eBay - Poor Seller Packaging for ThinkPad! *PIC*

[underclocker]

Just had to share this one...



As I do with any electronics purchase, especially ThinkPads, I asked that the seller wrap and pack the item very well. This is even more important for international shipments via multiple governmental postal systems, like this one!

Believe it or not, the item did arrive in fine condition and still works - the old & thin fan box has seen better days. Priceless.

[Kyocera]

Awesome packaging!!! Shows the toughness of a thinkpad I guess.

I don't think I'd even send the FAN in that box!!

[ryengineer]

(no comments)

[BillMorrow]

i disagree..

the carton LOOKS disreputable..
beatup and well used.. and reused..
(environmental activists take note)

i have sent many thinkpads over the years and on occasion you really WANT a crappy looking box..

the key is the packing material inside the box..

a thinkpad wrapped in about 3 inches of bubblewrap all around it shoved in that box will stay LOW on the radar of thieves and still arrive just fine..
you can drop it from 5 feet and all that will happen is a little bounce..

IBM/lenovo use a flat carton with foam inside and the thinkpads all usually arrive safe..

so, i disagree..
and ask, what the thinkpad was wrapped in..?

OH, one time i got a near new thinkpad in a small fedex box..
that was IT..!
no wrapping at all..
and no damage..

[carbon_unit]

I got a T22 once that was in a box that was the exact length and width of the thinkpad but tall enough to put 3 more on top of it. They dropped in the power supply on top of the display and sent it. No wadded up newspapers, bubble wrap, peanuts, air bags or anything. It got abused pretty bad getting here and by the time I got it the T22 was totally trashed. The first time someone turned the box upside down the whole laptop landed on the power supply LCD first and shattered the display. Then the box landed on each of it's corners pretty hard and racked the whole unit several times.
The motherboard and the drives survived but everything else was toast. I ended up buying a T21 with a dead mobo and made a frankenpad. I ended up eating that one. That was over two years ago and the paypal dispute is still open.

[underclocker]

and ask, what the thinkpad was wrapped in..?

There's one in every crowd! I do agree with you that, when packed properly, like HP and Lenovo do, a small box is fine.

However, this laptop was surrounded in a single layer of 1/8" thick (thin!) foam wrap then placed in a standard (used) postal padded envelope and placed in a very thin, used box with approximately 150 foam peanuts - not enough to keep the box from being somewhat crushed upon arrival.

The sides of the laptop weren't even wrapped in the thin foam and the padded envelope wasn't even sealed closed. So when I opened the box flaps, I was staring at the side of an unprotected ThinkPad with the PC Card eject levers unsprung. I was very surprised that they weren't even bent.

Basically, it was a miracle that there wasn't any damage. I've had hinge damage on machines with better packing jobs than this one.

Of course there was the time I received a rack mount preamp that was wrapped in newspaper. The rack ears were sticking out of the box when I received it. Not good, not good.

[rkawakami]

Interesting that this thread shows up now...

I have just unpacked a T23 SXGA+ 2647-3U5 that the eBay seller said was a T22 (I knew better). Obviously somebody had changed the keyboard and never bothered (or noticed) to remove the T22 nameplate. But I digress...

The system was shipped in a standard USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate Box. The dimensions of the box are 14" x 12" x 3.5". The T23's dimensions are 12" x 10" x 1.75". Which basically means that there's only one inch of packing around the sides and a little more than 3/4" on top and bottom. It was cushioned with about five sheets of bubble wrap on the ends and sides of the box (the laptop itself was not wrapped; edit: not wrapped in bubble wrap I mean. It WAS in a slightly padded FedEx envelope). However, during shipment, USPS must have dropped the box on one corner. The box is only slightly pushed in on that corner. The laptop did not fare so well. The back panel is bent and broken near the DC input jack and the hinge cover has been pushed up a bit. The system still seems to be functional but I'm a little bit miffed that it wasn't packed better.

On the bright side, the CMOS battery was removed to get around the power-up password and the SXGA+ screen is white, bright and nearly flawless. On the not-so-bright side, it reeks of cigarette smoke and needs a good cleaning.

Here's the pics:

http://www.kawakami-ca.com/ebay/efgcompusales/

edit: Corrected typo (in bold) and added link to pics. I've also let the eBay seller know and asked what the next step is going to be. They have a published "shipping damage" notice in their auction description.

[underclocker]

Ray, I'm very sorry to hear that. It is so troubling that a TP can live such a long life then be crushed on it's way to a new loving owner. Especially after an artful eBay snag like that one.

Seriously, it's awful, when will people figure out how important proper packing is?! It's just crazy, lazy and dumb.

[Turbo Audi]

You guys wanna talk about packaging....Yesterday I overnighted a tarantula to Oregon.

Packaging is very important when dealing with things other than technology as well!!

[ryengineer]

You guys wanna talk about packaging....Yesterday I overnighted a tarantula to Oregon.

A Tarantula? I did not know you can ship LIVE spiders.

[rkawakami]

Especially after an artful eBay snag like that one.

Tee hee . I made it a point to make sure he shipped me the -3U5 system and not the other T23 (XGA) he was offering at the same time. As it turns out, he initially offered a full refund, which I did not want since the system seems to be functional. As I was composing a message proposing a partial refund ($25 that was charged for shipping), he emailed me a second message offering a partial refund as well. I suggested the $25 and he has agreed to it after I finish all my other testing later on tonight.

Another interesting item.. besides the T22 keyboard on it, it also came with a T30 battery. Battery MaxiMiser reports 602 cycles and 29.36Wh on it, good enough for an hour and a half I'd guess.

[Turbo Audi]

You guys wanna talk about packaging....Yesterday I overnighted a tarantula to Oregon.

A Tarantula? I did not know you can ship LIVE spiders.

Oh yes...very much alive! Believe it or not the tarantula (spider in general) hobby is pretty big. There are a number of spider breeders that ship everyday. For instance:

http://www.southernspiderworks.com/

[ryengineer]

Oh yes...very much alive! Believe it or not the tarantula (spider in general) hobby is pretty big. There are a number of spider breeders that ship everyday. For instance:

http://www.southernspiderworks.com/

Wow, honestly I was not aware of such community of people with this kind of hobby.

On browsing around the page, apparently I think I like this one, matches with thinkpads color too.

Also on looking into shipping section I came across this:

SHIPPING:

All DOA's must be reported on the same day of receiving shipment.

DOA Guarantee covers spider replacement or Store Credit.

They do mean DOA, literally.

P.S. Sorry to OP for off the topic discussion.

[BillMorrow]

i mailed two florida lizards to arizona..
chameleons..
this place has thousands of lizards..

mailed in a box marked with the contents and holes..
arrived just fine, unlike some of the thinkpads mentioned above..

i still feel that fan box was fine IF the thinkpad had been wrapped tightly in 3 inches of bubble wrap on all surfaces.. sides and top and bottom..
the box would only be a vehicle for the label..

others are obviously not so careful..

[compnerd4]

soo funny but soooo bad

[underclocker]

Maybe it's an odd coincidence that so many ThinkPadders have/have had odd pets. I also had a tarantula when I was younger. Actually, first year in university, over 20 years ago!

It was great fun and feeding time was a big hit in the dorm. It devoured crickets and goldfish.

I actually still have it because when it died I picked up some Lucite mold material from a hobby shop and cast the little guy in a paperweight. Like the kind you can now buy out West in any airport.

Regarding the site posted by Turbo Audi, I had no idea there were that many types of tarantula.

[Elwyn]

The Ebay seller I used actually has a normal website store too, so I used them. Next day delivery. It was a box big enough to put about 10 thick telephone directories.

FULL of those little polystyrene chips, and in the middle was the lappy, seperated from the PSU by lots more chips.

NO problem what so ever

Hung onto the box, resealed, for another use...

It works when you do it right

[KristianJ]

The box and packing for my T42 wasn't fantastic - it was in a box that once held a Toshiba Tecra S1 (which I think was a 15" LCD) with 2 cardboard fixtures to hold the sides. A few bits of foam and polystyrene held the laptop in something resembling "place". On top was the bag (containing the port replicator and adapter) with a bit or 2 of foam between the lid and the bag, and the box closed over on top of the bag.

Where I work has plenty of excess peanuts and bubble wrap, so when I eventually sell my T40, I'll be using that to fill in as much dead space as possible. I wouldn't want my buyer to have happen to them what happened to Ray.

[chonine]

How odd. I just bought a fan that came today. He shipped it in its own box, no external anything, no extra padding. Good thing the fan is pretty Diesel.

[DavidNY]

If a proper box is really all that hard to get, just call EasyServ and get a free, fresh box overnight.

Many moons ago I ordered a T23 from Laptops for Less in California. (They are, amazingly, still in business.)

They closed the notebook's lid on its power cord. Yes, just like it sounds. I didn't look further.

Luckily they used a handwritten FedEx slip and didn't take the copy which showed their account number. I sent it right back, first overnight.

[KristianJ]

Bought a T23 keyboard and as is clear in the pictures, the packaging (a thin layer of cardboard and bubble wrap over each surface and that in a plastic mailing bag) was horrendous. I'm not sure whether the damage to the corner where the Escape key once sat is due to transit damage, but . Needless to say the seller's received these pics and a request for a replacement shipped pronto.

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/3260 ... 235zo3.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/3111 ... 236nx9.jpg
http://img472.imageshack.us/img472/6751 ... 237se3.jpg

[ryengineer]

Oh dear oh dear .

Lets hope the replacement comes in more safe packaging.

[Tholek]

Ugh. Not only should you receive an exchange cost-free, he should refund a bit of the price. No way could that be considered enough protection.

[KristianJ]

Ugh. Not only should you receive an exchange cost-free, he should refund a bit of the price. No way could that be considered enough protection.

We'll see what happens - I made it explicitly clear (yet in a non-abusive manner, so as to maximise the chances of a positive resolution) that I considered the packaging to be insufficient. As for requesting a partial refund, I never thought about it but I'll consider it.

[qviri]

Kind of looks like the Logitech Wave in the third picture.

[KristianJ]

It does a bit, yeah - but as much as I love Logitech products and my LX710 desktop, I don't want my laptop keyboards with the same form and feel as part of their lineup. It appears though that on the rare occasions where an item from this seller has been damaged in transit, they are quick to get a replacement out and (hopefully) learn from their packaging deficiencies.

[KaneElson]

I got my first thinkpad the other day, an x31 from across the other side of Australia.
It was just wrapped in a few layers of bubblewrap which seemed sturdy enough at the time, but after seeing some of those pictures I think it may have been pretty lucky it got here in pristine condition.

Of course they forgot to ship the power supply with it so that may have reduced the risk of damage

[KristianJ]

I got my first thinkpad the other day, an x31 from across the other side of Australia.
It was just wrapped in a few layers of bubblewrap which seemed sturdy enough at the time, but after seeing some of those pictures I think it may have been pretty lucky it got here in pristine condition.

Of course they forgot to ship the power supply with it so that may have reduced the risk of damage

Do you mind me asking whether you got it off eBay and who the seller was? I had an X31 a few months ago that, from memory, was similarly packed with just a few layers of bubble wrap in a box when it got to me. Just curious whether it may have been the same eBay seller that we dealt with...

Update on the keyboard - the seller is shipping a replacement board and is ensuring it is much better packed. I was told I can keep the old board, which may come in handy in terms of key replacement.

[Kyocera]

the seller is shipping a replacement board and is ensuring it is much better packed. I was told I can keep the old board, which may come in handy in terms of key replacement.

Good deal, hopefully you'll get it and also..... hope he learned a valuable lesson.

[KristianJ]

Pleased to report that the keyboard got to me in much better condition than the other one, in a box with enough bubble wrap to ensure a good level of protection. Now that it's an excess part, it'll probably go back on eBay or I'll throw it in the Marketplace to see how it goes.