Monday, December 6, 2010

Post Office Wisdom

I went to the post office this morning on my way to work to report my dismay at the way the package containing Kate's McKinnon's lastest book, The Jewelry Architect, was folded and shoved into my mailbox, permanently creasing the back cover.

The woman who works at the desk (it's one of those postal "substations", located inside a drug store) is the nicest person, always very friendly and helpful.  She was most sympathetic and suggested we could call someone to record my complaint.  She connected the call and then passed the phone over to me. 

The gentleman I spoke to was also somewhat sympathetic, but was quite focused on finding out how the book had been packaged.  I explained it was in a bubble envelope. He especially wanted to know if the package was marked, "Do Not Bend."  It was not, although it did have a customs label indicating that there was a book inside. When I asked if a "Do Not Bend" sticker or notation would have made a difference, he said, "Oh no. There's no way to guarantee it wouldn't still get bent, even if it was labelled like that."

He suggested that if you are mailing something that you absolutely do not want to be bent, you must package it in such a way that it is unbendable.

Now you know.

Photo courtesy of wired.com

1 comment:

kate mckinnon said...

It's true, though, if the book was in a box, it wouldn't have been bent. I've been amazed at things like NetFlix packaging, just tossing DVDs in envelopes, and at how many things I receive that are lightly packed. I went with the new bubble mailer, instead of my usual double-envelope (Tyvek inside recycled fluff) because it was supposed to be state of the art.

I don't think it was as good. Next maybe I will try the stiff cardboard, like the DVD mailers.