How not to pack a computer

That really sucks big time. Do you have a alink to the auction so I could see the persons feedback?? I get annoyed with clueless sellers.

Also do you have any pics of the packing materials used? It would be cool to have a page for "how not to pack a computer or this is what happens".

I'm glad its not all bad for you though.

Thats horrible, I'm glad I'm moving away from using UPS after seeing that.

I picked up a graphite APBS a while back and the seller tossed the Airport box into a larger box with a couple chuncks of styrofoam. When it showed up at my door the outer box was smashed, tape was coming off, Just by picking it up the contents moved around *a lot* I though the base station was dead it was so bad. I lucked out that it only looked like it was beaten with a baseball bat and the inner (apple) box was fine.

The Seller got an email pretty quick, but at least he admitted that he used cheap packeging and that said he'd pack his stuff better in the future.

THAT was one heckuva good idea for a 'fritter article/heading/whatever, a sort of shipping lowlights or eBay's funniest (tragicomedy/black humor of course!) arrival piccies kinda deal!

It'd also make one heck of a good cautionary link for all of us to post in our emails regarding shipping and handling arrangemnents. Especially if there was an official 'fritter S&M(ishandling) Scale from 0-15, 0-31 or 0-63 (digital-like too!) for reference. Put a real HowTo there for meeting the lower end scoring criteria illustrating why it costs a little bit more to ensure that only so many extra pieces can reasonably be expected to arrive in the box when a lower arrival parts rated packaging system or carrier is used as opposed to one of the nastier disaster prone modes rated at the high end. It'd work for sellers as well as buyers if you think about it!

hrmmm . . . make it a running poll with comments and it'd probably end up in links on eBay's feedback reports and then into links in the shipping arrangement quotes right on the front pages of the better sellers eBay stores and right there in all their auctions as well. Now THAT probably couldn't hurt 'fritter's recruitment efforts or your site's traffic stats one little bit, now would it , T.O.?

Whatchathink?

jt

Perpetrator of the 68kMLA's text format impaired:
Peripherals Links Project(tm)
. . . and LinksProjectClassic(tm)

I have added another picture showing the box as first opened. You can see from the plastic showing that the layer of newspaper is extremely thin. As if newspaper is even an appropriate packing material. I emailed the seller, I was very nice, explained I could still salvage some use of it, and said that I wouldn't leave negative feedback if she promises to pack better in the future, and if she feels like it I wouldn't mind getting a partial refund since it was clearly not packed well enough. It's a long story, (she underestimated shipping charges in the auction to begin with, so she feels I got my computer for free), but she is not really being repentant about the packing, and claims that another computer was shipped the same way and arrived ok.

I say that if a computer was packed like that and didn't get demolished it's pure dumb luck.

I tried to find a thread here from a while back about a CC that got its case cracked in shipping, since everyone put in their two cents about how to pack a computer. Unfortunately, it seems to have gone AWOL. If I point her to this thread, she'll probably view it as rather biased.
I'm torn between avoiding a fight over a $10 computer that I'm getting some use out of anyway and wanting to warn future ebayers about her poor packing skills. I have 100% positives and don't want to risk a retaliatory negative.

Auction link here

That's a can of worms she doesn't want to open and you're probably better off letting sleeping dogs lie in terms of your feedback.

I got a 5290, which is probably heavier than your 580, for something like $1.98 on eBay because the seller's S&H quote was for a flat $50. However, it arrived absolutely intact, entombed in the box as snug as a bug in that foam-filled 2-bag system that's just unbeatable. I haven't received anything packed like that since my first mail order purchase in 1992, the IIx came from Sun and I I might still have that great fitted packing case for it if it hadn't been lost to fire damage in storage. Trust me, that RoadApple box is still on hand!

dunno, this is a tough call in your case.

Point her here to read our comments if you'd like, but first, check out the 68kMLA's old site thru the "classic" link in my sig. I think you're talking about "QuadraJets" posts over there. Search it and then post a link to that fiasco in here before deciding what to do, this is going to makje for a very interesting topic!

Searching AF1.5 for posts made by CL with packing + peanuts + shipment or some combination like that might just work too. Make sure to set the oldest post date back far enough, the default is just ridiculous, leading lots of members to assume the search function doesn't work or comes up empty without realizing they've only searched the most recent week or so worth of the database.

I think I've typed enough for one day!

jt

Perpetrator of the 68kMLA's text format impaired:
Peripherals Links Project(tm)
. . . and LinksProjectClassic(tm)

I think thats up there on my list of seller BS. I know that shipping for AIOs is upthere but $40 sounds more than enough. And packing materials are cheap. I've got 3 huge boxes filled with packing material

That makes me mad/sad to see Macs get smashed up like that. That is similar to my 8100 when I recieved it. The external case wasnt bad, just the CD bezel was broke off and the top left corner is broke, but inside was another story. As soon as I opened it lots of bits of plastic came out from who knows where. My guess is clips that hold the logic board in place, and tabs that hold the rear plasic cover thingy on. The box looked just about like the package from Ace Ventura, all beat up and stuff.

I hate people who do that. Im shipping cubkid a 1400, man, the box is bulging i got so much packing material in there, i wrapped the screen with like 10 layers of foam material, bubble wrap, and some other kinda foam. That thing will never break

This is a clear case for the use of shipping insurance, andd inspecting the box contents the monet they are delivered, before you sign off on it for the shipper. Any good shipper expects you to open the box while they wait when they deliver it under insurance.

Jon.

No one should be protected from the effects of his own stupidity. - Anton Szandor LaVey in 1988 (There is a certain irony in this quote... )

Hmmm, I have *never* seen a shipper wait for me to open a box. I suppose I've never asked though. I have, however, been quized on how I packed something when shipping a box. I'm surprised they let her get away with sending her box, since the item inside would have been obviously bouncing around. The way I see it, it wasn't UPS's fault, it was her's, so they shouldn't have to pay, she should. Maybe that's just my own sense of justice. Anyway, we've exchanged emails and reached closure.
I actually have thought shipping insurance was a scam, ever since a couple of years ago when my wife sent herself a well-packed package that was punctured and damaged by the post office. When she took it back to make a claim, they didn't believe that the damage could have been caused by the puncture in the side of the box, and she had, in the course of opening and finding the damage (duh!), changed the arrangement of the contents! It was such a clear case, but the extra money for insurance might as well have been flushed down the toilet.

"Lost in this controversy is one important point: That the Dixie Chicks' music profoundly blows."

And that is why you open the box in front of the delivery person. They are a witness to the fact that the package was either in good or bad shape at the time of delivery. It would have been nocontest if the delivery preson saw the damage and your wife did not sign for the package being recieved in good shape.

Jon.

No one should be protected from the effects of his own stupidity. - Anton Szandor LaVey in 1988 (There is a certain irony in this quote... )

Any time that you receive a damaged package, you should make the delivery person witness you opening and inspecting the package and its contents. You should also itemize ANY damage to the package, both inner, outer and contents plainly on the shipping papers along with your signature, time, and date. Tell the delivery person that you are going to make a claim. When you make your claim it should be against the shipping company. You also have the right to refuse to accept the package at the time of delivery. You can still make a claim even if you refuse to accept the package. Just be sure to get copies of the shipping papers. The delivery person has carbons and you can get one.
Bummer on your banged up computer, though. Still wouldn't hurt to post a warning comment on eBay about how your package arrived.

Having an ebay feedback myself that's close to the same level as yours, with no negatives, I too would be hesitant to leave negative feedback for her, though if she was whining about underestimating the shipping costs - which was completely her responsibility - I'd at least think about it.

I'd be inclined to leave a neutral feedback and mention the product was damaged in shipping due to poor packing.

That, or leave no feedback at all.

The only thing that I could add here is that if you
have a camera (digital is great here), take pictures
of the cartons, and the goods inside for your records
and also include copies to the claims adjusters. Note
time, date, etc. on backs of pictures.

Some people march to a different drummer... I have a 52-piece orchestra playing just for me!

it makes me übersad to see such a neat little Mac all banged up like that. Whoever packed that should be subjected to a public flogging. This is a display of utter disrespect for a perfectly good Mac.

Right, I manage a shipping department for a mail order company..

1) 40$ is entirely possible for that package. UPS does not go on weight alone. They have this wonderful little feature called "dimentional weight" where if you have a large box, you enter the dimentions of the box into the computer. There are two classes of oversize, OS1 and OS2. They ding the hell out of you for sending an oversize box, and that one looks like it could be borderline OS1/OS2

2) That is shoddily packed. End of story. while newspaper is a great packing medium for computers, you need a helluva lot of it to do any good, and in this case, you need a much heavier gauge cardboard box. The weight of the item blows the crud out of such a lightweight box.

3) if you must use a lightweight box, pack the hell out of it. use as much packing as humanly possible.

4) ups are gorillas. Fedex ground are worse. heres why:

4a) UPS employees are all about speed. lighter packages will fare better than heavier packages in terms of shipping. If you've ever been in a sorting depot, you'd know it gets nuts in there. they toss the boxes around. One thing about UPS is that all drivers/package handlers are employees of UPS. They are more courteous with packages because they can be held accountable for damages, loss, or late delivery.

4b) FedEx ground drivers are not employees of fedex. If you notice, there is a ground driver AND an air driver. Ground drivers are contract employees. They don't give two hoots and a holler if your package gets there on time, in one piece, or even in the right place. We had several experiences before we stopped shipping FDX ground where a package going six hours away MAX (barstow from LA) took twentyfour days to get there, and came like it went through world war three.

well, these are my thoughts, I think that UPS does the best job in the shipping world, you just need to pack properly

tomorrow's lesson, DAMAGE CLAIMS

CCC

I don't think anybody would want to see a beautiful computer like that banged up....unless ur a freak of nature, or somthing like that, i know this one guy, who works on computers, who knows this other guy, who took a SLEDGEHAMMER to his computer because it was a little slow....i mean cmon who in their rite mind would do that, and after he did that, he busted out all of the ports out w/ a screwdriver & a hammer, thats just not rite!

Well ya'll are pretty right on

Other things you should consider when packing.
*3ft drops onto hard concrete
*Being thrown ~6ft onto conveyor belts
*Being the cornerstone of a trailer wall, 8ft high
*Being pushed, dragged, and slung along a rough burlap textured converyor system that has no reservations about removing loose labels.

Dog
Some of the dumbest things i've see:
-Blueprints shipped in brown paper bags
-Letters shipped as a letter (not even hard paper)
-Shipping Documents 1in thick in an unclosed plastic baggie
-Oh and the infamous luggage, suitcase, surfboard with a UPS label

and then it will probably make it through OK. As a long-time eBay buyer-and-seller (dankephoto) I've seen it all . . .

dog wrote;

Exactly!! I've been astounded numerous times by amateur shippers' ideas of what happens to packages once handed over to a shipping company. Newspaper loosely stuffed around an LC575!! LOL, I've gotten those too! Smashed and broken beyond belief? Well, duh!!!

I always test my own outgoing packaging with this concept - if I can throw the packed box across the room against a wall and _know_ the contents will survive - I'll have done a decent packing job.

Dan K

I once bought a mac classic with stylewriter which came in a huge box with no wrapping at all. There was a huge hole in the side of the box. I got the stylewriter out, plugged it in. Nothing. Plugged in the classic. Got a rough sounding hard drive and thats it. There were big spots of something INSIDE the CRT (maybe it got all smashed inside?) and i got a full refund + another classic. worked out well for me!! But it was a pain in the arse though.

Oli

Just wanted to bitch n whine cause I just received a system where the shipper didn't secure the 5.25" drives in the case. Actually bent the bracket and just shoved it (the bracket) in there and didn't even bother trying to screw it down or use the latch that's supposed to hold the drives in place. Put the cover back on it, put it in it's original box (with custom fitted foam) and shipped that. To CA from AL

Yeah, well get it in, and the CDRW and DVD had been bouncing around inside the case. The panel of the case is all banged out, the motherboard power connector is pushed up and over on the board, and there's a strong funky smell that's either cat piss or broken electronics. I doubt it was insured properly and even if it was, insurance doesn't cover damage caused from the improper securing of internal components. Bastard is unwilling to accept responsibility for it too. *sigh*

Dog
Yeah me!