How badly does Amazon package your Blu-ray and 4k discs? (1 Viewer)

[Malcolm R]

You could also place separate orders a day or two apart, separating the big bulky items from the smaller items, and the items would likely be packaged and shipped separately. I doubt Amazon will care enough to individually package separate items within a single order. One of the caveats of the "free shipping" with Prime is that orders are combined as much as possible. That most likely means just tossing everything that will fit into a single box.

On the upside, from the pic it doesn't appear anything was damaged.

As with Adam, I don't generally order much from Amazon other than movies/music/books, so I haven't really had any packaging issues.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I can't remember the last time I received a disc from Amazon (the U.S. branch, at least) in anything other than those bubble mailers.

I don't know if this is completely true, but I have a friend who sells items on Amazon as a "fulfilled by Amazon"-type of third party seller. He told me that due to Amazon's deal with the post office, they get a flat rate of 50 cents a package for any item sent in one of those mailers rather than a rigid box. Apparently part of the reason has to do with the type of packaging, that if it's in rigid cardboard it gets accessed at a different parcel rate, whereas if it's in one of those envelopes which is capable of being bent (even if the content inside isn't), then it is accessed at a lower letter rate. So apparently it's one of those things where they're saving so much by using those bubble mailers that they can absorb the cost of a damaged or replaced item, that it's cheaper to replace something for the handful of people that will complain than it would be to send everything more securely in the first place.

I think a lot of the damage that comes to my items happens less from the actual shipping part of the equation, and more from it being shoved into my mailbox by the postal service. Without having a way to determine how accurate this is, I've been lead to believe that this is because of those bubble mailers being sent as letters rather than parcels, which is a signal to the postal worker that the item may be folded or bent to fit into the mailbox, whereas a parcel would be designated as a "do not bend"-type item where it wouldn't be policy to try to shove it in the box no matter what. But apparently because that bubble mailer counts as a letter, they're not going to handle it with extra and will treat it like a regular letter, which means it gets shoved into the box. Not sure if that's true, but that's the only explanation I've ever been offered on this.

Anyway... that, in a nutshell, sums up my problem with Amazon these days. They offer a lot of very good services that I've grown to rely on. But they're no longer customer friendly and just try to do it on all on volume. Their service definitely is oriented towards doing something as cheaply as possible and then addressing complaints after the fact, rather than spending a tiny bit more upfront and getting it right the first time. I've complained again and again and I won't hesitate to write in if I get something in bad condition. I used to be the guy that would check to make sure I was getting an undamaged copy when I'd purchase in a brick and mortar store, and I'm not going to lower my standards or accept less than I've paid for just because the item is being shipped. And, truth be told, it's not "free" shipping - its shipping that I've spent a $100 fee for. Amazon no longer offers any kind of price protection, and in my experience, shipping speed has also been reduced. So if they can't guarantee the best price or the quickest delivery, all that's left is to make sure that the item arrives in good condition at least.

 

[Nelson Au]

Josh, that makes a lot of sense and I would bet that Amazon gets a great deal on shipping charges from the USPS! I meant to ask that in my earlier post.

 

[RichMurphy]

in my experience, shipping speed has also been reduced

Interesting. My experience is just the opposite. Here in the Virginia suburbs, I only upgrade to one-day shipping when the item is immediately needed, since my standard two-day Prime shipments occasionally arrive in only one day anyway.

By the way, I second Malcolm R.'s suggestion about placing orders for bulky and fragile items separately, a few days apart.

 

[BobO'Link]

You could also place separate orders a day or two apart, separating the big bulky items from the smaller items, and the items would likely be packaged and shipped separately. I doubt Amazon will care enough to individually package separate items within a single order. One of the caveats of the "free shipping" with Prime is that orders are combined as much as possible. That most likely means just tossing everything that will fit into a single box.

That's exactly what happens with "No Rush Shipping." I use it almost all the time for the digital credits. I've had discs thrown in boxes with cans of coffee, cartons of juice, cans of other food, and never with proper or enough packing to protect the more fragile items in the box. I've planned the timing of orders to help ensure fragile items do not get packaged with heavy items and they'll delay the fragile one so it goes out in the same box as the heavy one. I've had a box of heavy items with a disc in the box arrive the same day as a box containing nothing but a 20 pack of tea bags. The disc would have been better protected in the smaller box. Both packages shipped the same day.

I once got placed a Prime Pantry order of 4 12 packs of soda and 3 packages of chips. The chips were used for padding to keep the soda cartons from "banging" around. Of course the chips were crushed and the bags popped. It was a mess. I complained and got it replaced.

I've had boxes of instant oatmeal shipped in those paper bubble mailers. Arrived crushed with individual packets popped open. Replaced.

Package of peanut butter snack crackers shipped in a bubble mailer. Crushed - replaced.

A door handle for the car shipped in a bubble mailer. It was wrapped in bubble wrap and put in the mailer. No damage - amazingly.

Discs - CD/DVD/BR regularly shipped in bubble mailers far too large. About 10% arrive with damage to the spine/case. I get replacements.

Books shipped in simply plastic mailers - no bubble. Usually arrive with damage. If bad enough I get a replacement or return them.

The stuff I get delivered by UPS is almost always damaged to some extent, from a DVD in a bubble mailer to boxes of juice. That rarely happens if the USPS does the final delivery. If a USPS delivered item is damaged I can always trace the damage to improper packaging as the package/envelope is typically in perfect condition.

I absolutely hate bubble mailers and don't see why a small box (smaller than the current "A1" size) couldn't be used - something that would hold up to 3 titles - for roughly the same shipping cost. I got hundreds of CDs and DVDs from Columbia House and BMG that were in "fitted" cardboard shipping "boxes" and rarely got one with damage. They would be preferable to bubble mailers.

In all fairness, I only get a damaged product in 1 out of 30 or so shipments but I always cringe when I see those bubble mailers. During "busy" times of the year I get 4-7 packages a day from Amazon (570 orders in 2017 according to my history with ~25% cancelled due to a better price before shipment occurred). Everything I order is a separate shipment to take advantage of the $1 digital credit for "No Rush Shipping" - I've more than offset my Prime membership with these credits.

 

[dvdclon]

Interesting. My experience is just the opposite. Here in the Virginia suburbs, I only upgrade to one-day shipping when the item is immediately needed, since my standard two-day Prime shipments occasionally arrive in only one day anyway.

By the way, I second Malcolm R.'s suggestion about placing orders for bulky and fragile items separately, a few days apart.

It just occurred to me that you might be able to prevent the combining of packages by using different addresses for different categories. For instance: 101-D Main Street for dog food and 101-P Main Street for potato chips. Or perhaps 101 Main Street Box D. Or even something like Department D. It might be good to check with your PO or carrier first, though.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

By the way, I second Malcolm R.'s suggestion about placing orders for bulky and fragile items separately, a few days apart.

I would definitely recommend doing them days apart - I've tried to do this with orders on the same date or only a day apart, and I find they get combined anyway.

Interesting. My experience is just the opposite. Here in the Virginia suburbs, I only upgrade to one-day shipping when the item is immediately needed, since my standard two-day Prime shipments occasionally arrive in only one day anyway.

What I'm finding is that they're waiting longer to ship items, but that the transit time is basically the same. So even though I have Prime shipping, I'll look at an item being sold by Amazon, and see that it's in stock and prime eligible, but that it won't ship for a day or days. So it'll get to me with free two day shipping when they send it, but they're no longer sending items immediately. You would think, for instance, that an item ordered during the day today should ship out today for delivery on Friday. What I'm finding is that a lot of things now will only ship Thursday or Friday for Tuesday delivery. They'll offer one day shipping where it'll arrive tomorrow, but it'll list "Tuesday" as being the two-day delivery date if I don't want to pay for one-day shipping. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason for which items are affected by this.

That's exactly what happens with "No Rush Shipping." I use it almost all the time for the digital credits.

I would be more inclined to use "No Rush Shipping" if they'd offer me something of use. Unfortunately, for at least a year, my offer has been exclusively for Prime Pantry, a service I do not use, nor do I have any intention of using. I haven't seen a digital credit offered to my account since 2016.

I absolutely hate bubble mailers and don't see why a small box (smaller than the current "A1" size) couldn't be used

As I was saying above, I've been led to believe it's because the types of packaging are charged at different rates. If it's sent in a bubble mailer, Amazon supposedly only has to pay 50 cents for that envelope, regardless of the size or weight of that envelope. If they send it in a rigid box, then they are charged a higher rate rather than that 50 cent flat rate.

So my theory is that the money saved with that flat rate shipping exceeds whatever credits they have to issue due to damaged merchandise.

It sound similar to their "guaranteed delivery dates" and "release date delivery" policies - in the past, I would always, always, always get new releases on their Tuesday street date if the item offered release date delivery on order. Occasionally they'd show up a day early, but usually on street date. In the past 2-3 years, they have stopped sending things early. Now all "release date delivery" items that I order that have Tuesday release dates are sent via overnight shipping late Monday, which means that some arrive late. It seems that they would rather have to issue a credit for the occasional missed shipment, rather than sending them early enough to ensure that none are late in the first place.

 

[BobO'Link]

I would be more inclined to use "No Rush Shipping" if they'd offer me something of use. Unfortunately, for at least a year, my offer has been exclusively for Prime Pantry, a service I do not use, nor do I have any intention of using. I haven't seen a digital credit offered to my account since 2016.

The few times I've gotten those it's taken accepting them a couple of times before the digital credit returns. When I'm forced to get them I do and then do a stacking discount with the "Buy 5 get a $6 credit" grouping of products. I can always find 5 things in the groupings and that gets a $6 credit which covers shipping. I then get another $6 off for the "No Rush" credit making those 5 or 6 things cost less (there's a minimum dollar amount to get the full $6 - I think it's ~$12 of product but it's been too long since I've gotten one of those to do that). I've not gotten a Prime Pantry credit offer in over a year. That doesn't bother me at all.

As I was saying above, I've been led to believe it's because the types of packaging are charged at different rates. If it's sent in a bubble mailer, Amazon supposedly only has to pay 50 cents for that envelope, regardless of the size or weight of that envelope. If they send it in a rigid box, then they are charged a higher rate rather than that 50 cent flat rate.

So my theory is that the money saved with that flat rate shipping exceeds whatever credits they have to issue due to damaged merchandise.

I fully agree. The large variety of items I've received in bubble mailers, which would be better protected in a box, pretty much verifies that.

I noticed a few weeks back they completely took down their "Packaging feedback" page. For a couple of months it was partially hidden but I found it anyway and continued to give them "poor" ratings on almost everything (a few things they actually continued to get right). A week or so back, after getting another damaged product in a bubble mailer, I looked for it to find it's being redirected to the information page.

 

[John Dirk]

You could also place separate orders a day or two apart, separating the big bulky items from the smaller items, and the items would likely be packaged and shipped separately. I doubt Amazon will care enough to individually package separate items within a single order. One of the caveats of the "free shipping" with Prime is that orders are combined as much as possible. That most likely means just tossing everything that will fit into a single box.

On the upside, from the pic it doesn't appear anything was damaged.

As with Adam, I don't generally order much from Amazon other than movies/music/books, so I haven't really had any packaging issues.

The irony here is that Amazon Prime customers [who pay more] appear to be being treated worse than those of us who do not subscribe to Prime. I don't order a lot from Amazon either, yet when I do, the packaging has never been an issue.

 

[John Dirk]

So my theory is that the money saved with that flat rate shipping exceeds whatever credits they have to issue due to damaged merchandise.

I hope Amazon is smarter than that. Each damaged product also damages their reputation even if they do eventually make the buyer whole.

 

[Mark Booth]

I buy my Blu-Rays at Target because they are generally cheaper than Amazon after my RedCard discount.

Mark

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I hope Amazon is smarter than that. Each damaged product also damages their reputation even if they do eventually make the buyer whole.

I agree, but they seem not to care.

They don't give partial refunds for canceling prime earlier, so they probably figure that they already got my membership fee for the year, so why put more effort in. And, if they look closer, they'd probably be okay with losing me a customer. I buy a lot of low-margin items like discs, and get a lot of "free" two-day shipping for those items. They're probably not making a fortune on me. They might even be better off without me. At least, that may be the internal thinking.

 

[Adam Gregorich]

You could also place separate orders a day or two apart, separating the big bulky items from the smaller items, and the items would likely be packaged and shipped separately. I doubt Amazon will care enough to individually package separate items within a single order. One of the caveats of the "free shipping" with Prime is that orders are combined as much as possible. That most likely means just tossing everything that will fit into a single box.

On the upside, from the pic it doesn't appear anything was damaged.

As with Adam, I don't generally order much from Amazon other than movies/music/books, so I haven't really had any packaging issues.

I have ordered items a day apart before and had them show up packaged together, so it would probably have to be several days apart.

 

[Malcolm R]

I have ordered items a day apart before and had them show up packaged together, so it would probably have to be several days apart.

I would wait until I get a shipping notice for the prior order.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

I havent recieved BLUs / DVDs in a box from US amazon in a long time. It used to be that if you ordered 4 or more and they all shipped from the same whse that youd usually get them in a box. Not anymore they just throw them in a BIGGER yellow bubble mailer.

Ive complained so many times that you spend so much money buy amazon acts like its your fault because the case comes looking beat up and used. Its clear amazon could care less about how the item arrives.

I wish they offered an option to ship the BLU or DVDs in a BOX id be willing to pay so an additonal 1.00 - 2.00 on my order to request they ship in box.

For more cult / horror titles I try to use Diabolik DVD .com. They always wrap items / ship them protected. They ship items the way they would to get them. Looking like a NEW item you purchased.

 

[Richard V]

Maybe all these problems have to do with which particular Amazon distribution center is being used. As I stated earlier in this thread, I've never had a problem with damaged media. If I order one or two Blurays, they arrive in bubble wrapped envelopes, but if I order 3 or more or a a box set, they arrive in boxes with those air bag thingies. I ordered my Outer Limits Bluray box set, and it arrived in a box, not a large bubble wrap envelope, and was totally unscathed. I live in Texas as one of the other members mentioned, who I believe also said he had no issues. Have never had to call customer service to complain.

 

[John Sparks]

From the US, my discs came in boxes, now bubble mailers. From the UK, they come in flat boxes that can be easily opened on the tucked in ends...for customs maybe?

 

[Brian Kidd]

As someone who used to work for the House that Bezos built (though, disclaimer, no longer do and haven't in a couple of years), I can at least provide some answers from personal experience.

If the Customer Service Associate tells you that a shipping problem will never happen again, they're lying. Amazon is a huge company and the Customer Service folks have no direct connection to the Fulfillment Centers other than a form they can fill out when there has been an issue. Where that form goes? Who knows? The best CSA's at Amazon won't blow smoke up your butt, but there are always less-than-stellar folks who will tell you whatever it is that they think will make you click "Yes" on the all-important "Did I solve your problem?" survey at the end of the email they send you after you've contacted Amazon. Their jobs literally depend on getting as few "No's" as possible on those. What they do is tell you what you want to hear, you click "yes," and then you don't realize until later that the problem really wasn't solved. You end up contacting Amazon again and the poor person who gets you the second time is already starting the call at a deficit. Often times, they'll be the ones who are honest and truthful about what can and can't be done about a situation and end up taking the "No" because people have either been promised something that can't be provided or, often, the second person actually does solve the problem, but the customer is pissed off that they've had to contact Amazon more than once and they still click "No" on the second person. It definitely sucks to work in Customer Service if you're honest.

As for Amazon not caring about your individual shipping needs as long as it keeps costs down? You're absolutely correct. They don't. They're a business out to make money and one of the ways to do that is to keep costs down as low as possible while not reaching the tipping point whereby taking care of the problems that arise is more expensive than the money saved on a process. They ship things as cheaply as possible, even for Prime members. On the vast majority of orders (and this is a huge amount of orders), things don't get damaged and all is good. Sometimes they do and Amazon is pretty good about issuing replacements or refunds, depending on what is available. The few orders they have to replace are a drop in the bucket next to the money they save by using the most inexpensive shipping materials and methods. Look at it this way, though. Amazon is still really good at making sure the customer either has a refund or replacement. A lot of places aren't.

Are there smaller companies that take more care in their shipping methods? You bet. With that said, you usually end up paying more for the item and shipping at one of those smaller companies. You want it fast and cheap? You go with Amazon and usually end up okay. You want white glove service and immaculately-packaged items? You pay more and go with a smaller company.

I can totally understand everyone's frustrations with Amazon. Believe me, I call them on the carpet when they have screwed up or I know I'm being lied to by a CSA. With that said, I've seen it from the other side and can tell you that the majority of the folks at Amazon are decent folks who truly do the best they can under the circumstances they're handed from Seattle. I've seen folks in both Customer Service and the Shipping Dept. go out of their way to make sure that someone has a last-minute Christmas gift or something that is needed for someone who is not long for this world. The majority of the people are good and decent. There are also those who should lose their jobs immediately and who tend to bring down the reputation of the company because of laziness, spite, and greed.

Hope my response helped.

 

[jcroy]

The primary reason I only really buy dvds/blurays from amazon or costco, is that too many local offline retailers give you the fifth degree whenever there's problems with defective discs and you ask for an exchange. In this regard, amazon and costco are the least problematic.

Not worth the time and headaches anymore (along with wasted gasoline), in dealing with local retailers who are a crapshoot when it comes to getting an exchange for defective dvd/bluray discs. They lost my business a long time ago, and they can go screw themselves !!!

 

[jcroy]

To avoid problems like the photo in the first post on this thread, I generally order in blocks of only dvds/blurays without anything else.

I wait for the package to be sent in the mail, before doing an order for something non-dvd/bluray (such as books, etc ...). This usually means checking the tracking number(s) of the package delivery company or postal service, to make sure that the package has already left amazon's facilities.