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Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

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Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#51
True, but they could reduce damage even more by putting a picture of a stained glass window and giant letters "HIGHLY FRAGILE DELICATE STAINED GLASS WINDOW! HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE!!" on it. That would certainly reduce damages further.

The problem is that it isn't one (a TV). Why would someone feel mortified if they accidentally drop a packaged bicycle from 2-3 feet (typical carrying height) when a fully assembled bike can be dropped from 2-3 feet, and this is packaged, so it should be even safer. On the other hand no one would feel free to drop a packaged LCD TV from even half a foot because people know it includes a giant pane of essentially glass, and they know that there are limits to what packaging can do.

So, yeah, by failing to meet expectations when it comes to packaging a bicycle, they can reduce damages by writing on it that it's a TV instead. All right.

But isn't this still them not meeting expectations exactly? If they write on it that it's a delicate stained-glass window, that would still be not meeting expectations. If the handler is the one with unreasonable expectations or behavior (if 2-3 feet isn't a reasonable drop height and should be considered a failure), then maybe educate the handler with some writing or warnings on the packaging.

isn't the real issue here that handler's expectations of bike packaging does not meet bike packaging's characteristics? so, you could tackle it head-one by writing care instructions.

alternatively, the article says only 70-80% reduction in damages was achieved. Maybe by lying and saying it is delicate stained-glass, handle with extreme care, they could up that to 95% reducted. I guess I've just saved them 15% of their former damages (even higher percentage of their remaining damages) with this one neat trick.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will any delivery company actually just leave a TV on your porch?

In the same week UPS made me sign for a set of $5 kitchen utensils I'd ordered off Amazon but left a Mac Mini on my doorstep no problem.

Been there. It's worse with condos too where they often refuse to deliver unless you're there, they won't even take a signed note. Really annoying when you have a textbook delivery and an upcoming assignment.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#54

Clever, but seems ethically questionable. Why do the shippers care about breaking a TV? Presumably there are repercussions, such as an insurance plan. So why don't those repercussions just apply to bicycles? If they're fined for enough bikes being broken, they should probably learn that they need be more careful than they thought, right? EDIT: Toning down my choice of words.

Your concern can be addressed by printing a photo of a TV with a bicycle show on TV. Then, the recipient will also not be confused.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Organizations are bad at communication. How do you disseminate that the information that "look guys, bicycles are fragile too" to ten of thousands of logistics workers? This is an awesome hack, and it's a great way to fix behavior without having to collide with bureaucracy. It's not ethically fraudulent because the shipper shouldn't be breaking anything. And I'm sure they do pay fees for what they break, and the ship…

Well I didn't say it was a huge deal necessarily. Just not totally clean. Perhaps fraud was a bad choice of words and I changed it. And I agree it's a very interesting hack. I don't necessarily agree that a shipper shouldn't be breaking anything. I think that they should meet whatever the agreement was. If the agreement is "we'll try super hard not to break stuff" and they're clearly not holding up their side of the…

> I think is not totally honest, unless they also have a history of not paying up.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander. So: Does their agreement say that the bike company will accurately represent their product on their packaging? If the bike company's holding up their end of whatever agreement they have, then there's nothing the least bit questionable about what they're doing.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#57

Most things arrive fully assembled. With that TV you just plug it in and that is it. You don't have to adjust the HDMI sockets with a screwdriver or double check the earth lead is correctly bolted on. You don't have to get a spanner out to adjust that five degree tilt to one side in the base. But with a bicycle, it is an entirely different story. The seat is not centered on the rails, nice and level. Much has to be a…

If the consumer doesn't want to assemble it himself he can take the package to his local bike shop (or order it through them). They will also give you a "tuning" if you want.

It's sort of like IKEA furniture.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#58

True, but they could reduce damage even more by putting a picture of a stained glass window and giant letters "HIGHLY FRAGILE DELICATE STAINED GLASS WINDOW! HANDLE WITH EXTREME CARE!!" on it. That would certainly reduce damages further. The problem is that it isn't one (a TV). Why would someone feel mortified if they accidentally drop a packaged bicycle from 2-3 feet (typical carrying height) when a fully assembled b…

This isn't about customers dropping their own boxes, this is about shipping companies dropping boxes.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#59
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I didn't say it was a huge deal necessarily. Just not totally clean. Perhaps fraud was a bad choice of words and I changed it. And I agree it's a very interesting hack. I don't necessarily agree that a shipper shouldn't be breaking anything. I think that they should meet whatever the agreement was. If the agreement is "we'll try super hard not to break stuff" and they're clearly not holding up their side of the…

I think it's ethically questionable to carelessly break things people are waiting for just because the thing is perceived to have low monetary value. The shipping company may have to eat the dollar cost of the item, but the cost to the sender and receiver in time and hassle is non-negligible.

I don't think it's about the monetary value. Your typical bike is more expensive than your typical TV (but your average shipping guy might think all bikes cost like the super-market ones)

I think it's just the perception that bikes are "rough" and that they can take a beating. Which is true, but only when fully assembled and driven on road/terrain, not when you bang at it from the side.

Re: Bike manufacturer sees huge reduction in delivery damage by printing TV on box

#60
post #11

Printing wolf on the box would see them some careful handling too, for a while...

Or a bobcat. Or just put one in the box. Is the success rate of printing the decoy box that much better for the relative cost compared to just putting shock stickers on the box, though? Probably. But one is an accidental effect with no guarantee that it will work, versus a tool that is designed for this specific purpose.

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