HP Throws In Free Wooden Pallet With Every Power Cord Purchase
We know not all of our readers agree on our stupid shipping gang posts, but here's one we can all get behind: you probably don't need to deliver a ten-foot power cord in a large box on a wooden pallet.
The poster who received this free pallet notes:
I am kind of annoyed with HP as I had to drag this pellet from my apartment lobby, into the lift, out of the lift, into my home, cut it open, remove the contents and discard all the junk packaging.
We would be kind of annoyed too. We don't even know how to go about disposing of a pallet; can you just put it out on the curb on recycling day or do you need to break it down or what?
HP's Ridiculous Shipment Packaging [Notebook Review]
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Comments:
My neighboring cube dwellers are probably wondering what am I laughing so loudly about.
HP = Huge Pallets
I would leave the pallet out on the street, as some stupid kids with skateboards will probably take it and use it as a funbox.
Also HP doesn't accept boxes again. I have had multiple times where I had to send my HP notebook back for repairs they didn't do or did poorly, or even when they cracked my laptop. I had the box they sent me, and I could have printed out a shipping label. Nope, they wont do that and wont accept that. They HAVE to send a duplicate box and make me wait 2 more days to get the box. It happens every time :-/.
I want to know how, precisely, it was delivered to the lobby. I'm picturing a guy with a forklift rolling through the lobby doors and setting it down...
Also, to be fair to HP, that's really a "half" pallet. So stop this "boo-hoo, HP sent me a pallet" whining. If you thought getting that thing through your apartment door was tough...
I am hesitant to believe this.
This really takes the cake...
Hrm... I'm hesitant to believe this as well. Pallets like that need to be delivered by truck/freight, usually. I'm tempted to call shenanigans on this one. I could go out and take a picture of something on a pallet and call it a 10 ft power cord too.
As will I. A power cord? In a box that big AND strapped to a pallet? Anything strapped to a pallet would have to go via truck, which is usually a base shipping price of $50 per pallet PLUS WEIGHT.
no way is this real
@KTK1990: Similar with Apple. I had a repair box sent to me(squeaky hing, they fixed it), there was a situation where I simply NEEDED my laptop for 3 more weeks.
I called apple to let them know about the delay and they said they needed to send a whole new box...
I'd like to know what HP charged the OP for shipping. I doubt the cord itself weighed one pound but the weight of the pallet had to be at least ten pounds.
I realize that the packaging is world-class stupid, but: let us not lose sight of the fact that the author apparently wanted a power cord, from HP support, and, in fact, received a power cord, presumably of the desired gender and species.
Many who use HP support are not so lucky.
@osiris73: I find it rather hard to believe as well, but it's a good fake if it isn't real. He mentions the company and city where it was shipped from (Inventec in Shanghai), and the straps attaching the box to the pallet confirm the company name, and they are an OEM of notebook computers. The city matches an office for that company as well.
Although I guess this kind of indicates that if it is real, it's not really HP's fault... They called their supplier and said to send a cable to this address, and this is how it got there.
@GitEmSteveDave:WalkinOnSunshine: I want you to know that it was because of you that my wife bought me Super Troopers on DVD for my birthday.
@GitEmSteveDave:WalkinOnSunshine: Mark me down as officially dubious as well. Makes for a good story though. It is almost so ridiculous it is believable.
I need to put this in the Consumerist Photo: I have a box from Digital Equipment, simply labeled "Empty Box". It has a part number and everything. That part I love is the revision code, so it took them more than once to get an empty box just right.
They were commonly used as filler for shipping odd shaped items.
@KTK1990:
This is a procedure that you want to happen. I know it is a pain waiting for a box, but the reason they do it, is so that they know it was packed to their standards. I know in the past, companies have refused to fix warranty items that were sent back because it was 'damaged in shipping'. With this procedure they can't blame you for an item that was damaged in shipping.
@cristiana: UPS, and probably other shippers, will categorically deny insurance claims for items which aren't shipped in a new, not-previously-shipped-in box. Or at least, that's what they told me when I tried to file an insurance claim a few years ago.
He's just going to dispose of everything? Everything there is recyclable. heck, even part of the wood used in the pallet is recycled pressed wood. Bring it to any super market or big box store, and go around back. there will more than likely be a big pile of them. just lean it against that.
The OP needs a drug sniffing dog to determine what else was in that box requiring such shipping/packing methods.
How to dispose of a pallet:
- Place on curb with a sign saying "free wood."
- The pallet will magically disappear within hours.
People are always using them for campfires or busting them up for kindling.
If there was every a golden poo prize for the "stupid shipping gang" post, HP wins IMO!
@citking: The Register is somewhere below The National Enquirer on the believability scale. They do come in above Weekly World News, however.
Just looked at the photos, and even the internal photos.... and I have my doubts..... Something else is going on here.....
Those are great for camp fires, I'm sure it will be gone from the curb in about half an hour.
While I think this story is made up, I'm not sure HP has that power to decide if something is delivered on a pallet or not. LTL companies probably would be to blame here if this was true.
This is BS.
You would need a forklift to get it into the building.
So without opening it, he just decided to take a picture of it, for what?
Just cause he has a problem with HP, doesn't mean he can go spreading lies.
Consumerist, before you post anything you need to do some investigation. And you just enable people to spread lies about companies, cause you just post stories without checking them out.
I know I'm probably gonna get banned for just saying that.
Fake or not, I thought it was pretty damn funny. :-)
this is not fake.
HP is horrible for this.
We needed about 500 power cords since the ones that come with the servers usually don't have the right end.
we recieved several large boxes filled with little boxes.
In each little box was a power cord, some warning paper, and a foam protection thingy.
really stupid. we only paid a dollar for each cord. I'm sure the packing and shipping cost more than that.
directly from Inventec in Shanghai
(customer is in AUS).
This is NOT a HP issue, though HP might have concerns because they are footing the bill for the shipment. The real culprit is Inventec (the company manufacting the part from whom HP purchased the part for drop shipping direct to the customer).
How about next time passing the blame unto the right party?
PS: The customer is not paying for the cost of the pallet etc as the costs were predetermined by HP and already billed to the customer. Most likely HP will not pay the bill either as the employees at Inventec are solely at fault.
@Orv:
Burning pallets is potentially harmful to humans as Methyl Bromide is used to treat many export pallets in compliance with ISPM-15.
@Jack O'Neill: I'll admit the story seems fishy, but taking a picture of the box before opening it isn't necessarily suspect. Presumably, he was well-aware he had ordered just a cable from HP, and it's reasonable to think he could tell the thing didn't weigh much.
When I was backpacking in New Zealand, we got ahold of a wooden pallet and used it as a coffee table...
@citking:
WOW. If anyone doubts this at all, watch the video on the bottom of page 4. That's just INCREDIBLE.
Since the plug end has protection on it, the whole thing could have been put in a padded envelope and mailed. Something doesn't seem right here but I'm not sure what.
WTF! Is this for real? Seriously, sometimes I think these things have got be staged, I mean really, I can't conceive being that imbecile.
@StanTheManDean: No problem, ISPM-15 compliant pallets must carry a compliance stamp:
No stamp, burn with impunity.
@hungryhomer: I'm sorry, it's been a long week, and after the recycle your sex toys post, I can't take the term "funbox" seriously.
I don't think this has anything to do with HP, it has to do with the shipping distribution companies. Clearly the big box had a whole bunch of stuff in it for various customers and was tied to the pallet. The person at the distribution company emptied the box was just too lazy to deal with the big box and pallet, so they just squeezed the box under the straps, wrapped the whole thing back up with sarranwrap, and stuck it back on the truck. The delivery guy has no idea. He just sees a big box tied to a pallet, so delivers the whole thing. Most of these companies ship huge amounts of stuff every day, so they don't really care about wasting space cause there's so much stuff it's a pain wasting time organizing it.
Did the guy that worked the machine that made the cord come in the box, too?