I was almost finished building my Lego Technic McLaren Formula 1 set last night when the unthinkable happened: I realised my Lego kit was missing a pair of pretty important bricks.
Two of these pieces specifically, part of the structure that forms the backbone of the car’s rear wing:
I’ve been pretty lucky, honestly: I’ve never bought a Lego kit that had missing bricks before. This meant, however, that I wasn’t really sure what to do to fix the problem. I felt stuck. Without these pieces, there was no way to complete the build. I wondered if the Toyworld where I purchased the kit kept a box of spares lying around for just such an occasion? Even if they did, would they have the pieces I needed? Technic sets like this one use a lot of unique pieces, so finding spares in the wild is unlikely.
And so I started Googling. It turns out, Lego will simply replace your missing bricks, free of charge, entirely in good faith. However, the page to lodge your missing pieces is a few clicks deep on their website, so here’s a guide to help you find it in case you wind up in the same situation.
How to replace missing Lego bricks online
Head over to the Lego website and click on Help in the bar along the top of the screen. Then, click on Replacement Parts. From there, you’ll see three options: Missing Bricks, Broken Bricks and Buy Replacement Bricks. You want Missing Bricks.
This will take you to the Customer Service screen. Enter your country from the drop-down menu, and hit next.
Then, you’ll be asked for your set number. This is the 5-digit number that Lego uses to identify each set. You’ll find it on the front of the box your kit came in. It looks like this:
This will identify your set, and the site will display the picture and name of every individual brick included in that set, arranged in a grid. Just scroll down until you find the ones you are missing. Keep your build instructions handy if it’s a particularly odd piece. Once you locate your piece, click on it and select Add To Bag. Repeat this process for any other missing pieces. If you need two or more of the same piece, just keep clicking the pic and add it to your bag. If you can’t see your piece on the page, hit I Can’t Find What I’m Looking For to be taken straight to customer service.
Once you have all your missing Lego bricks in your bag, click the Bag icon to return to the top of the page and hit Confirm Order.
You’ll be taken to the Your Info screen, where you’ll need to enter your name, address, phone number, and email. Once you’ve done this, hit Next. This will take you to the Confirm screen, where you can make sure all your details are correct. If they are, hit Next. This will finalise your order. Feel free to screenshot this page when you arrive, but it’s not totally necessary. Lego will send your request to their team and, if they need to reach out to you to gather more information, they’ll be in touch. More likely, you’ll just receive an email update with a tracking number when your pieces are in the post.
This process can take a couple of weeks, so be patient. You can always call Lego if you feel it’s dragging on a bit, but they’re generally very good about replacing pieces without a hassle.
Easy as
I’m kind of blown away that a system like this even exists. More and more, it feels like corporations have their guard up when it comes to post-sales service. Returns and fixes all have a cost, so companies now go out of their way to wriggle out of any responsibility. Even for something as innocuous as a Lego kit, that Lego as a company is prepared to shoot you out a couple of missing pieces without it being a huge hassle feels strange. Wonderful, but strange, like something from another time.
Anyway, hope this little guide helps you out, builders.
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