From the "people are stupid" file

[dannylion]

I got new dishes some time ago and finally summoned up the motivation to unpack and wash them, pack up the old dishes in the boxes the new dishes came in, and then put the new dishes away. In the process, I decided that the new dishes needed new pasta bowls (there are no pasta bowls with the new dishes), so I ordered some Fiesta bistro bowls in colors that would coordinate nicely with my new dishes, 4 medium in a lovely tangerine shade and 2 large in a nice blue shade. Kohl's was having a sale, too, so yay for getting my pasta bowls on sale. 

So, in the fullness of time (just a couple of days, actually), my new bowls appeared at my door. I opened the tangerine bowls first. They were swathed in yards of bubble wrap and carefully cushioned in the box, which was placed in another box also surrounded by cushioning. They are very pretty. I opened the other box. Inside was a smaller box, not surrounded by any kind of packing material.  Inside that box were approximately 100 pieces of blue ceramic material, also not enclosed in any kind of packing material.  From what I could tell of the color, they had started life as lovely blue bistro bowls. Now they were just a sad pile of shards.  Dannylion was sad, too.   

Who does that? What kind of moron puts two ceramic bowls into a box too big for them with no packing materials, and then puts that box into a bigger box with no packing materials and sends it off to certain death?

People are stupid.

I called Kohl's, of course, and explained what had occurred. I received a nice apology and a refund, but I really would rather have had the bowls.

After the fact, I read the online reviews of the bowls and learned that this was not an isolated event. Clearly, at least one of the people who packs the Fiestaware for shipping does not learn from experience.

On the bright side, the tangerine bowls look very nice with my new dishes (Padma Lakshmi Wildflower pattern), which I finally unpacked after months of staring at the boxes under the dining room table. 

[wvugurl26]

I guess I'm lucky that all of the Fiesta ware on my Kohl's registry made it to the purchasers in one piece.

[milee]

We've received some sad pieces of things we've ordered, too. 

But I try to remember what it was like when we were starting our business.   We were working ungodly hours, shipping from our house and doing our best to still be decent parents to our 18 month old son, too.  Little dude thought the shipping supplies were fantastic fun... he used to press the buttons on the UPS thermal label maker and "sing" the "song" it made while it spat out wasted labels.  He'd gleefully roll in the expensive bubble wrap.  If we didn't keep a very close eye on him, he'd even add things to the boxes while we were packing them.  One of my longtime customers still teases me about opening up their box of industrial electronic equipment and finding not just the equipment they ordered but a hastily wrapped and well used Hot Wheels truck as well.  

[busymom]

Must've been the same place that shipped me new burner pans for Mom's stove.  I received them dented, with no padding in a plain yellow envelope, TWICE, even when I'd described the problem to their customer service department.  

[Opti]

Sorry about the bowls. Did you have a funeral for the shards?

[dannylion]

Aug 29, 2017 22:42:38 GMT -5 Opti said:

Sorry about the bowls. Did you have a funeral for the shards?

Now that's something that never occurred to me.  It might have been cathartic. I actually saved them to use in the bottom of flower pots for drainage. I guess I will be burying them, though, come to think of it, and putting flowers on top.

I am toying with the idea of reordering the bowls, but I suspect that, like busymom, I will have the same outcome because whoever packs the blue bowls will not have learned from experience.  I don't really need another box of shards.  I could, of course, go to an actual Kohl's store to buy them, but I don't really want the bowls enough to go out among people (especially back-to-school shoppers) and find a parking space and do the other annoying things that would entail. 

I'm just going to enjoy the pretty tangerine bowls for the time being.     

[janee]

My neighbor had a similar experience with beautiful ceramic pot she ordered.  She is on her 4th shipment now, but she really wants the pot.
I'm not sure when she'll give up!

[Opti]

Aug 30, 2017 8:13:44 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Aug 29, 2017 22:42:38 GMT -5 Opti said:

Sorry about the bowls. Did you have a funeral for the shards?

Now that's something that never occurred to me.  It might have been cathartic. I actually saved them to use in the bottom of flower pots for drainage. I guess I will be burying them, though, come to think of it, and putting flowers on top.

I am toying with the idea of reordering the bowls, but I suspect that, like busymom , I will have the same outcome because whoever packs the blue bowls will not have learned from experience.  I don't really need another box of shards.  I could, of course, go to an actual Kohl's store to buy them, but I don't really want the bowls enough to go out among people (especially back-to-school shoppers) and find a parking space and do the other annoying things that would entail. 

I'm just going to enjoy the pretty tangerine bowls for the time being.     

I thought of the flower pot thing as well for the shards. I understand the reluctance to go there, but maybe if you pick an off time it won't be so bad.

[Deleted]

I feel your pain.  A few years ago DH and I ordered a cooktop from Sears Outlet Warehouse. It was being shipped halfway across the country from their warehouse in NJ.  It arrived wrapped in a blanket (yeah- not boxed) and there were ominous rattles inside, as if there were some loose parts.  The people in NJ were SO apologetic- that wasn't how they'd packed it, etc. , they'd arrange to have the pieces picked up and send us a refund... nothing happened.  I got the credit card company to reverse the charge and, suprisingly, was able to get rid of the pieces as Free Stuff on Craigslist even though I was very clear that it was probably not in working order.

[TheOtherMe]

Packages I have received from both Kohl's and Amazon are packed so badly that I am amazed they even get to my address.

[msventoux]

I had a glass bottle of ink come from China (literally on the slow boat, it took weeks). They wrapped it in a couple of thin pieces of the local newspaper, stuffed that in a small paper bag, closed it with a couple of tiny pieces of Scotch tape and sent it on its way. Amazingly, it did make it here in one piece.

[Lizard Queen]

Aug 30, 2017 8:13:44 GMT -5 dannylion said:

Aug 29, 2017 22:42:38 GMT -5 Opti said:

Sorry about the bowls. Did you have a funeral for the shards?

Now that's something that never occurred to me.  It might have been cathartic. I actually saved them to use in the bottom of flower pots for drainage. I guess I will be burying them, though, come to think of it, and putting flowers on top.

I am toying with the idea of reordering the bowls, but I suspect that, like busymom, I will have the same outcome because whoever packs the blue bowls will not have learned from experience.  I don't really need another box of shards.  I could, of course, go to an actual Kohl's store to buy them, but I don't really want the bowls enough to go out among people (especially back-to-school shoppers) and find a parking space and do the other annoying things that would entail. 

I'm just going to enjoy the pretty tangerine bowls for the time being.     

OMG, I rarely go shopping these days (other than for groceries), but ventured out Sunday due to lack of kids at home. I stopped at Kohl's, and you're absolutely right. It was insane with back to school shoppers. I could barely deal with it.

[Deleted]

Aug 30, 2017 8:13:44 GMT -5 dannylion said:

I could, of course, go to an actual Kohl's store to buy them, but I don't really want the bowls enough to go out among people (especially back-to-school shoppers) and find a parking space and do the ...<snip>

I'm finding actual stores pretty annoying because they rarely have what I want. I have an iPhone 5g and wanted a new case because the old one cracked. Ha. I checked 3 stores and there were miles and miles of racks of cases for the latest model and a few for the one previous to that but none for my antique 3-year old phone. (I got an Otter case for a really good price off e-Bay, probably from someone who buys them when the stores ditch their stock at bottom-dollar prices to make room for new stuff.)

I suspect they try to stock the absolute latest merchandise to attract people who don't want to wear last week's fashions, and if you go looking for bowls in Peacock, you'll find that the latest color is Kumquat... but they can order them in Peacock and ship them to you.

[dannylion]

Great.  Now I want peacock-colored bowls.

[happyhoix]

My complaint is just the opposite - I order lots of stuff through on line stores and get sent stuff that cannot be damaged in the mail all carefully wrapped and padded in multiple layers of cardboard and poppy paper.

I think the most recent failure was a tool for my son, about two feet long, made mostly of metal. Dropping it off a skyscraper probably wouldn't dent it. For some reason, wrapped in bubble wrap inside a box which was inside a bigger box with popcorn all around it.

Seriously, all that wasted packaging material.

[billisonboard]

Aug 31, 2017 16:30:15 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

My complaint is just the opposite - I order lots of stuff through on line stores and get sent stuff that cannot be damaged in the mail all carefully wrapped and padded in multiple layers of cardboard and poppy paper.

I think the most recent failure was a tool for my son, about two feet long, made mostly of metal. Dropping it off a skyscraper probably wouldn't dent it. For some reason, wrapped in bubble wrap inside a box which was inside a bigger box with popcorn all around it.

Seriously, all that wasted packaging material.

Was it heavy enough that it would have ripped through a plain cardboard box if given the opportunity?

[happyhoix]

Aug 31, 2017 16:39:40 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Aug 31, 2017 16:30:15 GMT -5 happyhoix said:

My complaint is just the opposite - I order lots of stuff through on line stores and get sent stuff that cannot be damaged in the mail all carefully wrapped and padded in multiple layers of cardboard and poppy paper.

I think the most recent failure was a tool for my son, about two feet long, made mostly of metal. Dropping it off a skyscraper probably wouldn't dent it. For some reason, wrapped in bubble wrap inside a box which was inside a bigger box with popcorn all around it.

Seriously, all that wasted packaging material.

Was it heavy enough that it would have ripped through a plain cardboard box if given the opportunity?

Not that heavy but had pointy edges (imagine an oversized, slightly flatter metal ruler) so it might have jabbed through a cardboard box, but it would have used a lot less packaging if they got some of that thick paper padding, or maybe a single layer of poppy paper, wrapped one layer around it, and then shrink wrapped (or taped) a plastic cover over it.

I'm sure the double box/ poppy paper/box full of popcorn was quicker to do, though, and required less expertise to wrap. But it did leave me with an abundance of packaging to dispose of. (Yes I recycled the cardboard ).  

 

[toomuchreality]

I just received a new usb cable I bought on ebay. It was wrapped at least 4 times around in bubble wrap.
A few weeks ago I received a lace item, also purchased on ebay. It came with no protection, in a plastic shipping envelope that required cutting to open. Even though I was extremely careful, the lace got cut opening the bag it was shipped in.