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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: engicoder on Sat, 17 October 2015, 15:55:39

Title: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: engicoder on Sat, 17 October 2015, 15:55:39: If you've been buying used keyboards for any amount of time, you have received one that was not packaged to lock horns with the blue barbarians from the USPS or brown bruisers from UPS. I thought I would share a few of my favorites and ask you to share yours.

I got both of these today from two different sellers. On Reddit, one eBay.

Category: Wee Box

Darn, the box is too small. Maybe I can just fold the ends a bit and use a lot of tape.
[attach=4]

And if there is a gap, just stuff some junk mail in there to cover it.
[attach=1]

Two keyboards, one box...no problem, just leave out the bubble wrap.
[attach=2]

Always a bad sign, this one rattled like a set of Triumph Adler keycaps from Massdrop, and there were just about as many loose and damaged keycaps.

Category: Double Bubble

Doesn't fit in one bubble mailer, no problem, use two!
[attach=5]

For extra protection a little bubble wrap, and I do mean little.
[attach=3]

Luckily, it was a Model F and seems to have survived with only a few dings to the case.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: azhdar on Sat, 17 October 2015, 16:05:49: http://imgur.com/a/wp0Mw

not side protection (case touching the box), minimal vertical support => case damaged, keycaps flying around.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: engicoder on Sat, 17 October 2015, 16:07:51: Quote from: azhdar on Sat, 17 October 2015, 16:05:49
http://imgur.com/a/wp0Mw

not side protection (case touching the box), minimal vertical support => case damaged, keycaps flying around.

(http://i.imgur.com/zF55MfW.jpg)
I like the token handful of peanuts thrown in.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: fohat.digs on Sat, 17 October 2015, 20:23:53: I can't remember who received the US box of Kishsavers from tinnie a couple of years ago, but that has to take the cake.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: nubbinator on Sat, 17 October 2015, 20:25:53: Quote from: fohat.digs on Sat, 17 October 2015, 20:23:53
I can't remember who received the US box of Kishsavers from tinnie a couple of years ago, but that has to take the cake.

Wasn't that CPTbadass? Found his photo album (https://www.flickr.com/photos/cptbadass/sets/72157637891952696/).
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: engicoder on Sat, 17 October 2015, 20:41:20: How much did that box weigh? Those things must weigh 6 or 7 lbs each.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: CPTBadAss on Sat, 17 October 2015, 20:41:34: Yup I proxied the kishsavers from tinlong that were a disaster
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: njbair on Sat, 17 October 2015, 21:49:17: Anyone looking for some shipping-related eye bleach following those Kishsaver photos, go watch Binge's GMK Hyperfuse packing video. Now that's how you pack keycaps.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Bomble on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:09:10: Quote from: njbair on Sat, 17 October 2015, 21:49:17
Anyone looking for some shipping-related eye bleach following those Kishsaver photos, go watch Binge's GMK Hyperfuse packing video. Now that's how you pack keycaps.

Have you got a link? I'm having trouble finding it :(
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: inanis on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:13:12: Quote from: Bomble on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:09:10

Have you got a link? I'm having trouble finding it :(

Binge showing how it's done one handed! (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=74486.msg1899053#msg1899053)
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Bomble on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:15:12: Quote from: inanis on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:13:12
Quote from: Bomble on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:09:10

Have you got a link? I'm having trouble finding it :(

Binge showing how it's done one handed! (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=74486.msg1899053#msg1899053)

Thank you!
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: njbair on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:15:47: Quote from: Bomble on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:15:12
Quote from: inanis on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:13:12
Quote from: Bomble on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:09:10

Have you got a link? I'm having trouble finding it :(

Binge showing how it's done one handed! (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=74486.msg1899053#msg1899053)

Thank you!
Sorry, I'm on mobile so being lazy.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Nai_Calus on Sat, 17 October 2015, 22:59:11: (http://www.iankunx.net/scarytube.jpg)

You can see where the completely unpadded keyboard ends and the empty tube begins and is half folded over, also where the keyboard is wider than the widest dimension of the tube...

The amazing thing is, no damage whatsoever. O_o Likely because the board came without caps so there was nothing to pop out or get crushed. Seriously though, not a scratch, not a crack, not a single operating problem, and FedEx manhandled it across the entire US.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: richfiles on Sat, 17 October 2015, 23:41:21: I have no pictures of the "box". I regret that, cause it was ABSURD...
It's not a keyboard, per say, but it has a keyboard integrated, so I'll consider it close enough to post...

A few years back, I purchased a Friden EC-132 calculator. Understand, this is a 19 Kg (42 pound) beast of a machine, introduced in 1965. It has these huge klunking keys that were actually mechanically encoded... As in pressing each key actuated a series of levers that pressed a series of multiple magnets to encode the numbers... Crazy! It's the BIG one on the left.
[attach=1]

So... I see the tracking say it'll be delivered that day, and I'm waiting in my living room for it. I hear the doorbell ring, and it's the UPS guy... With no package. He starts out by APOLOGIZING to me... I'm thinking... 'craaaaap...' and assuming I'm about to see a horror show. He asks me to come to the truck... 'Shiiiiit'...

I look at the "box", and I SEE my Friden EC-132. Not, as in, I see that this is obviously the box that contains my vintage calculator... Nooooo...

I see that the box is maybe 40%-ish missing. Cardboard gone! I can SEE the calculator. It was put diagonally into a single layer corrugated cardboard box (the kind of box you'd ship toilet paper in)! This box was NOT EVEN AS WIDE AS THE CALCULATOR! The person that packed it used LOOSE PEANUTS to fill the void space! NO BUBBLEWRAP or formed foam! The box likely split the first time the first truck hit a hard bump. It split open, spilling the peanuts, and the calculator settled flatter and tore up the box. :eek:

I must credit the UPS crew though... They babied that thing the entire way, and it SURVIVED!!! :thumb:
In all honesty, it was easier to carry the calculator by grabbing the calc rather than the box, and how I expect the UPS employees handled it. :rolleyes:

The only lasting damage, were the latches that secure the top cover to the unit. Those were badly tweaked, and don't lock the top cover anymore, but the unit otherwise survived, with minimal damage! UI'm fine with an easy to remove cover... I love the engineering of these old machines! NO integrated circuits! All resistor-diode logic and germanium transistors!
[attach=2]

I bet not too many of you guys have used a mechanically encoded keyboard before! The keys trigger magnetic reed switches by a mechanical mechanism that encodes the key presses into binary code by moving one or more different magnets. The keyboard is also mechanically locked by a mechanism controlled by a solenoid. When an operation is performed, the function key that was pressed locks down and isn't released till the operation is completed. This prevents you from entering new data while it's still processing (It was sloooooow). The keys are also mechanically interlocked so it's impossible to press more than one key at a time. Nifty! :cool:
[attach=3]
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Melvang on Sat, 17 October 2015, 23:54:26: While mine might not be as extravegent as the story by richfiles, but I just got a terminal F shipped to me for a spill restoration project. The box didn't have that much damage aside from one seam split on the bottom of the box. I get the box open and I see this.

[attach=1]
[attach=2]

Not to bad really but it got dropped pretty hard. I am glad I asked for just the plates and not the whole case. That thing would have been destroyed. It's for an F 122, and we know how brittle that plastic is.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: richfiles on Sun, 18 October 2015, 00:05:52: Quote from: Melvang on Sat, 17 October 2015, 23:54:26
Not to bad really but it got dropped pretty hard.

"Pretty hard"? It looks like it was dropped underneath the delivery truck's wheels! Poor keyboard! :eek:
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: CPTBadAss on Sun, 18 October 2015, 00:10:44: Nothing will ever top the LZ-GH that photoelectric rehabbed.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Melvang on Sun, 18 October 2015, 00:11:38: Quote from: richfiles on Sun, 18 October 2015, 00:05:52
Quote from: Melvang on Sat, 17 October 2015, 23:54:26
Not to bad really but it got dropped pretty hard.

"Pretty hard"? It looks like it was dropped underneath the delivery truck's wheels! Poor keyboard! :eek:

Making progress. Just need to clear a path to my bench vise. I don't think my panavise is up to this task.

[attach=1]
[attach=2]
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: rowdy on Sun, 18 October 2015, 02:28:45: TA.

'Nuff said.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Findecanor on Sun, 18 October 2015, 03:32:57: Repost from 2012: Cherry G84 keyboard "packed" only in a plastic bag (shopping bag from a discount store no less...) with some tape wrapped around it and a shipping label stuck on. Sent as mail and dropped in my mailbox. Trackball broken somewhere internally, otherwise just scuff marks.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: naasfu on Sun, 18 October 2015, 04:53:07: Quote from: rowdy on Sun, 18 October 2015, 02:28:45
TA.

'Nuff said.

here is a photo of my TA shipment. :)

(http://i.imgur.com/djBWfhK.jpg?1)

what, you want your collectibles packed safely? make your purchases from a reputable company instead of some random amateur on ebay.

for example, amazon:

(http://i.imgur.com/dD1gRVf.jpg)

amazon decided to conveniently combine shipping for my diablo 3 CE with a separate order i had for a 6 pound bag of cat food. both in the same big ass box, with a little bit of paper thrown in and nothing to separate them.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: absyrd on Sun, 18 October 2015, 05:27:37: They could have used a much smaller box and just dumped the cat food into it as packing peanuts. Amazon needs to hire me as shipping director.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: chyros on Sun, 18 October 2015, 05:46:16: You guys should see how Sigma packs, a company we deal with at work. They put in so much packaging material it's sickening. We regularly get 250 mL bottles shipped to us wrapped in a thick blanket, in a 2 L tin, in a 1 x 1 x 1 m box full of styrofoam chips. 250 mL in a 1000 L box, wtf!
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Niomosy on Sun, 18 October 2015, 06:33:29: I've had the typical shipping with lack of packaging on a few things, though never a keyboard.

Worst I had was on a 2 day air shipment from FedEx. Signature required. I was working from home that day specifically waiting for this item. Worth thousands of dollars. My wife came home for lunch to let me know it was on the porch. They just left it there without so much as even a knock or doorbell ring.

If you had the time to drop that thing off, you damn well had the time to ring the doorbell that was literally within arms reach of where you left the package! Haven't trusted them ever since that incident.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: HoffmanMyster on Sun, 18 October 2015, 07:28:36: Quote from: chyros on Sun, 18 October 2015, 05:46:16
You guys should see how Sigma packs, a company we deal with at work. They put in so much packaging material it's sickening. We regularly get 250 mL bottles shipped to us wrapped in a thick blanket, in a 2 L tin, in a 1 x 1 x 1 m box full of styrofoam chips. 250 mL in a 1000 L box, wtf!

Sigma Aldrich? If so, they pack really well. Mostly because they're shipping lab-grade chemicals and they'll get sued if they don't. :)) I did get a kick out of it the first time I ordered from them though, I wasn't expecting that level of security.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: SpAmRaY on Sun, 18 October 2015, 07:42:51: Don't have any pictures but one of my subscribe and save items is a 38lb bag of dog food, it's comical the way it is packed and they usually put one of the other items in with it which always get destroyed.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: Snowdog993 on Sun, 18 October 2015, 09:05:21: I had one IBM terminal board shipped in its original box. No problem there.

I also had another IBM terminal board shipped in a box with no packing material whatsoever. This one was put in a larger box but not long enough box, so they put it diagonally inside. What amazed me was that it arrived undamaged. I couldn't believe it!

Some other things that should have been shipped in boxes to me have been shipped in bubble envelopes and were damaged. At least those were replaced. I've been lucky.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: chyros on Sun, 18 October 2015, 10:42:15: Quote from: HoffmanMyster on Sun, 18 October 2015, 07:28:36

Quote from: chyros on Sun, 18 October 2015, 05:46:16
You guys should see how Sigma packs, a company we deal with at work. They put in so much packaging material it's sickening. We regularly get 250 mL bottles shipped to us wrapped in a thick blanket, in a 2 L tin, in a 1 x 1 x 1 m box full of styrofoam chips. 250 mL in a 1000 L box, wtf!

Sigma Aldrich? If so, they pack really well. Mostly because they're shipping lab-grade chemicals and they'll get sued if they don't. :)) I did get a kick out of it the first time I ordered from them though, I wasn't expecting that level of security.
Yeah, Sigma Aldrich. And yeah, it's lab-grade chemicals, but surely they don't need THAT much packing material. Most of the stuff comes from goddamn Gillingham and isn't even that dangerous! Other chem companies don't over-pack half as much as they do.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: fohat.digs on Sun, 18 October 2015, 16:48:26: I don't have photos because this was decades ago, but I shipped a box of clothes to myself from my parent's house, 2 states away.

Mostly folded shirts and trousers in a moderate-sized, approximately cubic cardboard box, via US Post Office "parcel post" the cheap way.

Apparently, somewhere above my box on the truck, there was a container of strong acid that leaked rather slowly.

The box arrived looking pretty good, in general, except that there was a hole about the size of my finger, straight down, all the way through.

A folded pair of pants might have 3 or 4 sets of matching holes, through both legs, at intervals equal to the length of the folds.

It was very strange and I wish that I had pictures, but this was in the early-1980s and digital cameras were well over a decade away. At the time, photographs cost some significant part of a dollar each, and you only took only the shots that you really wanted.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Harris_%28photographer%29 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Harris_%28photographer%29)
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: billnye on Sun, 18 October 2015, 17:16:02: How I received my 360 PCB back in July. Stuck in a bubble mailer with no extra protection.

(http://puu.sh/kP99w/9e4fe5e8e3.JPG)

How I received my G80-5000 in May. Stuck in a bubble mailer and sent from Australia :eek:

(http://puu.sh/kPact/424192f6d9.JPG)

Luckily both arrived unharmed.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: sethk_ on Sun, 18 October 2015, 17:24:55: I have to admit my own failure as someone who ships. When I was shipping my Octagon to Zeal so he could send it through DHL to someone before I got an account, I didn't have any bubblewrap, except enough to wrap the Octagon PCB. I wrapped the PCB in bubble wrap, and then in order to prevent anything from being scratched, I wrapped it in a tshirt, and then filled the rest of the box with rolled up tshirts to act as side padding. Somehow it made the trip up from PA to Vancouver without a single thing happening to it. I feel like keyboard god was looking out for me with USPS god.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: azhdar on Sun, 18 October 2015, 17:25:33: Quote from: billnye on Sun, 18 October 2015, 17:16:02
How I received my 360 PCB back in July. Stuck in a bubble mailer with no extra protection.

Show Image
(http://puu.sh/kP99w/9e4fe5e8e3.JPG)

How I received my G80-5000 in May. Stuck in a bubble mailer and sent from Australia :eek:

Show Image
(http://puu.sh/kPact/424192f6d9.JPG)

Luckily both arrived unharmed.

wow it was clearly shipped by people that have no respect nor knowledge about keyboards.
Douchebags.

I'm amazed the 5K survived.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: richfiles on Sun, 18 October 2015, 18:13:47: Again... Since I'm so new to keyboards, I have no real horror stories about keyboards, but I have one more story about a calculator I had shipped...

I ordered a Russian Электроника (Elektronika) MKУ-1 scientific calculator that arrived... I kid you not... In a BURLAP SACK with an address tag attached to the tied end.

The irony, is that it made the trip from Ukraine to the USA in a burlap "potato" sack 100% intact, but was broken 15 minutes after I received it, when it was knocked off the table. I had to order a replacement tube because the display tube had been cracked in the fall. :-[

Again... No pics of the original packaging.
Title: Re: Shipping Hall of Shame
Post by: engicoder on Sun, 18 October 2015, 18:30:50: Quote from: richfiles on Sun, 18 October 2015, 18:13:47
Again... Since I'm so new to keyboards, I have no real horror stories about keyboards, but I have one more story about a calculator I had shipped...

I ordered a Russian Электроника (Elektronika) MKУ-1 scientific calculator that arrived... I kid you not... In a BURLAP SACK with an address tag attached to the tied end.

The irony, is that it made the trip from Ukraine to the USA in a burlap "potato" sack 100% intact, but was broken 15 minutes after I received it, when it was knocked off the table. I had to order a replacement tube because the display tube had been cracked in the fall. :-[

Again... No pics of the original packaging.

I wonder if mail order Russian brides are shipped that way?