Powell’s free shipping arrives book-free
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Originally uploaded by peter_jensen
On September 10th, I placed an order with Powells.com for three new books and one used book. The used book is the Jeppesen Instrument/Commercial textbook, a relatively weighty hardback tome that normally sells for $80 but was $56 used. This evening I was surprised to find that the USPS had delivered a folded up piece of cardboard with a postage label on it, containing none of the books I’d ordered. The packaging appears to have been quickly folded up from a ripped box and doesn't look like it would provide any significant protection for the contents, especially for postal mail that's not likely to fit inside a mailbox.
Someone in the postal service was kind enough to stamp the package with, “RECEIVED WITHOUT CONTENTS AT MIAMI, FL”, so at least I know not to blame the neighborhood kids.
Powells was moderately helpful when I called them, offering to re-send me the three new books with standard shipping, but unable to help me with the used book. I also suspect that it will take them a few days to get the order in one place to ship, but that’s how they work.
In the end, I suspect I just got unlucky, or as the Powell’s CSR suggested, someone outright stole the books. Re-using and minimizing packaging materials is a laudable effort for a bookseller, and occasional loss is expected in the postal system. However, I’d still like to see a better job of packaging from Powells, especially on a $138.85 order with three new books in it.