Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

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rocketboy001
 
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Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by rocketboy001 »

Ordered a POV kit and this is how it came

I urge Adafruit Industries to make this right.

Why they thought shipping stuff in a plastic bag was ok is beyond me.
Last edited by rocketboy001 on Thu May 04, 2017 12:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

magician13134
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by magician13134 »

I've ordered from Adafruit many times and have never seen anything like that... There's no chance that ANY package could get damaged THAT much during shipping. It honestly looks like that was run over by a truck - several times. I didn't even know it was POSSIBLE to bend circuit boards like that... You may want to take this up with FedEx also... (The plastic bag is a FedEx thing, they do that when they don't want it to get wet, or in this case, maybe, they didn't want you to see the damage until they'd driven off).

In Adafruit's defense, I ship kits too, and a bubble mailer is my packaging of choice. They're much more convenient, let you pay less for shipping, and will withstand most forces (NOT including being run over by a FedEx truck)

niksun
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by niksun »

Every time I've ordered something from adafruit, I've gotten it in a box. But maybe it's because I get so much. :lol: :lol:

mtbf0
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by mtbf0 »

man, i've been a letter carrier for 20 years and i can't imagine what i'd have to do to a package to do that kind of damage. that wasn't just run over by a truck. the 2313 is sheared in two and the circuit board is bent. there's not a reasonably sized cardboard box on earth that would have saved that sucker. those fedex guys are good.

i've ordered from adafruit many times and always choose priority mail. gets here, (ca), in a couple of days and always intact.

oooh, look. i just made a commercial.

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rocketboy001
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by rocketboy001 »

I realize that the bag is a FedEx thing...

Point remains that they shipped my order in a paper envelope.

I can't imagine using a box (if sufficient size for my order) would add any significant cost to the shipping process.

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rocketboy001
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by rocketboy001 »

Point remains... they shipped it in a paper envelope just absolutely stupid.

Whatever happened to it a a box alone might have not saved it. But that still does not excuse the grossly improper packing.

If your scenario is correct (the truck) then if it were in a box... perhaps it would have been seen by FedEx better and not have been run over.

It is the responsibility of the original shipper to insure that packages are properly packed. In that case this is a FAIL for Adafruit Industries. I understand that it may have been FedEx who damaged the package, it could have been a pack of wild blue wolves who knows? Point is Adafruit Industries demonstrated gross negligence by shipping my order in a paper envelope.

I do not believe that using a box and proper packing materials would add significant cost to the shipping for Adafruit Industries especially since I expect them to give me a full refund of my order and I don't intend to order from them again (they lost a customer).

My complaint to Adafruit Industries is not so much that my package was damaged; my complaint to them is that they were negligent in the packing of my order. A paper envelope? Really?

I have e-mailed Adafruit Industries but am not holding my breath as it says on their contact page "You should receive a reply within a few days."

Don't suppose I'm getting this resolved in time for VDAY.

magician13134
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by magician13134 »

I have never been particularly fond of those "paper padded" envelopes, and I don't recall ever getting my kits in one of those. Still, I think padded envelopes are the way to go as opposed to boxes. In a box, thing are more likely to roll around than in an envelope and they provide very little extra stability. Still, I'm quite positive that you will get this resolved, the customer support here is very good. (It's important to keep in mind, though, that Adafruit is not a huge company, just a couple of people [just one? I know there was another person mentioned in designing the x0x, but I don't know how many people work full time], so you may not get a response immediately...)

Do you NEED a MiniPOV by VDay? If you live in the midwest, I could possibly ship one to you in time, and you could send it back once you get your issue resolved.

mtbf0
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by mtbf0 »

you probably couldn't tell, but the tiny2313 and it's socket are shipped inside the battery holder to protect them. i have received a few minipovs from adafruit packed like this and there has never been any problem.

you're package received extraordinary handling.

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rocketboy001
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by rocketboy001 »

I know the damage is a result of extremely poor handling on the part of FedEx FedEx; even if it had been in a box my order would have likely been damaged given the same handling. Just not a fan of those envelopes.

Adafruit has sent another kit via overnight and it looks like it will be here tomorrow. They sent it in a box :).

Problem solved. Adafruit has redeemed themselves - again it was not the damage I was upset at Adafruit about it was the use of those paper envelopes.

adafruit
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by adafruit »

rocketboy/adam
you contacted us via the contact page and i responded in under an hour and took care of your package, both filing a claim and reshipping it in a box as requested

to be clear, we dont ship kits in plastic bags, and we dont ship in thin paper (tyvek) envelopes.
we use boxes and thick padded mailers.
padded mailers are good packaging, are eco-friendly, and reduce shipping costs (passed onto the customer) due to weight and size. they actually cost about the same as a box. we've had only 1 damaged kit (yours) in tens of thousands of padded mailers shipped. the mailers are good quality and provide excellent protection for day-to-day shipping abuse and they fit inside mailboxes which is very handy.
(however, it wouldn't make a difference if it were in a box because of the severe damage, so the packaging method is irrelevant)

if there's a problem with an order we'll take care of it and usually within a day, but posting angry notes in the forums at 2am in the morning, before we've even had a chance to get up and read email, is unfair. :cry:

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rocketboy001
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by rocketboy001 »

ladyada wrote:rocketboy/adam
you contacted us via the contact page and i responded in under an hour and took care of your package, both filing a claim and reshipping it in a box as requested

to be clear, we don't ship kits in plastic bags, and we dont ship in thin paper (tyvek) envelopes.
we use boxes and thick padded mailers.
padded mailers are good packaging, are eco-friendly, and reduce shipping costs (passed onto the customer) due to weight and size. they actually cost about the same as a box. we've had only 1 damaged kit (yours) in tens of thousands of padded mailers shipped. the mailers are good quality and provide excellent protection for day-to-day shipping abuse and they fit inside mailboxes which is very handy.
(however, it wouldn't make a difference if it were in a box because of the severe damage, so the packaging method is irrelevant)

if there's a problem with an order we'll take care of it and usually within a day, but posting angry notes in the forums at 2am in the morning, before we've even had a chance to get up and read email, is unfair. :cry:
Agreed - I was not fair to you and your right FedEx was the one who damaged my order. You responded in a timely manner and replaced my order via overnight shipping. I still don't like receiving packages in envelopes but that is not here nor there. I apologize.

I'm ok with this post being removed from the forum.

magician13134
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by magician13134 »

Removing the post is your call Ladyada, but I'd actually be kind of curious to see how this plays out with FedEx, I want to know what excuse they could POSSIBLY give for this kind of man-handling of a package. RocketBoy, do you have any enemies that work at FedEx? :wink:

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rocketboy001
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by rocketboy001 »

magician13134 wrote:Removing the post is your call Ladyada, but I'd actually be kind of curious to see how this plays out with FedEx, I want to know what excuse they could POSSIBLY give for this kind of man-handling of a package. RocketBoy, do you have any enemies that work at FedEx? :wink:
Not that I'm aware of...

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mkanoap
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by mkanoap »

I like the envelopes. As pointed out elsewhere, a box would have made zero difference in protecting against being run over repeatedly by a tank and, apparently, savaged by lizards. So the question of "box vs envelope" is really divorced from this sad case and more just a matter of preference.

Having been pleased with the results of the mini-pov and brain machines I had built from the kits I had previously bought, I recently ordered three more mini-pov circuit boards to make into brain machines as gifts. Since I didn't need every part in the kit and I was going to place an order with mouser anyway for another project, I decided to just get the boards from adafruit and buy the other parts I needed from mouser.

The circuit boards came successfully in an envelope that nicely fit in my mail box, just like the kits I had bought before.

The mouser parts, which together didn't take up much more room than the kits would have, came in a box that I would estimate to be 2x1.5x1.5 feet. Inside the box was a few cubic inches of parts surrounded by an astounding amount of packing material. Which turned out to be good because the box was damp from sitting beside the mailbox it wouldn't fit in.

Where appropriate, I think the envelopes are much nicer.

magician13134
 
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Re: Adafruit Industries Deos Not Know What a Box is!!

Post by magician13134 »

Boxes from Digikey and Mouser absolutely ASTOUND me. When I made my first (real) order from Mouser, it came in not one, but TWO boxes, both filled about 3" high with over a foot of empty space (and packing peanuts) above them!

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