Bonehead (shipper) of the day - Post your encounter

I dont understand not taping the box. But i worked in shipping and receaving for many years shipping guitars in the tens of thousands. So my job literally hinged on how well i packed items. When i get done with a box you will wish you had the knife inside to open the thing.
 
PURPLEDC said:
I dont understand not taping the box. But i worked in shipping and receaving for many years shipping guitars in the tens of thousands. So my job literally hinged on how well i packed items. When i get done with a box you will wish you had the knife inside to open the thing.
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I hear you brother - the "never crossed my mind" was the cherry on top of the turd sundae and the line that made me nuts. Been in the freight business for years and seen a ton of packaged materials that was poorly done, but none devoid of tape.

Every item I have sold and shipped was a tape mummy. Heck, I even tape envelopes for the most part.
 
I had a khukuri sent from Europe in a padded envelope. The German post wrapped it in about a mile of tape after it poked out. I arrived. I found their email address and sent a thank you message via Google Translate (Hope the translation was not too bad.)

A turkey in Finland sent a puukko in a padded envelope, I got the envelope. I didn't want to do a refund. :grumpy:

Other than that, all the knives arrived. The katana from London was a different story. :(
 
I think it MIGHT help if people understand what happens to a box after it leaves your hands. It's not transported individually on its own silk pillow in an empty truck, and handled like a newborn baby...
It's going to be in piles with other packages on top of it, bouncing around in a truck, ran through industrial sorting machines, thrown, dropped, slid, rolled, etc...
If your package can't survive, say for instance, a drop down a couple flights of steps, it's probably not going to make it to its destination.

A little extra tape is MUCH cheaper than having to refund a buyer for a lost package.

Personally, I usually wrap (and tape) the item I'm boxing in some paper, and then use 2 or 3 good pieces of tape to secure it to the inside of the box. A little extra newspaper (or some grocery bags) adds some extra padding and fills the empty space. Now, even if the box gets ripped open, the item is still going to be there. I'll also tape ALL of the seams on the box, ESPECIALLY the glue side, and lately I've been running a piece of tape completely around the middle of the box, both lengthwise AND widthwise.
Labels, whether handwritten OR printed are completely taped over with transparent tape. Now there's no risk that the address is going to get accidentally smudged or damaged under most circumstances.

Tape is cheap. You can easily get a 30 yard roll of decent packing tape for about $5 (or less). That's about a nickel/foot of tape. Even if you use 10 feet of tape to re-enforce your box, that's only 50 cents for what? A $50 knife? $100 knife? $200 knife? $1000 knife? I think it is worth it.
 
I agree "knife to gun fight" - tape is cheap and it sounds like your packaging is the right move for these type of items.

I cannot fathom putting a knife in a padded envelope and thinking, "Done".

I am sure you have seen some crazy things pass through the USPS "Monofletch" - just a shame that the person at the counter did not mention the need for tape to secure the item - but coddling grown men is not their job.
 
Monofletch said:
Luckily my mail lady didn't lose a digit or two with this one..... The kydex sheath was in the box SEPARATE from the blade all wrapped up and secure!! :o

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^^^^that is why one day we will have to use special couriers to ship knives. (and it will be expensive)
That's just stupidity at it's finest.....
 
choombak said:
It still puzzles me why people would keep the fixed blade and its kydex sheath separate in the same box, especially folks who sell on the exchange. I have had a few blades arrive this way, thankfully the blade was covered properly with cardboard, but then why not in the kydex? Glad to know the mail lady was not hurt - this picture is scary.
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The main reason people take the knives out of the sheaths is so that they can use a littler box and save on shipping. Frequently, when the knife is in the sheath, the OAL will be longer than what can fit in a $5.95 "if it fits it ships" box. Separating them allows both "to fit".

I have received literally dozens of knives that were packaged so poorly that it's a wonder more haven't been lost than have been. I've been extremely lucky in that respect. I used to have packages go missing all the time. I live in the boonies and we have "mailbox shoppers". They follow the UPS, FedEx and USPS trucks around and help themselves to packages left in the mail box or on the porch. Since shifting all packages to be delivered to my PO box (even FedEx and UPS), I have only had 3 items not arrive in 4 years.

One knife coming from PA was lost due to the USPS box somehow getting soaked in a Dallas rainstorm and then tearing open on the conveyor belts somewhere. Box arrived wet and torn open in a handy-dandy PO plastic bag that "regretted that my package had been damaged" . One beautiful Camillus pearl Barlow gone astray.

One Bridgeport BSA hatchet lost due to the numbnuts shipper putting the hatchet LOOSE in a CURLING IRON box with a few balls of wadded up newspaper. Two SMALL pieces of tape to hold the open end shut (no tape at all on the other end). An otherwise empty box with 4 pieces of wadded up newspaper and a large hole in the box where the hatchet exited. Someone got a nice 1930 hatchet at the next "lost mail auction". I think the PO clerk told me all "lost in transit" items go to Atlanta to be auctioned off.

The third one (according to the seller) was in a small (3" x 4") envelope with some stamps on it. A small George Schrade 1930s-1940 GSA mess kit knife. No tracking, insurance, padding, or common sense. Just dropped the envelope in the drop box. Probably got ripped open by the envelope sorting machine.

Could have lost a 4th one. Again, very bad packaging, thin wall "display box" cardboard box, unsecured, unsheathed knife. When the load got to the PO, the unloading crew found a Camillus USN MK2 floating around loose in the cart. Since I've been having knives shipped through there for 4+ years, the whole group "knows" me, whether they've ever met me or not. As they were unloading the packages, they kept an eye out for a box with a "Kabar-sized hole" in it addressed to me. They then put the empty box with a note to see the postmaster in a delivery cabinet and left an access key in my mailbox.

When I went to the postmaster, he asked me if I could show him what was supposed to be in the box. I pulled up fleabay on my phone, went through looking for items shipping to me from Florida. When I told him that it should have had a blade marked, Camillus USN MK2 with a 3/8" pommel, he pulled out the knife, looked at it and said "I think this is a match."
 
We have a tub of items that our clerks find when sorting. They only keep items for a day or so then they are shipped to the lost and found.
 
Sure wish someone at the post office would have found mine - then again, I guess they did.

Shame that this type of nonsense happens often.
 
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Monofletch said:
We have a tub of items that our clerks find when sorting. They only keep items for a day or so then they are shipped to the lost and found.
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Is there a way for someone to check that store online? Doubt my knife found its' way there, but I can still hope.
 
I use a lot of 3M packing/shipping tape. I also put a piece of clear tape over the "to" and "from" addresses in order to waterproof them in case the postman spills a Coke on them...I don't want the ink to smear, although I guess the bar-codes would still be enuf to get it there.
I did have one nice Spyderco folder arrive in a bubble-wrapped envelope. It arrived okay, although the box was mushed pretty well.
Never did understand why someone would send a nicely-boxed and expensive folder in a very flexible envelope.
 
zzyzzogeton said:
The main reason people take the knives out of the sheaths is so that they can use a littler box and save on shipping. Frequently, when the knife is in the sheath, the OAL will be longer than what can fit in a $5.95 "if it fits it ships" box. Separating them allows both "to fit".
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I have done this with various fixed blades that I have sold. However, the tip and blade are securely wrapped and taped such that it doesn't have the potential to harm anyone...even if it escaped from the box somehow. I have learned this from custom makers who have shipped me knives in the past, and the method seems to be working just fine.
 
Got a Ratmandu shipped to me off ebay. The box was completely crushed. Inside, the knife was wrapped in ONE piece of paper towel. "Packing material" was 3 paper towels. Freakin D.A...
Look at all the poke marks! I'm shocked the mailman didn't get poked in the hand.
 
I have had a few knives come to me wrapped by folks who weren't paying attention. Two of them were actually from custom knifemakers from the Knifemaker's section. $100+ custom fixed blade...sent to me in a bubble envelope. One arrived to me, the other didn't. The OP's post actually resonated with me for that reason. The knife I had lost was a total win for me, the right color, the right blade shape, the right materials, everything. Guy sends it to me in a bubble envelope, and of course I get an empty envelope. The seller DID refund me instantly, so I'm not going to call him names (truth be told, I don't even recall who it was, it's been a year or so) but I was pretty upset when it happened. My email was pretty firm in tone when reporting the loss, and he said that he hadn't had any issues before. Hopefully the guy is using a box now. I couldn't imagine spending time creating something beautiful only to have it lost due to a poor packing job.

When I send out items, I use a box with lots of tape and air-bubble padding. I don't screw around.
 
Quiet said:
When I send out items, I use a box with lots of tape and air-bubble padding. I don't screw around.
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Damn straight. When I send items, the buyer needs to purchase another knife and have it shipped to them just so they can open my box!

Seriously, I drown those flat rate boxes in HD Clear Duck tape.

ETA: Here's the red head that helps me pack.

 
austexjg said:
I hear you brother - the "never crossed my mind" was the cherry on top of the turd sundae and the line that made me nuts. Been in the freight business for years and seen a ton of packaged materials that was poorly done, but none devoid of tape.

Every item I have sold and shipped was a tape mummy. Heck, I even tape envelopes for the most part.
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I tape everything. Even on envelopes I tape it to the point that even if the thing got a hole it would never get big enough to lose the contents inside. Hell, I have delayed shipping a day if I dont have tape. Its simply not worth the risk. And my ace hardware sells some absolutely killer packing tape for a buck a roll. I buy em by the dozen. My rule is, if you can open it with your bare hands, I didnt do my job.
 
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