Does everything you order come damaged or is it just me?!?!?!?!

[DAKnits]

I got my medium Nilo table today and while I love it, there's a big indentation in the wood frame right under the "NILO" painted name (couldn't it have been in ANY other place?!?!?!?), and on one section of the wood frame, the wood was splintering off (I used sand paper, but now the edge is uneven and dull). This is just the latest "imperfect" large item I've ordered on line that's come damaged, and I just don't feel like returning these things anymore. I wish I could just buy locally, but we don't have any of this stuff available.

My Alex Super Art table came scratched up and I did take the time to deal with customer service, ship back the old table, and wait for a new one -- which was also scratched up -- so I just kept it. TWO Lipper International Rolling Cart Activity tables came totally broken so I gave up on that one. My KidKraft kitchen came damaged with the ice dispenser box broken off the door and a part of it crushed, and the holes on the freezer door where the hinge attaches don't line up, so I have to drill my own holes and have a extra pair of holes in the side of the kitchen (unless I want to deal with getting three new replacement pieces, taking apart that section of the kitchen, and reassembling it again -- which I don't). So, I end up just sucking it up and keeping damaged goods b/c I don't want to wait for a new item, take apart what I have, deal with customer service, and ship back the damaged items. I also don't want my daughter to have to wait to use her things so that I can get a new part which may or may not be damaged as well.

Does anyone else have this experience or am just extraordinarily unlucky with wood?!? Maybe I just expect too much? If the prices weren't so high, maybe I wouldn't have high expectations, I just think that things should be made better.

Thanks for letting me vent!

[MommyAllison]

It's not just you. DD's crib and dresser/changing table both came with dents/gashes/etc. It was about enough to make me give up on ordering online! I was very thankful when all of the furniture was here. Now I'm ordering diapers and thankfully, there isn't much that can be done to them in transit!

Allison
Mama to DD 11/05

[sdbc]

Yup. Everything comes damaged or imperfect...

[holliam]

Honestly, that used to happen to me at my old house in CA. We finally were able to trace most of the damage back to our local UPS distribution office. It was a total nightmare!

I honestly haven't had anything arrive damaged since living where we do now.

Holli

[DAKnits]

It's definitely not the shipping process b/c the boxes are in great condition, and the defects are with the products themselves.... it's so frustrating! And I am the kind of person who obsesses on the imperfections so it's really irritating to me. I don't want to be stuck only ordering plastic items b/c I really do like the wood versions better, but it's definitely a trade off.

[Beth568]

That is really frustrating.

I've certainly had my share of issues when shipping my furniture - I learned the hard way which carriers to trust, and to make sure to fully insure everything.

I'm sorry to think that the products themselves are defective. I'm sure it's true in many cases, because big companies need to mass produce things as inexpensively as possible. I also think some of the things you describe could be shipping related, though. I was out with my kids the other day and I watched two FedEx drivers loading boxes of printers onto their truck from an office building. They were quite literally THROWING the boxes on there, and they landed with a thud. And this is computer equipment, which I'd expect to be fairly sensitive to that kind of handling, and it was also quite clear from the pics on the boxes what was in there! Now, it didn't look like they were cutting or smashing the boxes, but I'd still be willing to bet that the products inside weren't all going to survive. :(

Online commerce is great in lots of ways, but it also does lengthen and complicate the process, and it leaves more room for carelessness. :(

[DrSally]

I've had many things arrived damaged, and I think I've heard that furniture is a high risk item as far as shipping and damage is concerned. I think a lot depends on how it is packaged. Amazon usually does a good job, but a few times it was packaged really badly. It is really disappointing after waiting for something and then to have it damaged. FYI, the few times this has happened to me at babycenter.com, I've called and they just send a new product and don't make me return the old one--usually something small though. That makes the wait more bearable--i.e., for something like a swaddling blanket we really needed.