So, the Knipex pliers I ordered earlier this week arrived ahead of schedule (ship to home).... the bad news is, they were shipped by a random Sears store rather than the manufacturer/distributor, in a flimsy mailer that got badly torn up, doing major damage to the pliers handles.
You guys with more Knipex experience, have you ever had one arrive damaged before? If contacting Knipex directly would get me a replacement without having to pay shipping, I'd trust them more than Sears to ship the replacement properly protected... but I'm afraid I may have to deal with Sears... 

I do not own any Wera yet

Sears is just baffling.