Morag, your machine should have never been shipped IN the case. Old wood is brittle...I would never ship a machine in the case because of that. I won't even bring a cabinet style machine home from 15 miles away in the cabinet...I always separate them. Just hitting a bump in the road can make the machine "bounce" within the case or cabinet, and that can cause damage. The machinery that the Post Office uses to process packages is like really bumpy roads...but it's more efficient than having a person hand carry each package to each destination... I don't think you can blame the USPS for the damage to the case of your machine...that's the shipper's fault.