How to get refunds on broken phones at Gorillas, Thuisbezorgd, Flink, Zapp, etc
In this article we will give firstly a practical step-by-step on how to get it your phone damage repair costs refunded at Gorillas, secondly why you have a right to refunds, and thirdly discuss what to do when management didn’t get the memo, or when you’re working at another company.
Step-by-step guide for getting phone repairs refunded at Gorillas
This step by step concedes some of our rights and excepts some responsability for damages.
We’re not happy with this, and will work towards changing the policy.
But for the meantime, here’s what you need to do.
- Phone breaks. Note at what time it broke, where it broke (street), and what caused it to break such as falling, bumping, raining.
- Go past a phone repair shop. Ask for a quote on the repairs. Get the repairsmen to write it on paper: date, cost, work, shop.
- Go to your warehouse manager. Tell him you want to file a damage report for phone damange. This is a Google form. If your warehouse manager doesn’t know of this form yet or doesn’t know where it is, he needs to go find it or ask for help of his superior. Do not accept non-sense like: that’s in oud-west. or: I’ve never heard of this. This is Gorillas wide. The warehouse manager represents Gorillas and this is his problem now, not yours.
- Make photos of your broken phone and send them to the computer of the warehousemanager.
- Warehouse-form part. Fill in the form and make sure your warehouse manager OKs what you’re sending – we’re not responsible for their bureaucracy, so keep it their responsability. He must help you fill it in right because you have a right to that money, and this is how to get it.
- Rider-form part. Now you have to fill in the form again but now for yourself. The form for riders is here. (Dead link? please tell us)
- You will receive a message from the internal Gorillas ticketing system. They might ask you for a receipt before they cover the cost.
- Get your phone fixed. Save the receipt. Give it to the ticketing system.
- Check if you got the money!
Your phone is fixed.
Glorious days lie ahead.
Refunds on broken phone-repairs are logical and based in law
You take something, break it, you pay it. Refunding is logical.
In the Netherlands if you take something from somebody and then break it, you’re going to have to compensate the owner. Gorillas demands our phones during worktime. Thus, they’re responsable for the damages incurred while they’ve taken our phones.
Moreover, Dutch law says: it’s the employers duty to provide all implements / means to do the work. So the whole “give me your phone or you’re fired” joke is unlawfull. Which just piles on all damage being theirs to fix and pay.
Even if we ourselves break our ‘own’ phone during work time for whatever reason, it’s us as a Gorilla employee breaking that phone while working for Gorillas. So if you yourselves drop your phone, it’s still a Gorillas employee dropping it. And Gorillas is responsible for what their employees damage of third party property, whomever that third party is. In this case, the third party is our private person with our private possessions.
Dutch law commands you pay for my phone
Dutch civil law code book 7, article 658
Burgerlijk wetboek boek 7, artikel 658
Summary: the employer must take all steps necessary to prevent their employees from harm or damage.
Conversely, if a employee suffers damage (of any kind) the employer did not stop this from happening, thus it’s his responsability.
Exception: when it can be proven that the employee was purposefully reckless. Examples of recklessness: not wearing a helmet. Purposefully driving through red.
Dutch Workconditions decision, article 1.49-4
Arbeidsomstandighedenbesluit, artikel 1.49-4
“The means necessary to do the work, shall be well maintained and repaired when necessary”. By the employer.
As said, that they take our phones is illegal, but as they do, they must not only fix it but maintain it. Because it’s a work implement / tool / means.
What about that battery wear because of work right 😎
I could go on quoting all kinds of laws, but the point should be clear. However you look at it, it’s their to pay for. I didn’t even find the particular law I was looking for, but this point is so often and widely repeated in law, just about any law will do.
If they don’t want to have these costs, that’s fine, we put our phones away while working and they provide a phone of their own.
Which they should’ve done, anyway.
What to do when a manager or a company refuses to refund phone repairs
Well that sucks. You’ve got a manager that leads without regard for rights or the law. Ancients Greeks called such people Tyrannoi. But that’s not getting us any farther.
There’s no clear cut answer. It depends on your local situation, your standing, your relationship with colleagues, and especially if there’s on organised group of Radical Riders present or near.
If you’re feeling brave, push your point a bit. Many companies actually have policies in place for covering costs such as these, but they hide them as far as they can or even deny their existence. Getting into a showdown or conflict with a manager by yourselves is a bad idea however, so be carefull.
If you’re feeling the love, talk to your colleagues about this issue. This is something you all have in common. Stepping up together to a manager, stating your rights and the companies responsabilities, telling them to do their job and take care of this structural issue his colleagues face… it’s been done before, all around the globe actually.
If you’re feeling smart, reach out to Radical Riders. Most likely we can hook you up with a group or a colleague at the same company. Who’ve either been through this before or are organising for it. Or we can just give you some advice on how to proceed. Your pick.
Having a right and getting it are just two fundamentally different things. In reality, in this world, there’s no such thing as an abstract right. There are only retractable favors granted by those in power and concessions won by people organising themselves and standing up to power. In The Netherlands we have incredible rights, books full of them. But reality and the idealised world of ‘rights’ differ like day and night do. To illustrate this point: recently somebody from Thuisbezorgd joined us after she had been suspended from work after her phone broke during work because of bad Thuisbezorgd gear. So first they messed up her phone and then they punish her for it.
And that’s why we have a union. So she joined, we met, and now we deal with this problem together as a group.