Smashed up Diagon Alley Box

[Nepenthe7]

I ordered 2 of the LEGO Diagon Alley sets from toysrus.com and they got here today. The boxes are all smashed up and damaged! They don't have them in stock anymore either. They are going to be able to credit me back the money and give me the same price when/if they get them in again. Should I keep the messed up box? I want the set in a good box, but will they get more in stock?

Another thing - is the cardboard for this set cheap or what? The LEGO inside is relatively heavy and I noticed the Harry Potter sets don't have very durable boxes!! Is it just me?

[Alyvin]

Diagon Alley just came out this year so it shouldn't be discontinued yet. I'm not too sure about the cardboard as I don't have this set.

[dehnehsu]

Go to a Toys R Us nearby and exchange the set? Maybe you don't live near a Toys R Us? Perhaps you don't since you ordered it online!

[atmail35]

I also ordered Diagon Alley and it arrived slightly damaged (the box on one side was bulging and creased). I think it's b/c it is so heavy. The outer cardboard packing box was fine. I'm a stickler about boxes, but I've decided to "let it go" and not worry about it since it's not worth my time and energy to send it back or to try to exchange it.

How bad is yours? If it is important to you then send it back and get another one later.

[cbaker1974]

I too have had bad luck with some of the larger sets lately from toysrus.com. During the last B2G1 sale I ordered quite a few large items...I got 2 Tower Bridge and 1 Imperial Shuttle where the boxes (and their shipping boxes) were in horrible condition, smashed with broken seals. Also Emerald Night and MMV arrived in the same condition.

It looks like these were pretty poorly packed which was the cause, the shipping boxes are way too big and they pad with the air pillows, but they aren't enough and shift around. In the same timeframe I placed tons of orders from Amazon, WalMart, Target and everything is packed in an appropriate box without issues, so this is a little frustrating.

[sweener]

Wow it seems like everyone is ending up with damaged boxes from TRU. Last week I ordered the Red Cargo Train and Imperial Flagship during the BOGO50 and they both arrived damaged. Here is some pics of the Imperial Flagship I took to show TRU's guest service team. I contacted their guest service team via email and was refunded 10% off the Red Cargo Train because they were out of stock at the time plus I couldn't wait to start building it. When I received the Imperial Flagship the next day which was in much worse condition I told them I just wanted to return it. So they are going to ship me a return label and offered me a 10% discount off a future order.

I hope everyone takes the time to complain to TRU because I have a feeling this is going to continue to happen to the larger LEGO sets. I don't know who to blame more TRU's idiotic packing job or UPS for abusing the package. It only takes a few minutes to email TRU and express your dissatisfaction over the damaged box plus you'll be offered to have a a new one shipped to you if the set is currently in stock or to keep the damaged set and get a 10% refund. I would just make it clear what your preference is when you email them.

[drtabo]

I also received a banged up Red Cargo Train, I'll take your advice and ship them over a nasty-gram.

Thanks..

[Nepenthe7]

I wanted to wait until every was resolved to post:
So I actually contacted LEGO once toysrus.com told me they didn't have any more in stock. (The brick and mortar ToysRUs is about 25 min away and I've never seen it in stock there anyway. To this point I have not received an e-mail that it is back in stock at toysrus.com) I returned both sets to LEGO shop at home (I paid shipping costs) and they sent me back 2 new sets by fedex (one box is near perfect, the other is slightly creased, fine by me). I contacted toysrus.com customer service and they credited my account for the shipping cost. Worked out for me!

[DarthMC]

I have had it both ways with respect to TRU. Sometimes the items fit nicely in the boxes and there is no damage and other times the set is completely squished. They sent me the small alien invasion set in a bubble mailer and it was completely flattened. The manager at my local TRU just shook his head when I returned it. I noticed that S@H sometimes has inserts that fit inside the larger boxes to keep them from squishing. The funniest was when the UPS guy just snuck up to the door and dropped off the severely damaged box and did not do the normal doorbell ring. The set was perfect inside however (don't know how that happened)

OK so my first post on the forum is a total rant.

DarthMC

[tformsopti8]

I'm not sure what is wrong with TRU's shipping process but this almost always happens with the larger sets. However, the other companies seem to ship the items just fine.