An Amazon customer has criticised the online retailer for delivering a tiny button battery in packaging the size of a shoe box.
The item sent to Matt Harris uses up approximately a quarter of one per cent of the volume of the box and would have fitted 400 times over.
The 38-year-old from Hook, Hampshire, recorded a video of himself unboxing the package and posted it online with the caption: ‘Someone’s taking the packaging of items to the extreme.’
The foreman, who works for a bedding and packaging company, thought the wrong package had been delivered as he was expecting the battery to arrive in an envelope.
The button-type battery sent to Matt Harris uses up approximately a quarter of one per cent of the volume of the box and would have fitted 400 times over
The foreman, who works for a bedding and packaging company, thought the wrong package had been delivered as he was expecting the battery to arrive in an envelope
Online giant Amazon had vowed to stop using huge cardboard boxes to send small items last year, and were said to be using new technology and a new algorithm to combat the problem.
However, Mr Harris’ package seems to have slipped through the net.
He took to the company’s Facebook page to vent his frustration, by recording a 25-second video to make his point.
As Mr Harris opens the box, a wealth of brown paper packaging can be seen inside the box, covering a tiny three-volt button battery tucked into the corner.
Mr Harris added the clip with the caption: ‘Seriously Amazon. I think someone’s taking the packaging of items to the extreme.’
Using his measurements of the box, the package had a volume of 2,500 cubic centimetres, far more than necessary for a tiny battery.
In comparison, the battery took up about six cubic centimetres, or 0.25 per cent of the box, meaning you could fit 400 of the batteries before the box was full.
Speaking today, Mr Harris said: ‘I thought they had delivered to the wrong house as I was expecting an envelope through the door.
‘It’s not the first time they’ve been overzealous with the packaging, but this was a bit extreme.’
In November this year, Amazon came under fire for delivering a wall calendar complete with 45 feet of paper packaging.
Annie Gelly, from Herne Hill, London, ordered the A2-sized Collins calendar and said she expected it to arrive in a jiffy bag or an envelope.
On another occasion, wheelchair user Catrina Farnell had to struggle across the road in Steeton, West Yorkshire, to pick up a tiny rosette which could easily have been pushed through the door, but which had arrived in a far larger package.
One customer received 45 feet of packaging last month after ordering a wall calendar from Amazon (posed by model)
And Amazon customers have also shared some of the more remarkable examples on Twitter, after receiving oversized boxes for such trivial items as a screwdriver, a lipstick and a feather duster.
A spokesman for the online giant pointed to the company’s packaging statement on its website.
It reads: ‘We are always driving improvements in the sustainability of packaging across Amazon’s supply chain, starting with our own packaging and our own operations.
‘Customer feedback informs our worldwide packaging team and allows us and our vendors to make improvements.
‘We pursue multi-year waste reduction initiatives – e-commerce ready packaging and Amazon Frustration-Free Packaging – to promote easy-to-open, 100% recyclable packaging and to ship products in their own packages without additional shipping boxes.’
Amazon customers have also shared some of the more remarkable examples on Twitter, after receiving oversized boxes for trivial items