MAIL-IN REPAIR
How a card gets to us, and back.
Most cards reach us by post. Here is how that works end to end: what it costs, what the cover means, and how we look after your card from the moment it arrives.
- Carrier cover from £75 to £2,500
- Photographed the moment it arrives
- Free return on a successful repair
- Every arrival on CCTV
Three ways to get it to us
By post, with a label from us
Pick a Royal Mail service when you book and we generate the label for you. It arrives by email, ready to print.
By post, with your own carrier
Send it with any carrier you trust and add the tracking to your booking. Your contract is with your carrier, and our care of the card begins the moment it arrives.
In person, in Milton Keynes
Drop it off by appointment instead. We agree a day and time that suits you when you book, and confirm the address once the appointment is set.
Services and cover
Every option shows its cover in pounds, here and again when you book.
Royal Mail Tracked 48
Our default- COST
- Around £8
- SPEED
- 2 to 3 working days
- COVER
- £75 included
Royal Mail Tracked 24
- COST
- Around £10
- SPEED
- Next working day
- COVER
- £75 included
Royal Mail Special Delivery 1pm
Recommended over £700- COST
- Around £20
- SPEED
- Next day by 1pm, signed for
- COVER
- £750, extendable to £2,500
Your own carrier
- COST
- Free to us
- SPEED
- Your carrier, your timing
- COVER
- Your carrier’s cover
Local drop-off, Milton Keynes
- COST
- Free
- SPEED
- By appointment
- COVER
- Handed over in person
For a card worth roughly £700 or more, we recommend Special Delivery for its higher cover. We flag this at booking, and the choice stays yours.
Return shipping on a successful repair is free by Tracked 48 whichever way you send it, and you can choose a higher service for the way back at the payment stage.
Costs are a guide. The exact price is confirmed when you book.
What the cover means
Royal Mail does not compensate for internal damage to electronics on any of its services, Special Delivery included, and that is standard across couriers. It is why packing matters.
In practice, most damage a card could pick up in transit is the kind of fault we repair every day, and we put it right as part of the booked repair at no extra charge.
The full shipping terms are set out in our Policies & Terms.
Packing it safely
Packing takes about five minutes and nothing specialist. The full guide is shown when you book.
Slide the card into an antistatic sleeve if you have one, ideally the bag it came in.
Wrap every side in bubble wrap, with extra around the metal bracket and the heavy end of the cooler.
Use a rigid cardboard box with at least 5cm of padding on every side. The box the card came in is ideal if you still have it.
Fill every gap until nothing moves when the box is shaken gently.
Seal it well and write FRAGILE, HANDLE WITH CARE in capitals above the address, because Royal Mail needs the marking to honour a damage claim.
Any box up to 61 by 46 by 46 centimetres and 20 kilograms travels fine.
The moment it reaches us
Before a single tool touches the card, we photograph it and its packaging from several angles, timestamped to the repair record. You get a clear record of the condition it arrived in, and so do we.
Our delivery preference with Royal Mail is a handover rather than a doorstep drop, and two HD cameras cover the door and the parcel area, so every arrival is on record.
Getting it back
On a successful repair, the return is on us by Royal Mail Tracked 48. If you would like a faster service or more cover, you can upgrade at the payment stage by paying the difference.
A repaired card is worth more than the one you posted, so we show the return options and their cover once more at payment.
If we can't fix it
If the repair is not successful, you pay nothing for our work. You can have your card returned at your expense, or donate it to us as unrepairable.
If you dropped the card off in person, collection is free whenever suits, or we can post it back at cost.
Common questions
Where do you accept cards from?
Anywhere in the UK by post. If you are local to Milton Keynes, you can drop it off by appointment.
Is my card covered while it is in the post?
Yes, up to the cover of the service you choose, from £75 on Tracked services to £2,500 on extended Special Delivery. The figure is shown in pounds next to every option when you book.
What if it is damaged in transit?
Royal Mail does not compensate for internal damage to electronics, which is standard across couriers. In practice most transit damage is repairable, and we put it right as part of the booked repair at no extra charge.
How long is my shipping label valid?
Tracked labels should be posted within 5 working days and Special Delivery within 1 working day. If a label expires before you post, we re-issue it free.
Who pays to send it back?
We do, on any successful repair, by Royal Mail Tracked 48, with the option to upgrade the return service at the payment stage. If we cannot repair the card, the return is at your expense, or you can donate the card to us instead.
You pay only after a successful repair, and every repair goes home with free return shipping and a 90-day warranty.