Dog treats shipped in separate boxes large enough to put a dog inside. A wallpaper border crammed on the edge of a box that could fit five more rolls. And a laundry rack shipped to a FedEx store in a box large enough for its purchaser to climb inside. These are the tales of the Stupid Shipping Gang.

Victor and his boxes of dog treats and animal parts from Petco kick things off:

We ordered two 36″ bully sticks (beef tendon chews) and three small bags of
treats for our dog from Petco. For some reason, this order resulted in
three separate shipments from them, in enormous boxes. I’ve taken a picture
of the two boxes with the bully sticks which are especially ridiculous. The
boxes are on top with the bully sticks in each, and the packing for each box
below. This does NOT include the third enormous box with the treats in it
because there wasn’t room in the frame. EVERYTHING could have fit in the
one large box on the left. Who is in charge of shipping at Petco and why
are they still employed?

This crazy shipping would make sense if the items came from different distribution centers, but it’s hard to believe that two of the same item had to come from different centers. Isn’t it?

Benjamin received a free roll of wallpaper border along with the box of free crumpled brown paper that he ordered.

This almost makes sense, since dented rolls of wallpaper are annoying. Shouldn’t the border be wrapped inside the paper, though, and not crammed on the side?

Meg’s example of stupid shipping is less extreme, but does include a picture of a cat. The item probably would have arrived safely wrapped in some extra plastic wrap, but Walmart sent it in a box large enough to climb into. She writes:

I recently ordered a folding, pop up drying rack from Wal Mart. I used the free Site-to-Store shipping option, which happily includes shipping to a FedEx office location (I live on Capitol Hill in DC, no where near a Wal Mart store). I got to the FedEx store, and there was an enormous box awaiting me. I thought I ordered the wrong thing/was shipped someone else’s order. The package wasn’t very heavy, but it was nearly as tall as I (5’5), twice my width, and on a windy January day it acted like a big, cardboard sail. Whee! I finally got home, and found my drying rack with 2 crumbled pieces of brown packing paper, and the shipping manifest. What on earth? Attached is the picture of the box, in relation to the drying rack, in relation to my cat, Neko. A little effort on the Site-to-Store to FedEx, Wally World.

It’s unfortunate that Meg doesn’t appreciate that Walmart sent her a free sled with her drying rack. We have a lot more snow here in upstate New York. I guess I need a new drying rack.

Want more consumer news? Visit our parent organization, Consumer Reports, for the latest on scams, recalls, and other consumer issues.