"We learned that if we ask a customer to send back a failed battery we can be liable for any problems. Not only can the shipper be in deep trouble, but the business that had them ship is also liable.
Lots of red flags. Some of the terms that are used in violations are "cause to ship," and "acting as an agent to ship." Cause to ship would apply when a client says they want to return a battery because there is something wrong. The seller's warranty allows the client to return the battery for replacement (cause to ship). The buyer ships the battery without the proper labels, correct packaging, and no Hazmat training. The battery is noticed by a driver/carrier, or it causes a problem by catching fire and is reported to authorities. The shipper (one returning the battery upon the authorization of the seller) can be fined $75,000 and up. The one who "caused to ship" can be fined $75,000 (and up, civil fines are a starting point) and if it is decided that it was a "willful act" on the part of the one who caused to ship then such person can be prosecuted criminally. If the battery cause as fire, loss of property, loss of life all that would be taken into account to file criminal charges. In the North American legal justice system and in US Occupational Safety and Health regulations, willful violation (also called 'willful non-compliance') is an "act done voluntarily with either an intentional disregard of or plain indifference to," the requirements of Acts, regulations, statutes or relevant workplace.
The only way a buyer can return a battery is if they use a Hazmat/Dangerous goods shipper.
Recently, Brallie Battery of Florida was fined $1,1 million for violations of shipping Li batteries.
https://www.faa.gov/news/press_releases/news_story.cfm?newsId=22374
Now...their warranty page says in bold print:
Return shipping is the customer’s responsibility. Twice they put this in their warranty page in bold type.
Drop shipping of batteries is not much better. A drop shipper is "acting as an agent to ship." If anything went wrong it could be interpreted as a willful act on the part of the one who engaged someone to act as an agent to subvert the requirements in place for shipping a known class 9 hazardous material.
I left a lot of other material out of this email as there is no further reason to point out the obvious fact that to be free of any liability, civil or criminal, is to go through the training, write a training plan for employees, pay for all the tests, and have a warranty in place that protects the sender and the receiver.
As a note:
Amazon does not allow anyone to return a lithium battery, for any reason."
