📍 B105A, Penrhyn Rd, Botany NSW 2019, Australia
✉️ contact@elitecontainerssupply.com
What can be returned, how the return process works, who arranges transport, and who pays — for containers, accessories and export orders.
Elite Container Supply ("ECS", "we", "us") supplies shipping containers, cabins, flat pack units and accessories from our yard at B105A, Penrhyn Rd, Botany NSW 2019, Australia.
A shipping container weighs between roughly 1.5 and 4 tonnes. Returning one requires a crane or tilt-tray, a heavy vehicle, and in many cases traffic management. Return costs can approach the value of the container itself. This policy is therefore stricter than the return policy of an ordinary online store — a position expressly permitted by Australian law.
Nothing in this policy excludes, restricts or modifies the guarantees, rights and remedies you have under the Australian Consumer Law. Where a container is faulty, unsafe, or significantly different from its description, your statutory rights apply regardless of anything stated below.
Our goods come with guarantees that cannot be excluded under the Australian Consumer Law. You are entitled to a replacement or refund for a major failure and compensation for any other reasonably foreseeable loss or damage. You are also entitled to have the goods repaired or replaced if the goods fail to be of acceptable quality and the failure does not amount to a major failure.
Where goods are returned because they are faulty or not as described, we bear the cost of return transport. Where goods are returned because you changed your mind, you bear that cost. That distinction runs through this entire policy.
| Item | Returnable? | Who pays return transport |
|---|---|---|
| Container with a major failure | Yes | ECS |
| Container not as described (wrong size or grade) | Yes | ECS |
| Incorrect item delivered | Yes | ECS |
| Container with a minor, repairable fault | Usually repaired on site | ECS |
| Unused accessories, unopened and resaleable | Yes | You |
| Change of mind — standard container | At our discretion only | You |
| Custom or modified container | No | — |
| Container already exported from Australia | Generally no | See clause 15 |
The following are not accepted for return, except where the Australian Consumer Law requires otherwise:
| Type of claim | You must notify us within |
|---|---|
| Visible transit damage, shortage, or incorrect item | 48 hours of delivery or collection |
| Change of mind (discretionary) | 7 days of delivery or collection |
| Unused accessories | 14 days of delivery or collection |
| Fault or defect not visible on delivery | Promptly on discovery, within a reasonable time |
| Major failure under the ACL | Within a reasonable time — statutory rights are not time-barred by this policy |
Where possible, note visible damage on the delivery docket before signing it. Signing a clean docket may limit your ability to claim for visible transit damage.
A Return Authorisation is a written confirmation from ECS that sets out:
Contact us in writing within the applicable timeframe.
Send your invoice number, container number and photographs.
We review, and may inspect the container on site.
We issue a Return Authorisation with agreed terms.
Transport is arranged and the container is returned to our yard.
To begin, email contact@elitecontainerssupply.com or message us on WhatsApp with:
Where a return is authorised, the container must be presented in the condition below. Any shortfall may reduce or void the amount refunded.
We photograph every container on dispatch and again on return. Those records are used to assess condition objectively and are available to you on request.
Who pays for return transport depends entirely on why the container is being returned.
| Reason for return | Return transport | Original delivery cost |
|---|---|---|
| Major failure, faulty, or not as described | Paid by ECS | Refunded |
| Incorrect item delivered by ECS | Paid by ECS | Refunded |
| Change of mind (if we agree to accept it) | Paid by you | Not refunded |
| Unused accessories | Paid by you | Not refunded |
Where you bear the cost, you may either arrange your own licensed carrier, or ask us to quote the return freight and deduct it from your refund. Any craneage, tilt-tray hire, permits or traffic management required at your site are also your responsibility.
Risk in the container remains with you until it is received and unloaded at our Botany yard. We strongly recommend insuring the container for the return journey. Damage occurring in transit on a return you arranged is not our responsibility.
Where we accept a change-of-mind return at our discretion, a restocking fee of 20% of the container price is deducted from your refund.
This fee covers reinspection, cleaning, yard handling, re-listing and the depreciation a container suffers once it has been placed at a customer site.
If your container has a fault, contact us before arranging anything. Do not attempt repairs, and do not return the unit without a Return Authorisation.
The remedy depends on the seriousness of the fault:
If we fail to remedy a minor failure within a reasonable time, or refuse to, you may then reject the container and seek a refund, or have the fault fixed elsewhere and recover the reasonable cost from us.
If the container delivered is not the container you ordered — a different size, grade, type or specification — notify us within 48 hours with photographs and the container number.
We will arrange collection of the incorrect unit and delivery of the correct one at our cost, at the earliest practicable time. Where the correct container is unavailable, you are entitled to a full refund, including delivery.
Accessories — lock boxes, padlocks, vents, shelving, ramps, door seals and similar items — may be returned within 14 days of delivery provided they are:
You bear the return postage or freight cost for change-of-mind accessory returns. Faulty accessories are returned at our cost and replaced or refunded.
Containers modified, fabricated or fitted out to your specification are made to your order and cannot be returned for change of mind. This includes any unit on which modification work has commenced, even if incomplete.
This restriction does not affect your rights where custom work is faulty or the workmanship is not of acceptable quality. In those circumstances the guarantees in clause 2 apply in full, and we will repair, replace or refund as the law requires.
Once a container has been loaded for export or has departed an Australian port, return is generally not commercially viable and is not accepted, other than where required by law.
Where a genuine fault is identified after arrival overseas, we will work with you in good faith on a practical remedy — which may include a repair contribution, a partial refund, or a price adjustment, rather than physical return. Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law are not affected.
Every returned container is inspected at our yard on arrival. We assess it against the dispatch photographs, the Return Authorisation, and the condition requirements in clause 8.
Where a returned container is found to have new damage, modification, contamination, or missing fittings, we will notify you in writing with photographs, and may:
Inspection is completed within five (5) business days of the container arriving at our yard.
Once the returned container has been received and inspected, and the return approved, your refund is processed in accordance with our Refund Policy:
If you disagree with a return decision or an assessed deduction, tell us in writing and set out why. We will review the matter, including our dispatch and return photographs, and respond within thirty (30) days.
If the matter remains unresolved, you may seek assistance from NSW Fair Trading, or from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) at accc.gov.au. Nothing prevents you from exercising any other legal right.
To request a Return Authorisation, or to ask a question about this policy:
