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So STW, wrangle me out of this issue...
I bought a replacement battery for my laptop online, it was delivered and worked briefly before failing.
I have contacted the seller and they sent me an email with a pre-paid postage return label to send it back (via Royal Mail), they advised that the label would expire after 24 hours, and I only received the email 13 hours after they sent it so by that point there was no chance of me getting it packed and time off work to get to the post office in time.
I requested another label, they refused and said I need to post it back myself and they will then refund me, OK, not ideal but I am willing to do it. Now here is the issue; Li-ion batteries are prohibited items with Royal Mail (and all other couriers I've checked), so how on earth am I supposed to send this back legally?
Of course there is the option of lying when they ask what's in the package, but I don't much fancy my chances with that one if I get caught out...
You can post batteries with RM, just tell them you are, they stick a label on it and it works like any other parcel - no issues 🙂
They're allowed but with restrictions
Also I'd use the supplied postage label and let post office counter staff decide if it really expired after 24hrs (odds on it won't, though the download link may)
Try Collectplus or UPS instead.
That's in direct contradiction to their policy online:
So are you speaking from a POV of "it's definitely fine" or "I've done it before and gotten away with it" ?
If it's definitely fine then that'd be great but everything online is telling me it's not... :-s
They’re allowed but with restrictions
The restrictions bit on RM seems to be that they have to be in or with the device they power, but can't be sent alone.
I've also found some info that says they definitely can't be sent if they are known to be faulty, which this one is.
Ive walked into a post office told them I have batteries in the parcel and they have said fine, stuck a sticker on and posted it - no issues
What they don't want is people posting them without informing them. This was about 8 months ago, i don't think its changed since.
It's definitely fine for lithium ion. It is definitely NOT fine for lithium batteries.
The document in that link is the guidance from (or at least adhered to by) royal mail.
Post it with UPS, then it will definitely work, even if there is a power cut.
I've booked it with Collect Plus now as that's what the seller advised.
Just seemed like a very awkward situation intially!
The IATA regulatory deal with lithium ion is they now have to be discharged to below 30% of their rated capacity before shipping, and made safe from short circuit. As far as I am aware there are no further particular restrictions on the parcel itself. If they're separate cells and marked up as such they don't go on passenger aircraft, only on cargo flights. The Royal Fail refusing to accept separate cells is most likely just them being a dick (nothing unusual). They absolutely could ship them (no restriction on road transit), and they absolutely could ship them by air (although it has to be individually packed) but what I guess they do is shove your parcel in a crate with a load of others and that isn't allowed by air any more.
Regardless, your seller gave you a label for a service which explicitly doesn't accept faulty batteries. I would tell them that the original label was therefore useless and you are expecting a label for another service. You could mention reporting them to citizens advice or something and see if that prompts a more expedient reply. Risks irritating them, though.
Post it with UPS, then it will definitely work, even if there is a power cut.
LOLZ