Parcel Parasites

Last week I told you about the great deal I got on a golf sweater during a one-day flash sale. Well, because I decided to go for the lowest shipping rate possible (seemed silly to spend $15 on shipping when the item being shipped was only $19), it didn't get here until yesterday. And perhaps because the universe decided I shouldn't be too happy with this deal, it arrived at the worst possible time, smack dab in the middle of a downpour. I happened to be looking outside, watching my street turn into a river when I saw my mail lady jog up to my mailbox and try to shove my mail in as quickly as possible. Of course, that was made harder by the big bag which was holding the sweater and so she actually spent extra time in the rain. (I felt bad for her, but then again I figure you should expect to deal with some strange weather when you sign up work in mail delivery.) When I finally got out to my mailbox after the rain slowed down I saw why she was having such a hard time with it - the bag was a lot bigger than I expected it to be. But what I couldn't figure out was why this bag was so big in the first place. I mean, it's not like I ordered a stereo - clothes can be rolled up and made to fit almost any container, so why did this company decide to send this one piece of clothing in such an unnecessarily large bag? I finally got my answer after I opened it up.

The first thing I noticed was that this company clearly doesn't put a priority on folding because the sweater was only folded in half. That's fine for an in-store display, but not when you are shipping clothing anywhere. It feels like a lot of wasted space. As a person who can get 18 shirts in one drawer, I'm pretty sure if I were working there I could have fit three things in the same bag. I assume a couple of customers would complain about their new clothes showing up wrinkled, but can you honestly expect clothes to be ready to wear after a week on mail trucks? But the main reason this company needed to use a larger bag was that they had included a few extra items that I hadn't ordered. Before you get excited, it was nothing very interesting. (Don't make the mistake I did - when I first felt a bonus item in the bag I had momentarily talked myself into it being something cool, which only deepened the disappointment.) Since I had ordered it from a golf store I had hoped for some free golf balls or something - instead I got a free bottle of 5-Hour Energy, the mini-bottle which is supposed to provide you with enough energy to get you through any slow work day. Shaking the bad even further I had three pieces of paper come flying at me. The first was just my receipt (which thankfully I do not need) and then two postcards regarding Geico insurance. That's right - they had sent random ads along with my purchase.

Now, people having unwanted advertisements sent to them is nothing new. Anyone who has gotten a bill mailed to them in the last few years (before companies started going paperless without even letting you know), has usually opened up the envelope and discovered it also included a piece of paper advertising something completely random. I would have to say car insurance is the worst offender, as they will send 6 pieces of paper not including your bill and the return envelope. Often the advertised companies have nothing to do with the bill you have to pay, as it is usually something like gutter cleaners. (Checks are also a popular choice, which feels appropriate when you remember that the only time most people write checks anymore are when they are paying a bill for that one company who refuses to let them pay online.) Since this tactic shows a clear lack of original marketing ideas, this could be a company's only shot to get their product in front of people and given how desperate some companies are for business it makes sense for them to cut a deal for every package that goes out to include one of their postcards. In fact, you could argue it makes more sense for them to include ads with purchases instead of bills because no one feels like shopping after getting a bill. Seeing how much money you have to pay makes you feel like you should save every dollar you have, whereas a good online purchase could inspire more shopping, so best to be the first product a consumers sees while riding that high.

But while I know all that, for some reason this really bothered me. I think it is because I had already bought something from the one company that I didn't appreciate a company they happen to have a partnership with trying to sneak in with them. It is like when you go to the movies and sit through all the pre-show trivia and commercials you then have to sit through another commercial before the preview starts. You already got my money, can't I just enjoy the movie I paid for without trying to be upsold? [Sidebar: The fact we have all come to accept these commercials as part of the movie experience bums me out. Isn't the point of a movie that it's not supposed to have commercials in the first place?] I just didn't like this "Trojan Horse" approached to sales. Plus, the fact that these things were unsolicited bothered me. At least with a telemarketer you can hang up on them, but in this case there is no one I can talk to and make sure this never happens again. The only way I could do that now is to vow to never buy anything from the first company any more and I'm not going to do that as long as they offer good deals (I'm not that mad about this). Still, I wonder if I told them of my conclusion, would it cause them to reconsider their business deal? It is one thing trying to help out a business partner but once it starts to cause your own business to suffer it is time to reconsider that agreement. After all, you can't help them if you are both out of business.