Darn it, mower was damaged in transit !
Luckily (I say that advisedly) there was a small bit of broken plastic in the bottom of the box. There was some damage to the box, but there was no obvious
external damage to machine; so that little bit of broken plastic was a "god send". Without it I might have installed the handle and filled engine with oil and fuel and run her up which would have placed me, potentially, in a different situation.
However, in summary, it would appear that rear end has been "bounced" hard in transit and Stiga have agreed to do a swapsy based on my description of damage with photos. In other words, Stiga will not require prior check before sending out a replacement & the courier will take away the damaged unit at same time.
Replacement due next Tues (
) - I could really have done with it this w/end, but the no-quibble same-day Stiga response is welcome.
Also: I've suggested to Stiga that better packaging would be a good idea given the pressure that courier operatives are under these days to meet delivery time targets. Stuff is going to be shunted without suitable handling care under the pressure and I see courier drivers actually
running up my street to deliver smaller/lighter packages - a brisk walking pace should be enough surely. (Richard, my usual DPD delivery driver was well flustered today compounded by it being recycling day with recycling vehicles jamming up various roads - "I hate Thursdays here" he said.
Roll on next Tues then with, hopefully, an undamaged replacement.