Lawsuits the world needs:

[jducoeur]

A class-action suit against the makers of that damned plastic clamshell packaging. It should not take me 15 minutes of struggle, using sharp knives against two separate layers of invulnerable plastic, to open my new headphones. It's ecologically horrible (big, huge plastic case; teeny little headphones), and I have to wonder how many people have cut themselves open from the inevitable sharp edges. Nasty, stupid stuff...

Comments

[yakshaver.livejournal.com]

I believe the word is "blister pack", and in fact have cut myself on them. And I'll sign on to that class in a heartbeat.

Me, too

[metageek.livejournal.com]

I've cut myself on them, too—once, at least. After that, I've always tried to use scissors instead.

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

I am sure these are designed to foil shoplifters, not for any other reason. The comfort of people who have actually paid money for them is not their concern.

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

And once again, industry responds to a minor issue with "let's treat *all* our valued customers as if they were potential criminals!"

[cvirtue.livejournal.com]

Annoyingly for those of us who are honest, 13% of electronics profits are lost to "shrinkage" which mostly means shoplifting. Citation, which is a security company site, but several other articles I looked at had similar figures.

[jducoeur]

Ayep. Fond though I am of Costco, this is a complaint of mine about them: they're *quite* paranoid about shrinkage, and that introduces several little hassles into shopping there. (Don't know that the Insane Plastic Packaging in this case is their idea, but it wouldn't entirely surprise me -- they do a lot of that...)

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Well, if the cite is an accurate measure, a 10% or greater loss of profit is not a "minor issue". If you don't believe me, please hand over 10% of your income :)

A thing I often wonder is exactly how honest people are. Even with measures that retard the casual shoplifters, they get that much shrinkage? If they didn't have those measures, how much more might they lose? Maybe it is actually honest to admit that a great many folks out there really are potential criminals...

Because it isn't paranoia if they are really out to get you, you know :)

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Theft happens all along the chain; pinning that whole 13% on the man in the store is a bit unfair. A revealing anecdote: a friend of mine worked in inventory, which is to say, for a company that counts other folks' shelves. One day while counting Sam's Club, they discovered an entire stack (at least 4 pallets; probably 32 units at >$1000 each) of TV/VCR combos were instead empty boxes. No way were those walked off with, but I'm sure it was counted as 'shrink'.

That being said, places like my local gaming store hope to hold shrink down to 5%, but that's a goal, not a standard. And that's with fairly trustworthy employees (usually the major source of theft, I'm told by the store owner) and customers watching each other. Many folks are only as honest as the punishment; heck, I shoplifted in the distant past, when I was young and dumb and knew I could get away with it and assumed it just meant free stuff.

[fenicedautun.livejournal.com]

btw, in the retail chain I used to work for (finance department), shrink also included items that were damaged in the store or by the chain's logistics department (delivery from warehouse to store), and that was a good proportion of total shrink, especially in cases where things are slightly more fragile.

[corwyn-ap.livejournal.com]

Move the cost back to the store. Ask them to open the package (once you buy it). If they refuse, fuss for a while, and them leave without buying it.

[jducoeur]

That's an unusually entertaining idea. I may have to try that sometime...

[umbran.livejournal.com]

Won't work as stated. They sure aren't going to open it for you before you have paid for it, because you may make them open it, and then refuse to buy, leaving them with unsellable product.

So, you have to pay for it, then try to get them to open it. And if that fails, you have to go through the trouble of a return. You'd have to decide for yourself if that's more bother than trying to open the things.

Returning

[metageek.livejournal.com]

And if that fails, you have to go through the trouble of a return.

On the other hand, a return is trouble for them, too, and trouble for which they don't make money. Opening the package for you may win out.

Once or twice, when I needed the package open before I got home, I've asked to use their scissors. Why should I blunt my own scissors on their packaging?

What really gets me is when I get one of these things from an online-only store like Amazon, which are pretty much immune to shoplifting. I buy a memory card the size of my thumb; it arrives in a blister pack the size of a book, in a box the size of a cat. I look forward to the day when Amazon is big enough to demand their own packaging. (Come to think of it, so do they, I'm sure; they'd save a lot on shipping if they could put that memory card into a bubble envelope instead.)

Re: Returning

[alexx-kay.livejournal.com]

I look forward to the day when Amazon is big enough to demand their own packaging. (Come to think of it, so do they, I'm sure; they'd save a lot on shipping if they could put that memory card into a bubble envelope instead.)

I'm not sure you're correct about all that. They certainly *have* the ability to do special packaging, as witnessed by the special boxes for new Harry Potter releases.

Would they really save money by using smaller packaging? The more package sizes they support, the more complex their shipping procedures have to be, and that induces overhead on *all* sales. Also, most of the cost of the shipping is calculated by weight, and their packing materials are deliberately quite light.

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

"Laceration from plastic packaging" made a blip on "common reasons for an emergency room visit", last time I saw a list of such causes. I wouldn't be surprised if it had its own health insurance code. There is an aftermarket of tools for opening clamshells. The damn things have their own revenue stream. It's awful.

[cellio]

I hate those for all sorts of reasons, including that I have injured myself with them. I have been known to make a purchase contingent on someone at the store opening the damn package for me.

Consumer Reports publishes an annual "worst in show" list for this, but so far public mockery/shame doesn't seem to be having any influence.

[rickthefightguy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I was amused in having trouble opening the new packaging on the new knife. Fortunately, for display purposes, the blade was open inside the package...I used the product to open itself!

-R

Dave Barry

[metageek.livejournal.com]

There's a Dave Barry bit about this. You have to go to Homeowner Hell to buy a part you need; you find an aisle full of seventeen zillion parts that might be the one you need, all sold in blister packs, which can be opened only with a special tool, which is available only in a blister pack.

[road-emu.livejournal.com]

Gah, add me to the list of people who have cut themselves on that frakkin' packaging. I'm actually afraid of that stuff now. And the waste of materials in creating all that packaging appalls me. One reason I now try to find what I need in grage sales and the like is so that I don't have to deal with clam shell plastic unless absolutely needed.

My skin thanks me. :-)