What If I Find Concealed Shipping Damage After Signing the Delivery Receipt?

If you signed the delivery receipt and then found damage inside the crate, report it right away. The published freight damage window is 48 hours from receipt of your shipment, and it covers concealed damage discovered during a visual and operational inspection as well as obvious crate damage. Open a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or call (800) 480-6850 with photos, a copy of your invoice and your signed bill of lading, and save every piece of packaging. What Is the Freight Damage 48-Hour Window on a Walk-In Tub Delivery? defines the window itself; this page covers the specific situation of damage found after the driver has already left.

What Your Signature on the Delivery Receipt Means

The delivery receipt is the bill of lading, the freight document the driver presents at the curb. It records what the carrier handed over and the condition it was in. Signing it without a note tells the carrier that the shipment arrived in good condition, and the published guidance is direct about the consequence: damage that is not recorded on the delivery documents cannot be claimed properly. That is why the strongest position is always a note on the receipt, signed by the driver, before the truck leaves, and why the phrase 'subject to further inspection' next to your signature exists for the many deliveries where a crated tub cannot be fully inspected on the spot. What Is a Bill of Lading (BOL) on a Walk-In Tub Delivery? explains the document in full.

A clean signature does not close the 48-hour window, however. The window is counted from receipt of the shipment, not from what was written at the curb, and it exists precisely because concealed damage is found after the crate is opened. What changes is the evidence. With a clean receipt, the claim rests on the photos you take as you unpack, the timing of your report and the condition of the packaging, so those three things deserve the same care you would have given the note on the receipt.

What to Do in the Hours After the Truck Leaves

1. Photograph the crate from every side before you open it further, including any scuffs or scrapes. Light marks on the container are normal, since the container is designed to absorb damage and protect the tub, but they are still part of the record.
2. Open the packaging carefully and save all of it: the crate or box, the plywood, the plastic wrap and the bubble wrap. Keep it until the installation is complete, because returns are only accepted in original packaging and a claim may need the crate examined.
3. Do a visual inspection of every surface and every connection. Check the shell, the door, the frame and the plumbing and air connections beneath and behind the tub.
4. Do an operational inspection as well. Whenever possible, fill the tub before installation and run the systems to confirm everything works. Damage that only shows up under water or under power is still concealed damage, and it is far easier to resolve while the tub is uninstalled than after it is set in place.
5. Account for the loose items before reporting anything missing. Drain handles, the headrest and hardware are individually wrapped and packed inside the tub or in an envelope on top of the wrap, and missing items fall inside the same 48-hour window.
6. Note the date and time the shipment was received, since the window is counted from that moment.

Filing the Claim After a Signed Receipt

Report the damage within 48 hours of receipt through a ticket at ellasbubbles.com/support or by calling (800) 480-6850. If a dealer or retailer holds your order, tell them as well. Have these ready:

• Photos of the damage, of the crate and of the packaging, taken before anything is moved or cleaned up.
• A copy of the invoice from your order confirmation.
• A copy of the signed bill of lading, including any note you did write on it.
• Your order number and a short description of what you found, including what the operational test showed.

In most cases a damaged part is replaced rather than the whole tub, so a damaged component does not automatically mean the tub goes back. Do not proceed with installation of a damaged unit while the claim is open. A problem reported inside the window on an uninstalled tub is the straightforward case, and one reported after the tub is set in place is not. My tub arrived damaged. What should I do in the first 48 hours? is the step-by-step companion to this page and includes the printable inspection checklist for the next delivery.

When the Tub Was Received Somewhere Other Than Your Home

The 48 hours run from receipt of the shipment wherever that happens. If the tub was delivered to your plumber's or installer's shop, the shop receives it, signs the bill of lading and does the inspection, so make sure whoever accepts it there knows to note damage before signing and to open the crate and check the tub within the window rather than leaving it sealed until installation day. Shipping Your Tub to Your Plumber or Installer Instead of Your Home covers what the team needs to set that up. If you collected the crate at the carrier's terminal, inspect it before signing the carrier's paperwork, note any damage there, keep all packaging and report visible or concealed damage within 48 hours of receipt, as described in Can My Walk-In Tub Ship to the Freight Terminal for Pickup Instead of My Home?.

Why Concealed Damage Is Uncommon, and Why It Still Gets Checked

Ella's Bubbles packs each tub to survive the freight network, and the two videos on this page show what that means. The shipping video shows the tub after assembly and testing being cleaned, the small items wrapped and boxed, the whole tub wrapped in plastic and then bubble wrapped, the invoice and bill of lading double-checked, and the tub boxed in a wooden crate or an extra strong reinforced cardboard container. It also walks through the delivery inspection and the option to reject a severely damaged crate. The packaging video, filmed by a dealer at the factory, shows the multi-piece corrugated box built from material between three-quarters of an inch and an inch thick, the skids wrapped in a layer of plywood to protect them from forklifts at the terminals, and the alternative half-inch plywood crate that is cut and assembled around the tub. That is why scuffs on the outside rarely mean damage on the inside. It is also why the published inspection covers all connections as well as all surfaces: a container built to absorb impact can hide what happened inside it, and only opening the crate, filling the tub and running the pumps tells you for certain.

Related Guides

• My order arrived damaged, how do I file a freight damage claim?
• What Are Shipping Size and Shipping Weight on a Walk-In Tub?
• How your walk-in tub ships and how to prepare for delivery day

Common Questions