How is Amazon packing your expensive stuff?

Hi, I'd like to know your experiences about this. I have ordered a lot of stuff from Amazon.com, including most of my lenses, and some cameras. I have not bought a lens in a while, but I've noticed that for all the stuff they've shipped to me with the "FREE Super Saver" option, it has gotten VERY bad lately.

In these past months, I've had two ipods (returned), two XBox 360 HD-DVD drives (returned), a G9 (kept it), an HP HD-DVD drive (kept it) and a lot of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my head, but much is rather delicate electronics. I have always bought on Amazon with their free shipping, been a customer since 2001, and it had been good for all those 5 or so first years.

OK, so my problem is that the packaging has gotten unacceptably horrible! I ONLY get ONE OR TWO sides of the box (out of six possible sides, if I need to be clear) with ONE of those dreadful air bags on each "protected" side. And the item inside is just jumping around inside the box. I suspect both of the XBOX HD-DVD drives got screwed up because of that, since Microsoft's is also very shoddy packaging.

So my questions are:

How is Amazon packaging your delicate electronics and SLR lenses?

Which shipping option do you choose? (Free, 2-day, 1-day)

Where are you located, and from where do they ship?

It seems much of my stuff (the mainstream stuff like iPods and HD-DVD drives and compact cameras) is shipped from a shipping center here in CA. That's where most of the very shoddy packaging is coming from. I have already complained several times with no avail. Even after complaining and returning the product, the replacements came the exact same way.

If I remember correctly, my dSLR stuff was shipped from Florida mostly, and sometimes from Nevada. I don't remember having such trouble with those, but I don't know if it's because of the shipping location or the item's fragility.

Thanks for any comments you may have.

I am interested in this thread too as I was planning on buying some stuff from Amazon - external hard drives and canon lens.

I have bought a few things from B&H (cameras and lens x 4) and have always had good packaging (on 5 or 6 sides with air bags) from them.

saynomore said:

Hi, I'd like to know your experiences about this. I have ordered a
lot of stuff from Amazon.com, including most of my lenses, and some
cameras. I have not bought a lens in a while, but I've noticed that
for all the stuff they've shipped to me with the "FREE Super Saver"
option, it has gotten VERY bad lately.

In these past months, I've had two ipods (returned), two XBox 360
HD-DVD drives (returned), a G9 (kept it), an HP HD-DVD drive (kept
it) and a lot of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my
head, but much is rather delicate electronics. I have always bought
on Amazon with their free shipping, been a customer since 2001, and
it had been good for all those 5 or so first years.

OK, so my problem is that the packaging has gotten unacceptably
horrible! I ONLY get ONE OR TWO sides of the box (out of six possible
sides, if I need to be clear) with ONE of those dreadful air bags on
each "protected" side. And the item inside is just jumping around
inside the box. I suspect both of the XBOX HD-DVD drives got screwed
up because of that, since Microsoft's is also very shoddy packaging.

So my questions are:

How is Amazon packaging your delicate electronics and SLR lenses?

Which shipping option do you choose? (Free, 2-day, 1-day)

Where are you located, and from where do they ship?

It seems much of my stuff (the mainstream stuff like iPods and HD-DVD
drives and compact cameras) is shipped from a shipping center here in
CA. That's where most of the very shoddy packaging is coming from. I
have already complained several times with no avail. Even after
complaining and returning the product, the replacements came the
exact same way.

If I remember correctly, my dSLR stuff was shipped from Florida
mostly, and sometimes from Nevada. I don't remember having such
trouble with those, but I don't know if it's because of the shipping
location or the item's fragility.

Click to expand...

It also seems like for my last few free shipping orders, they have deliberately delayed shipping time. I know they state it can take 3-5 extra days or some nonsense like that with their free shipping, but since 2001 until a few months ago, never ONCE did they take so long to ship something even with free shipping. Actually, most if not all the stuff was shipped the very same day, if I ordered early enough.

But for the latest stuff I've ordered, they actually took 3-5 days just to ship the things, taking more than a week, almost two to get here. I am hoping it's just isolated events (with my bad luck of them being "isolated" consequently, though, heh), so I'd like to know your experience about this too, especially compared to one year ago or earlier.

Thanks again.

I realize they may be cheap, but once they get punctured, they don't protect anything, and the whole package goes loose. Just one needs to get punctured. Maybe the little air bags are better. Anyway, from B&H, I am almost sure that lately, they've been using foam peanuts instead, though I haven't ordered much from them these days.

PG1 said:

I am interested in this thread too as I was planning on buying some
stuff from Amazon - external hard drives and canon lens.

I have bought a few things from B&H (cameras and lens x 4) and have
always had good packaging (on 5 or 6 sides with air bags) from them.

Click to expand...

Yes, their priority to ship is paying customers first...they have actually held up some of my free shipping items for up to a month even though it was in stock. I will continue to do business with them, but their packing methods are just lousy...just air bags on the sides does not protect the tops and bottoms...I just returned two lens because of severe mildew on the end of the lens box...crazy! I think they are just too big and too busy to take much time to pack it they way the customer would like to see it arrive...they just hope it doesn't get broken and nobody will complain. They have lots of choices and therefore continue to be my first choice for online purchases.

My stuff comes in a box that is way too big and does not even have a airbag in some of them. I hate the airbags, too

B&H used to use peanuts to pack at their stuff and never had any damage. They went to the stupid airbags becasue they were cheaper and took zero warehouse space compared to the peanuts. My boxes now come crushed and all they do is blame the shipper.

There is nothing better than styro peanuts as the airbags will not support the weight of 50 other packages on top of yours. The is the reality of shipping no matter if free SuperSaver or Red Lable!

--
Greg Gebhardt in
Jacksonville, Florida

yeah they used to shgip supersave instantly, as fast as regular, now that is never the case. i think maybe they realized everyone knew free shipping was just as fast as basic and decided to put a stop to it.

my last dvd box from them was empty (post office stamped emopty all over it), but they didnt give me any trouble.

my camera stuff was packed well, but i never went sueprsaver with it.

dell though. my lense was in liek a 4x8" canon box and they tossed it and ONE peice of crumpled newspaper into a box like 20"x20"! all bouncing around loose inside! would've been way better to jsut ship the canon box with no outer box.

saynomore said:

saynomore said:

Hi, I'd like to know your experiences about this. I have ordered a
lot of stuff from Amazon.com, including most of my lenses, and some
cameras. I have not bought a lens in a while, but I've noticed that
for all the stuff they've shipped to me with the "FREE Super Saver"
option, it has gotten VERY bad lately.

In these past months, I've had two ipods (returned), two XBox 360
HD-DVD drives (returned), a G9 (kept it), an HP HD-DVD drive (kept
it) and a lot of other stuff that I can't remember off the top of my
head, but much is rather delicate electronics. I have always bought
on Amazon with their free shipping, been a customer since 2001, and
it had been good for all those 5 or so first years.

OK, so my problem is that the packaging has gotten unacceptably
horrible! I ONLY get ONE OR TWO sides of the box (out of six possible
sides, if I need to be clear) with ONE of those dreadful air bags on
each "protected" side. And the item inside is just jumping around
inside the box. I suspect both of the XBOX HD-DVD drives got screwed
up because of that, since Microsoft's is also very shoddy packaging.

So my questions are:

How is Amazon packaging your delicate electronics and SLR lenses?

Which shipping option do you choose? (Free, 2-day, 1-day)

Where are you located, and from where do they ship?

It seems much of my stuff (the mainstream stuff like iPods and HD-DVD
drives and compact cameras) is shipped from a shipping center here in
CA. That's where most of the very shoddy packaging is coming from. I
have already complained several times with no avail. Even after
complaining and returning the product, the replacements came the
exact same way.

If I remember correctly, my dSLR stuff was shipped from Florida
mostly, and sometimes from Nevada. I don't remember having such
trouble with those, but I don't know if it's because of the shipping
location or the item's fragility.

Click to expand...

It also seems like for my last few free shipping orders, they have
deliberately delayed shipping time. I know they state it can take 3-5
extra days or some nonsense like that with their free shipping, but
since 2001 until a few months ago, never ONCE did they take so long
to ship something even with free shipping. Actually, most if not all
the stuff was shipped the very same day, if I ordered early enough.

But for the latest stuff I've ordered, they actually took 3-5 days
just to ship the things, taking more than a week, almost two to get
here. I am hoping it's just isolated events (with my bad luck of them
being "isolated" consequently, though, heh), so I'd like to know your
experience about this too, especially compared to one year ago or
earlier.

Thanks again.

Click to expand...

wow mildew is really disturbing!

konacoffee said:

Yes, their priority to ship is paying customers first...they have
actually held up some of my free shipping items for up to a month
even though it was in stock. I will continue to do business with
them, but their packing methods are just lousy...just air bags on the
sides does not protect the tops and bottoms...I just returned two
lens because of severe mildew on the end of the lens box...crazy! I
think they are just too big and too busy to take much time to pack it
they way the customer would like to see it arrive...they just hope it
doesn't get broken and nobody will complain. They have lots of
choices and therefore continue to be my first choice for online
purchases.
--

Click to expand...

It seems that they just want their customers to notice their superb return policy! You know, since they'll be using it more often.

I have voiced my complaints over packaging with every return I have made, which before these past months have been more than in all the previous 5 or so years combined. Before I noticed this degradation in service, I only had returned one item in all those years, and it probably was because of packaging too, but not so blatant.

Anyway, thanks for the confirmation. I ordered early today an ST-E2, will see how it's handled. No signs of shipping today, though.

bronxbombers said:

yeah they used to shgip supersave instantly, as fast as regular, now
that is never the case. i think maybe they realized everyone knew
free shipping was just as fast as basic and decided to put a stop to
it.

my last dvd box from them was empty (post office stamped emopty all
over it), but they didnt give me any trouble.

my camera stuff was packed well, but i never went sueprsaver with it.

dell though. my lense was in liek a 4x8" canon box and they tossed it
and ONE peice of crumpled newspaper into a box like 20"x20"! all
bouncing around loose inside! would've been way better to jsut ship
the canon box with no outer box.

Click to expand...

IMHO Amazon has really gone downhill recently. They now use the USPS for shipping, and as other has pointed out, are very slow unless you pay for overnight or two day shipping. Also there packing is very poor. I just got a Canon S3 and it was in a box with one airbag on the side. Nothing below of above the camera. Just a bag to keep it from sliding around too much.

jerry

--
jerryk.smugmug.com

To Amazon - a 70-200mm f/2.8 IS is just a small box that needs to be shipped.

To B&H - it is a very expensive piece of hardware that they need to protect so they do not need to exchange it for another one, and not pi$$ off the customer who got their lens DOA. They know how much it costs and that its a hi-end, expensive lens.

I don't mind getting a CD or book from Amazon, but everything is just boxes and SKU's to them, not unique products.

...because I just had a lens shipped (california) that was received in good condition but was very poorly packed considering the price I paid for the item! Only one air bag and the lens box was free to move around the rest of the package. Not only that, but I received the packing slip from someone else's order (which means mine probably went to someone else too).

I've had nothing but spectacular service from amazon: fast, on time shipping, great quality products, very liberal return policy (sometimes they even pay for the shipping when it was my fault!) so I can't say I'm unhappy (and their prices are often the best), but it did make me pause...hmm...

Well, can't tell you much about amazon, but I just bought three L lens last month from B&H, I 1st very tempting bought these expensive len online, since I got the 24-70 from them, came in well packed, so I bought the 85L and 70-200L from them a week after. I'm very satify and happy when buying from them.
--

30D, 85mm F/1.2L II USM, 70-200mm F/2.8L IS USM, 28-135mm F/3.5-5.6 IS USM, 580EX II.

I refuse to buy anything fragile/breakable from Amazon because of their shoddy packing - only books, dvds, etc. They just slap whatever in a box with no regard to it's protection - that one airbag is strictly for looks if the rest of the sides are unprotected.
--
English Springer Spaniel Rescue
http://www.springerrescue.org/

I bought an 85 mm f1.8 lens from them. It was poorly packed just as you say.
Fortunately it worked fine. I will go back to B&H and pay shipping.

Jim
http://www.pbase.com/jcassatt

A poster or two received what they suspectrd to be bad copies of the Sigma 18-200 OS damaged during delivery. Others have had much better experiences with, for example, Sigma4Less.

Here is one of the posts in the thread that pointed to the possibility of poor packing resulting in damage:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1029&message=25248949

Thanks for all your comments, by the way.

So I already said I ordered an ST-E2 Friday morning (the same day I posted my OP). It was processed the same day, and shipped yesterday (Saturday). Looks like my previous years' experiences. Earlier today (Sunday, very early morning) I just ordered two more items (a softbox and grey card) and they are already charged, and the order is in process, which means (in 100% of my Amazon.com experience) that they will ship it as soon as possible (Monday).

It seems the shipping time is back to its old good quick self, but I'll still remain a bit doubtful until I take more orders. My previous 3 or so free shipping orders were seemingly purposefully delayed.

No hopes at all with the packing quality, though. THAT seems like something they won't fix any time soon. I thought it was only lesser electronics that got shipped like that (lesser in the price department, but not in the fragility one), but as others have commented they do it also with lenses and such. If they ship my expensive lens or DSLR like that, it's going back right away with a packaging complaint.

Luckily their return policy is great. I wonder though, 'cause they have a special option for shoddy packaging in their return form, if they realize how stupid for business this is. I mean if peanuts are too expensive, bubble wrap will also do. Damn, even use the very small air bags, but those big air bags are worthless. And pack it tight. I would even take used boxes with peanuts, rather than new boxes with two loose air bags.

Maybe all their budget for foam peanuts went to buy popular websites.

Amazon has some of the lousiest packaging out of all the online retailers that I use. Many times, they let items knock around in a box that's too large. Or they use so little packing material.

I have stopped ordering any lenses or other delicate electronics from Amazon because of their packing methods. The last item I received had one of the top flaps completely open. They basically taped one side and missed the other. I returned a 70-200 2.8L IS and then ordered it from B&H. B&H has always done a superior packing job in my experience with them compared to Amazon. Adorama has been pretty good too.

I'll probably still buy stuff at Amazon, just nothing delicate.