Okay, here is what happened:

We import UV-Gels for nail cosmetics from Canada. The last order was shipped by express post, which came to our door via Swiss Express Post.

Wenn I went to the front door the postman was quite nice, quite professional, except as I paid the customs fees I noticed one thing: The two boxes, both bearing big orange stickers with "this way up", were not THAT WAY UP. Instead, they were on their sides.

Why would a postman do that? My calculation is quite easy: In Switzerland most of the box labeling/postage/invoicing is stuck to the TOP of the box. From Canada, the invoice and stuff is stuck to the SIDE of the box. So the Swiss Postie, in all his genius, defaults to the Swiss "label is UP" routine.

When I opened the box, you guessed it....about 25% of the containers were oozing gel, which hardens under UV light.

Now my question is, what can I do? Claim against the manufacturer? The postal company in Canada? Swiss Post? Can I even claim at all?

I'd start with the manufacturer. Send photos of the mess via e-mail if you can. I once had a similar situation for a delivery of icing cans, which "exploded" during shipment - and was refunded the cost of the wares (not the shipping costs) without any problem or further discussion. I would have thought that they are responsible for packaging correctly - even if it does mean that they have to stick stickers all over the box.

I don't think there will be much argument, because it was only the canisters with the new range (coloured gels) that were leaking. The others were perfectly ok. My thought is there is something in the new gels that attack the adhesive on the seal membrane.

I also wondered if the shipment was insured? In any case, I wouldn't mention that you saw the parcels standing on their sides. Good luck.

Okay, spoke with the supplier and they knew the problem even before I told them. Apparently the new batch of containers were defective, so they will be replacing them free.