On the opposite side of things, I received a Brenthaven rebate from a laptop bag I bought recently. It was just a postcard style piece of paper printed with a cheque on the other side. We were mighty confused by it, but it cleared, so fine by me.

@mercurypdx: Oh $#!+ you are right. One time I actually did get a box that only contained styrofoam peanuts and a packing list.

There's just as much filler on this blog about overfilled packaging as there is overfilled packaging for this blog to blog about (mindfuck?). Don't get me wrong; I'm a big fan of the quality content this site provides, but seriously, where is this whining about packaging getting us?

Maybe the Consumerist should come up with some sort of generic letter that users can fill out and send to any company to register their complaint with how wasteful the company is when it comes to packing materials. It may never get anywhere, but at least it'd be a step in the right direction.

Agreed.

Hey.

The thing wasn't damaged, was it?

Do you get garbage pickup?

Problem solved.

There are much more important things to worry about.

We complain that it's hard to get personal attention on the phone when we have an issue to resolve. We complain when companies set impersonal and blanket shipping guidelines and the people who pack the boxes don't give a crap and have no incentive to. We complain when the guy at starbucks can't be bothered to make our drinks right. We complain when we DO hear from a company when they've done wrong and they're "Taking the matter very seriously"

The Super-saturated solution of this is: We all want more attention, but we aren't willing to pay for it.

There is no compromise, there is no way around it, no silver bullet. Good service costs money. People are not willing to spend money on service, only goods. Shareholders in companies want to see more growth, because those shareholders aren't making as much money at their jobs as they used to, because they had to cut back with the raises, because the shareholders wanted to see more growth.

I know, that was a sizeable rant in a thread about shipping boxes and waste, but the people who pack those boxes just don't care, and never will, because they have no satisfaction at their jobs. They (and their bosses) are trying to make the fastest buck they can, support their families for as long as they can, while not going crazy from how much their menial job sucks.

Yes, people complain if there is too little or too much packaging. It's because either extreme is not right. I think the idea is *adequate* packaging.

Before opening the envelope, I was worried that the company mistakingly didn't send the whole order.

I can tell you the person who packed it could care less and probably makes enough to live check to check each month. And they probably have a boss who scolds them for not packing items correctly. If you shake the box and something moves then it needs more packing material (in the eyes of a boss who doesnt want to deal with damaged goods).

If you think it's wastefull then find some use for it yourself. Stop complaining.

Hmm.. If I were DHL, I set up an online store that'll sell things at almost cost. Then pack the hell out of hit when shipping so DHL gets the profit.

Thanks for doing the hard work for me... I've been needing an iPhone headphone adapter.

Patrick

maybe its just me... but buy it in store if this bothers you... NO SHIPPING packaging waste, NO SHIPPING fuel waste on top... no complaining!

@ElizabethD: had it arrived broken you would be absolutely correct. however, I don't think any normal (or even abusive) force could have damaged the packaging, let alone the headphone adapter itself

Just sayin.

Yup, I find it really disturbing when I get a grossly overpacked shipment.

I had one idiot company send me a flat, 60 gram item in a relatively giant box, so they could get the box up to 1lb to qualify for shipping insurance. And I didn't even want insurance!