There is no universal answer to who pays shipping on a warranty return, and no industry standard to fall back on. The answer is whatever your distribution agreement and the warranty document say — and where they are silent, the freight bill is decided by argument, at the worst possible moment. This article maps the policy forms in use, so you can find which one you actually have.
Key Takeaways
- No standard answer exists: who pays is a term in your agreement and warranty documents, or it is an argument waiting for its first return.
- A return has three legs — price and assign each one separately.
- The outcome-split form ties freight to the finding, which is what disciplines thin-evidence returns.
- EVDANCE publishes no return-freight policy — the legs on your account are a written term to settle at onboarding.
A Return Has Three Legs, Not One
“Shipping” on a single return can mean three separate movements, and a policy that names only one leaves the other two open:
- The faulty unit’s journey back — from customer or reseller’s shelf to wherever it is tested.
- The replacement’s journey out — a new or repaired unit travelling to keep the site charging.
- The repaired unit’s return journey — where the original unit comes back into service or into stock after repair.
Each leg can sit with a different party. Price and record them separately — a line saying “supplier covers shipping” will be read three ways by two parties.
The Four Policy Forms
| Form | Who carries which leg | The dispute it prevents | Where it must be written |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maker carries return freight | The maker pays the faulty unit’s return leg; other legs follow the maker’s terms | The reseller absorbing freight on defects that were never its cost | The warranty document or supply agreement, naming the leg and the carrier arrangement |
| Reseller carries return freight | The reseller pays to return faulty units, treating freight as a cost of distribution | Open-ended freight exposure landing on the maker for low-value returns | The same documents, with the reseller’s customer-facing terms aligned |
| Outcome-split | Freight follows the finding: a confirmed defect’s freight sits with the maker; a no-fault-found or excluded return’s freight sits with the sender | Returns authorised on thin evidence, because the sender carries no cost for being wrong | The agreement, with the finding process defined — who tests, and whose result settles it |
| Distance or value split | Local returns travel one way, long-distance or high-value returns another — by a threshold the parties set | International freight on a portable charger costing more than the claim | The agreement, with the threshold and the batched-return option stated |
Where the Answer Lives
Two documents govern: the warranty document sets the claim terms, and the distribution agreement sets the commercial ones. Freight usually sits in the second, and is missed in the first. The warranty and after-sales checklist puts freight among the terms to settle before the first order — and the spare parts and RMA process shows why: a batched-return clause, agreed in advance, is often the difference between freight being a rounding error and the largest line in the claim. If your documents do not answer the question today, that silence is the finding — raise it at the next review, not during the next failure.
The Position on EVDANCE Returns
EVDANCE hardware carries a 3-year standard warranty. EVDANCE publishes no return-freight policy to quote from — who carries which leg on your account is set in your written terms, and confirmed in writing where it is not. Settle it through the resellers and distributors programme or contact us, at onboarding, not at first claim. The question matters most for fixed units — a floor-standing EV-AC03201T dual-connector AC station (two Type 2 connectors, up to 43 kW shared, OCPP 1.6J, RFID, IP54) does not travel like a portable, and its legs should be priced as such.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there an industry-standard answer we can just adopt?
No sourced standard exists — all four forms are in live use, often with the same maker in different markets. Adopt one deliberately, in your own documents, rather than assuming your preference is the default.
Who pays if testing finds no fault, or an installation error?
That is the case the outcome-split form exists for — and an argument under every form that does not mention it. The finding process decides: whose test, on what evidence. Define both before a return depends on them.
Can we agree freight terms after a return is already moving?
You can agree them for the next one. For the return in transit, existing documents govern — the answer belongs in the agreement signed at onboarding, not in the email thread a failure opens.
Related Reading
- EV Charger Spare Parts and RMA Process for Distributors
- EV Charger Warranty and After-Sales Terms: A Distributor’s Checklist
- Commercial EV Charger Maintenance Checklist
- Which EV Charger Has the Best Warranty?
