Packaging
There are times when products arrive for review in enough packaging to keep them good and warm inside the Arctic Circle. The Cosmos, on the other hand, must have been in Hawaii on holiday as it turned up wearing only its skimpies.
The arrival of the Cosmos was hotly anticipated. Indeed, Cooler Master was kind enough to inform us of the exact date it would arrive with us. What the company didn't account for, though, was the state it would arrive in.
The box that the Cosmos came in was well trashed. The seams were split - badly enough so that we could see inside - and the bottom was soaked right through.
When we opened the packaging, we discovered that the case had suffered considerable cosmetic damage - though, perhaps, we were lucky things could have been even worse.
Perversely, however, even though we photographed the sample just the way we normally would, it's pretty hard to make out any of the damage in the photos!
We'd have been concerned about the poor state of the package on arrival, whatever was being delivered. But knowing that we had the only Cosmos sample in Europe meant we were worried, very worried and had to conclude that Business Post must think it's a good idea to leave packages standing in puddles and maybe even using them for football.
Of course, it's easy to blame the courier and, though we think we're right to do so to an extent, we also believe that Cooler Master itself needs to shoulder some of the blame.
The company had packed this one-off and expensive product in such a way that it was almost destined to suffer damage in transit.
What makes the whole thing even sillier is that cases in the company's equally-expensive Stacker series have a tough foam packaging. Yet, despite justifying something as good or better, the Cosmos was protected only by relatively fragile expanded polystyrene.
Like us, the company knew it was the only sample in Europe. That being so, you'd have thought that someone would have understood the importance of packing it so that it arrived at HEXUS not only in one piece but in a pristine condition.
We do accept that, being one of the very first cases off the production line, could have meant that final packaging dedicated to the unusual design of the Cosmos was not available.
But that's not a given, so we've made clear to Cooler Master our concern about the packaging - and the consequences for purchasers if it's not revamped to give better protection. Our concern, of course, is to try to ensure that retail versions of the Cosmos don't turn up in the same sorry state and cause grief to purchasers - such as HEXUS readers.
The company has assured us that it's urgently looking into the situation. Hopefully, that will mean that it does a complete rethink of how it packs the Cosmos.
We could have avoided telling you about any of this - and that would have saved us a lot of time and hair-pulling.
But, though we've seen couriers inflict some terrible damage on goods coming in for review - and this was far from being the worst example - we're convinced that we had to tell it like it is and, in effect, put Cooler Master on the spot.
And, if it serves no other purpose, at least you'll know you're not alone in having couriers beat up your packages.
