The Great Amazon Packaging Test
For those of us in rural areas (we're over a hundred miles from a Target, an enclosed shopping mall, etc.) Amazon is a wonderful addition to our choices as consumers. There's actually a Wal-Mart in town but I don't consider that a plus. I call it reluctantly beneficial, in other words, there just isn't anywhere else to go. Without driving over a hundred miles. On the other hand, I could be in Canada in less than an hour if my passport weren't expired.
So I use Amazon a lot. I'm a Prime member, which is supposed to be a plus because you get "free" two day shipping. Unfortunately, the packaging staff they use for Prime shipments is different from the ones used for non-Prime members. And they appear to be the worst packagers Amazon can find.
This issue applies mostly to book shipments. I ask Amazon repeatedly, every time I have to return a book, why on earth they think that sending a book in nothing more than a padded envelope through UPS is supposedly expected to arrive at my home without damage. Amazon prides themselves in customer service and unfortunately I have no reason to complain about how they handle issues, except for the fact that they refuse to address the underlying reasons for the issues.
Namely, their packing practices are bottom of the barrel. In the good old days, they'd do things like shrinkwrap books to a cardboard backing and ship the books in a box. This usually worked to perfection, though not always. Many times the books are already damaged prior to the packing, and that means the covers are folded, crunched, bent.
With Prime they'll put anything in a box without regard to the items' safety. I just got a 24 oz. bag of protein shipped loose on top of a hardcover book; it had been free to slide around and scrape and bounce all the damage it could do to the book. Amazon doesn't care.
In the past few weeks I've sent three books back. This is not unusual and I've written about previous incidents here. The problem doesn't get better, though, it continues to worsen. Every time I purchase a book, which is often, I no longer can look forward to its arrival; I now hold my breath wondering how many of them I will be sending back. In this same couple of weeks where I've sent three books back, I've also kept two that I really should have sent back. The books arrive with bent covers and gouges in the page edges but they have me beaten down sufficiently that every now and then I say the hell with it and just put them on the shelf.
I got one book last week that looked like it had been used as a coaster for a sticky bottle or cup of something, as well as beaten up pretty good. The replacement came, also damaged, but less so. Would I have bought that copy in a book store? No way. Did I pack it back up, trek to the UPS drop and ship it back a second time? Not on this occasion.
They here about it from me but they don't care one little bit. If an Amazon clone opened up and gave me the same service, I'd be gone in a heartbeat. I've tried it several times but the shipping practices again have let me down. Fingerprints in the books? Covers torn from their bindings? These things all happen prior to shipping. Why is there no quality control oversight in the shipping department? Surely Amazon can tell who packed what order and see whose keep getting sent back and then send them to Science Division for reprogramming to actually giving a damn about what they do.
In any case, unless people like me complain they will never improve. And as far as I can tell, I am the only one who complains, and the only one who gets sent books that should be new but are beat to hell. So I took my Amazon gift card and some Christmas money and ordered eleven books. They're shipping them all in one box. My guess is they're dumped in the box in random order with no packing material and certainly nothing to keep the books from countless collisions as they bounce and slide through the UPS system.
When the books arrive (scheduled for Saturday) I will report back on the conditions of the books. They are a mix of hardcovers and trade paperbacks. The potential for doing good here is real, but given Amazon's current practices, expectations must be kept low. My current guess is that I'll be returning for replacement four books.
(I had an order for some soldering equipment created but I had to cancel it. I can't re-do it until I have no books coming, otherwise they'll dump it all into the same box and I know the books won't survive the interaction.)
Here's a list of the eleven books:
I'm expecting the worst based on real-life experience but hoping for the best based on unicorns and cotton candy rainbows. We'll see what happens.
So I use Amazon a lot. I'm a Prime member, which is supposed to be a plus because you get "free" two day shipping. Unfortunately, the packaging staff they use for Prime shipments is different from the ones used for non-Prime members. And they appear to be the worst packagers Amazon can find.
This issue applies mostly to book shipments. I ask Amazon repeatedly, every time I have to return a book, why on earth they think that sending a book in nothing more than a padded envelope through UPS is supposedly expected to arrive at my home without damage. Amazon prides themselves in customer service and unfortunately I have no reason to complain about how they handle issues, except for the fact that they refuse to address the underlying reasons for the issues.
Namely, their packing practices are bottom of the barrel. In the good old days, they'd do things like shrinkwrap books to a cardboard backing and ship the books in a box. This usually worked to perfection, though not always. Many times the books are already damaged prior to the packing, and that means the covers are folded, crunched, bent.
With Prime they'll put anything in a box without regard to the items' safety. I just got a 24 oz. bag of protein shipped loose on top of a hardcover book; it had been free to slide around and scrape and bounce all the damage it could do to the book. Amazon doesn't care.
In the past few weeks I've sent three books back. This is not unusual and I've written about previous incidents here. The problem doesn't get better, though, it continues to worsen. Every time I purchase a book, which is often, I no longer can look forward to its arrival; I now hold my breath wondering how many of them I will be sending back. In this same couple of weeks where I've sent three books back, I've also kept two that I really should have sent back. The books arrive with bent covers and gouges in the page edges but they have me beaten down sufficiently that every now and then I say the hell with it and just put them on the shelf.
I got one book last week that looked like it had been used as a coaster for a sticky bottle or cup of something, as well as beaten up pretty good. The replacement came, also damaged, but less so. Would I have bought that copy in a book store? No way. Did I pack it back up, trek to the UPS drop and ship it back a second time? Not on this occasion.
They here about it from me but they don't care one little bit. If an Amazon clone opened up and gave me the same service, I'd be gone in a heartbeat. I've tried it several times but the shipping practices again have let me down. Fingerprints in the books? Covers torn from their bindings? These things all happen prior to shipping. Why is there no quality control oversight in the shipping department? Surely Amazon can tell who packed what order and see whose keep getting sent back and then send them to Science Division for reprogramming to actually giving a damn about what they do.
In any case, unless people like me complain they will never improve. And as far as I can tell, I am the only one who complains, and the only one who gets sent books that should be new but are beat to hell. So I took my Amazon gift card and some Christmas money and ordered eleven books. They're shipping them all in one box. My guess is they're dumped in the box in random order with no packing material and certainly nothing to keep the books from countless collisions as they bounce and slide through the UPS system.
When the books arrive (scheduled for Saturday) I will report back on the conditions of the books. They are a mix of hardcovers and trade paperbacks. The potential for doing good here is real, but given Amazon's current practices, expectations must be kept low. My current guess is that I'll be returning for replacement four books.
(I had an order for some soldering equipment created but I had to cancel it. I can't re-do it until I have no books coming, otherwise they'll dump it all into the same box and I know the books won't survive the interaction.)
Here's a list of the eleven books:
| 1
of:
Butcher's Crossing (New York Review Books Classics), Williams, John Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Consider the Lobster and Other Essays, Wallace, David Foster Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Glorious War: The Civil War Adventures of George Armstrong Custer, Hatch, Thom Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
The Memory Key: A Commissario Alec Blume Novel, Fitzgerald, Conor Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Jacques Futrelle's "The Thinking Machine": The Enigmatic Problems
of Prof. Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Ph. D., LL. D., F. R. S., M. D.,
M. D. S. (Mod, Futrelle, Jacques Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
The Stranger (Everyman's Library), Albert Camus Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Pulphead: Essays, Sullivan, John Jeremiah Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Augustus: A Novel, Williams, John Edward Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC | ||
| 1
of:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Skloot, Rebecca Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Warlock (New York Review Books Classics), Hall, Oakley Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
|
1
of:
Pago Pago Tango (Jungle Beat Mystery), Enright, John Condition: New Sold by: Amazon.com LLC |
||
I'm expecting the worst based on real-life experience but hoping for the best based on unicorns and cotton candy rainbows. We'll see what happens.
posted by Rick Ollerman at 3:13 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home