is anyone else thinking the way the OP shipped these things was a horrible idea to begin with?
Thought I'd share.
First thing I thought about when I saw the pic... electronics typically come boxed and protected by foam(and I don't mean peanuts), this prevents the outer box from being crushed like it is in this pic. I hope you win the dispute though.
I've had laser heads that were packed in FOAM, sealed in a strong box then had foam around that box and finally a wooden box on the outside screwed together. One tube was broken ($30k) and they tried to fight the claim. The box was impaled with a forklift and they had to pay up.
I'm sure they had to pay. It's pretty hard to protect against a forklift!