Dented better bottle

Anyone ever had a better bottle get dented? I just had two show up at my door via UPS and the box looked like it had been dropped on a corner, and one of the BB's was dented on the bottom and side a bit. It's really not all that serious, it's not cracked or anything, and although it doesn't sit quite straight when empty, when I fill it with water the weight pushes it back close to normal shape, but it does have that "mangled" look to it. Currently I don't think it's really worth trying to go through a damage claims process with UPS, but we'll see.

Anyone ever had this happen, and manage to "fix" it a bit? I was thinking if I put hot water in it it might soften a little and when it cooled should retain its shape, but I know better bottles can melt pretty easily so I don't dare try anything hotter than tap water at present. In the mean time, I'm hoping that leaving it full of water for a while will cause it to gradually "learn" its normal shape again, but it's too soon to tell, so I figured I'd ask.

I melted one when I poured the last bit of wort into one. It warped. Didn't affect the effectiveness though.

Did you show the UPS guy when it arrived? I'd take a picture of the bottle & the box and send it to the place you bought it and ask them to take care of the issue. It could have been a packing issue as well. It will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Hair drier? Easier to control than water. Maybe rig up something to put 1-2 psi of CO2 in it as well.

EdWort said:

Did you show the UPS guy when it arrived? I'd take a picture of the bottle & the box and send it to the place you bought it and ask them to take care of the issue. It could have been a packing issue as well. It will be interesting to see how they handle it.

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I think I would do this too. I don't think just dropping it would do that. The shipper should be able to make a claim with UPS. No sense in you doing something to it that could f-it up worse and then not have them take it back.

Beerrific said:

I think I would do this too. I don't think just dropping it would do that. The shipper should be able to make a claim with UPS. No sense in you doing something to it that could f-it up worse and then not have them take it back.

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Yep, it's not his problem. It's the shipper's problem IMHO and a test to see what level of customer service they have. Doing anything to it will mess up the ability to return it.

The HBS should ship another one and send a return label with it. They would end up with a happy customer.

EdWort said:

Yep, it's not his problem. It's the shipper's problem IMHO and a test to see what level of customer service they have. Doing anything to it will mess up the ability to return it.

The HBS should ship another one and send a return label with it. They would end up with a happy customer.

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UPS insures all shipments up to $100 so it would cost them nothing. There is no reason not to return it or them to accept the return.

We'll see. The UPS guy didn't show his face, he just left it at the door even though people were here to sign for it, I am guessing it might have had to do with the damage.

The place I ordered from is a very small establishment and even getting my order in the first place was a pretty slow and confusing process so I'm not sure how easy it would be to go through them to deal with this situation.

If I had to go to the trouble of shipping the thing back as part of the damage claims process, I think I would consider it not worth it, given the amount of time it would take me to do so (the nearest UPS depot is not close enough to make it very convenient, and I'm always at work during their business hours)

evandude said:

We'll see. The UPS guy didn't show his face, he just left it at the door even though people were here to sign for it, I am guessing it might have had to do with the damage.

The place I ordered from is a very small establishment and even getting my order in the first place was a pretty slow and confusing process so I'm not sure how easy it would be to go through them to deal with this situation.

If I had to go to the trouble of shipping the thing back as part of the damage claims process, I think I would consider it not worth it, given the amount of time it would take me to do so (the nearest UPS depot is not close enough to make it very convenient, and I'm always at work during their business hours)

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If they are good at what they do they should send one out as soon as UPS recieves the return package. And UPS should be able to do a home pickup.

But, whatever...it is your call.

Hrm, well, after letting it sit for a few hours with hot tap water in it, I just drained it, and it looks pretty good. Not quite as good as new, but probably 90-95%, so good enough. You can see the areas where it's slightly dented but overall it's back to its intended shape - it looks good enough that I couldn't (in good conscience) bother UPS and that HBS with the hassle of replacing it now.

Ah well, I'm satisfied enough, especially since I got the carboys at a very good price anyway.

I assume we are talking plastic pet bottle's. In any event let me put you in the know about plastic bottles. Ever wonder why coke a cola or other soft drinks have a use by date.
One of the reasons is that the inside of the bottle is coated with a protected film.
Age , damage , and or dents, allow harmfull plastic chemicals to contaminate your beverage. Dents damage the protective film. I wouldn't advise anyone to use bottles that were damaged. eg.. notice when you bend plastic, the white that forms around the crease. That is a broken film that covers the outer layer of plastic.

Jezza said:

I assume we are talking plastic pet bottle's. In any event let me put you in the know about plastic bottles. Ever wonder why coke a cola or other soft drinks have a use by date.
One of the reasons is that the inside of the bottle is coated with a protected film.
Age , damage , and or dents, allow harmfull plastic chemicals to contaminate your beverage. Dents damage the protective film. I wouldn't advise anyone to use bottles that were damaged. eg.. notice when you bend plastic, the white that forms around the crease. That is a broken film that covers the outer layer of plastic.

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I don't think that is the case with BetterBottles. I could be wrong but I think you are fine.

Now, quick, put some beer/wine/cider in there quick before it explodes.

Jezza said:

I assume we are talking plastic pet bottle's. In any event let me put you in the know about plastic bottles. Ever wonder why coke a cola or other soft drinks have a use by date.
One of the reasons is that the inside of the bottle is coated with a protected film.
Age , damage , and or dents, allow harmfull plastic chemicals to contaminate your beverage. Dents damage the protective film. I wouldn't advise anyone to use bottles that were damaged. eg.. notice when you bend plastic, the white that forms around the crease. That is a broken film that covers the outer layer of plastic.

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They put expiration dates on practically any food product, whether it's in plastic, glass, or something else, so I am not inclined to believe that an expiration date alone is proof of what you claim about plastic.

And the white around creases? That is what most plastic does when you bend it, whether it's meant for drink containers, or any of the other million common household items made with plastic, even those that have nothing to do with food products and thus should have no reason to have some kind of coating, so I am also not inclined to buy this as proof of some kind of coating.

I am not inclined to paranoia, which is what your post sounds like, especially since you don't provide any references to back you up.

Beerrific said:

I don't think that is the case with BetterBottles. I could be wrong but I think you are fine.

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I agree... and besides, out of all the things in this world which might be out to kill me, plastic bottles are the least of my worries.

Beerrific said:

Now, quick, put some beer/wine/cider in there quick before it explodes.

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No worries there... There's currently 20 gallons of beer fermenting in my apartment... It's kind of scary, I had one better bottle and now I have three, and already 2 of them are filled and I'll probably be filling the other one before long, bumping it up to 25 gallons, not even counting the two partially-full kegs in the kegerator... I had to catch myself the other night and come back down to earth when I realized after just buying two more fermenters I already wanted more - when I don't even have enough kegs/bottles to handle what's currently fermenting

Checked out the better bottle site that Beerrific posted. Didn't mean to sound frightening, after all I use plastic PET bottles. You may find it interesting though to check out what they say. Go to tech support, Purity, then click on urban myths.
They go to some extreme to assure that PET plastic is safer than other plastics.
Well , they do gotta sell their product after all.