RS Components UK issue... Transportation of Hazardous Materials?  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Ivan_s_Lab
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 16, 2020, 04:11:49 pm
content: Greetings, recently I had an odd issue with an order return to RS Components UK which developed into an interesting situation.Here is what happened. Last week I placed an order on RS and ordered 2 butane dusters and 2 1L bottles of IPA. Immediately after I paced the order however I realised that instead of 2 bottles of IPA I ordered 2 bottles of Acetone instead. The bottles on the RS website look identical and I do realise that this was my mistake. So I phoned up RS literally 2 minutes after I placed the order to cancel it (they don't offer a cancellation option on their website). So the support canceled my entire order including the butane dusters and told me to re-order the whole thing. Ok, good so far, I received a confirmation email that the previous order was canceled and proceeded to re-order the items.The next day... Both the canceled order and the newly made order arrive to my house and I am charged for both...So I phoned up RS support again to ask what is going on and they told me that somebody had re-initialised the canceled order in their warehouse. And what they offered as the only solution to the issue is to use their return procedure to return the wrongly delivered items.(And pay for the shipping myself considering that this is their fault in my opinion and also they confirmed via email that the previous order was canceled).I decided to keep the extra 2 butane dusters from the second order and to return only the Acetone. And here is where the major issue began. In the UK Acetone is considered a Hazardous Chemical UN1090; UN1950 and individuals are not allowed to ship it in any of the UK couriers. This was disclosed by FedEx for my reference. Only companies are allowed to use certain couriers to ship chemicals like these because they pay a certain type of Hazardous Materials insurance and know how to label the items correctly for transport. I have had some hazardous materials training in the past but I am still an individual and therefore not allowed.Here is the Royal Mail guideline on restricted items where Acetone is specifically noted:https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/royal-mail-prohibited-and-restricted-items-nov-23-2018---23410530_updated%20April%2019.pdfI tried Royal Mail, DHL, ParcelForce, UPS, TNT, DPD, Hermes, FedEx and they all declined, and like I mentioned above, FedEx explained the issue to me. I contacted the RS support once again multiple times and to be honest they did not offer any useful advice on the matter.I then realised that there was a RS depot close to my place and London and I decided to drive there and deliver the Acetone myself. I explained the issue to the worker there and he told me that they know about this issue but don't address it for some reason.Also on their website "chemicals" are not listed as a product that can not be returned:https://uk.rs-online.com/web/generalDisplay.html?id=support/cant-be-returnedSo what can be done in this case and has anyone encountered a similar situation like this? Basically it turns out if I didn't live close to the depot I would have been forced to keep the Acetone.

author: olkipukki
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2020, 04:25:18 pm
content: Quote from: Ivan_s_Lab on May 16, 2020, 04:11:49 pmIf I am expecting only this delivery from RS, I would reject it on delivery.If I am "accidentally" has accepted a package, I would ask a return shipping label and ship these back as is.Never good idea to keep a partial order, especially some complicated materials.

author: jogri
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 16, 2020, 05:21:42 pm
content: I guess you asked those companies if they would ship 2l of Acetone in one package and they all declined? That doesn't surprise me, the limited and excepted quantity to ship under the ADR treaty is 1l. If you want to ship something, you have to check this list first, the maximal amount that can be shipped in one package under the limited quantities exception is listed in column 7a (page 56 for Acetone, just search for the name of the chemical):https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/trans/danger/publi/adr/adr2011/English/Part3.pdfDPD is one of the more relaxed carriers when it comes to shipping hazardous goods, just ask them beforehand and mention that your package will fall under the limited quantities exception. Some compaines like DHL will not ship hazardous materials at all, just give them a call and ask about it (don't try to email them, i tried that once and got a response after 2-3 weeks from FedEx and DHL).

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2020, 05:57:02 am
content: Sending it back will cost you more than it's worth. I wouldn't bother, it's not like you ordered 200l by mistake.Quote from: Ivan_s_Lab on May 16, 2020, 04:11:49 pmBecause it can. All you need is a company and a license

author: tom66
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 17, 2020, 10:16:31 am
content: As @magic says I'd weigh up the cost ... chances are you'll need acetone at some point and the cost of sending it back will not be worthwhile.