of the Liberty Bell, again produced by Whitechapel Foundry. This new "Independence Bell" has not broken yet, but if it ever does, I hope someone will have remembered to keep the box.

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Charles Miller is a freelance computer consultant with decades of IT experience and a Texan with a lifetime love for Mexico. The opinions expressed are his own. He may be contacted at 415-101-8528 or email FAQ8 (at) SMAguru.com.

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