In the box, a glass Malden Smartphone Picture Frame
Who in their right mind thinks that a large glass picture frame is safe to ship with an 11 pounds of liquid baby formula? Some low wage packer at Amazon who most likely doesn’t care. The picture frame (a valentine’s day gift for my wife) was totally smashed with loose glass tinkling around inside the bubble wrap.
The box was half empty with only a little bit of crumpled paper as fill. With all that space, there’s no doubt the items were constantly being tossed back and forth during transit. No amount of bubble wrap could have protect the frame from damage.
America loves free shipping. As a consumer, I love free shipping. But shipping a product across the country is a real cost. So for Amazon to offer free shipping, costs are being cut in other places. Some of the savings can be made through efficiency but having low wage workers are definitely part of the equation.
Of course, Amazon is going to fix this for me by sending me a new frame and having me ship the old frame back. But, wouldn’t it be better to not have this problem in the first place? Amazon wants to be an aspirational brand, but having your final product being a poorly packed package reflects badly on the company.
Because of Amazon, it’s hard for a businesses to compete with the expectation of free shipping. But not all companies are willing to do because doing so would compromise service or forgo profit.
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