Pet peeve: stores using box cutters.

[bcla]

Interesting. I shop at Costco so much that my yearly rebate check is scarily high, and I have never had anything nicked by a box cutter.

Although I do have to admit that this is so low on my priority list that I might not have noticed.

I cannot imagine expecting a warehouse type operation to not use box cutters to open boxes.

If they had to employ people to unwrap tape or open it up with a screwdriver, they would need so many people to get the work done that your $15 bottle of wine would be double or triple the price.

Not sure about that. The $15 bottle of wine might retail for about $5 more elsewhere.

I went to a Costco on the way from work. I didn't go deep into the store, but I noticed a lot of what they sell now comes in flats from the manufacturer that specifically don't need to be opened for display. Something like this:

Here's a pretty interesting comment:

http://www.mashupmom.com/whats-the-grossest-thing-you-ever-found-expired-in-your-stockpile/

What’s the grossest thing you ever found expired in your stockpile?

Not really stockpile, but bought a case of juice boxes from Costco. They had accidentally nicked the boxes with the box cutter just enough to poke tiny holes in some of the boxes to let air in but the juice was not leaking out. I kept smelling wine in my laundry room, and could not find the smell. Went to open the new case and found the frothy juice boxes sealed inside the plastic outer wrap of the whole case…..wine found.

 

[MIGrandma]

I occasionally run across a box of something at the store that has been damaged by a box cutter, and I try to dig a little deeper to find one that hasn't been cut, but I still wouldn't expect the employees to open hundreds of boxes without a knife cutter.

DH worked for Wal-Mart for 3 years...unloading the trucks. Box cutters are an essential tool for that job. But I think that maybe some workers are more careful than others in how they open them.

As far as some people being annoyed that this is a pet peeve of the OP, come on people, we all have things that are pet peeves. Nobody's pet peeves are worse or better than anyone else's.

 

[NewRVLady]

The worst is Costco. If I want to buy something bottled like wine, I look for the bottles from the inside. I'm paying $15 for a bottle of wine, and I don't particular want one where the label has been sliced through.

.

I buy a lot of wine ans have never seen this
Wouldn't they open about 1 -2 inches from top? How would the label get cut???


We open lots of boxes where I work-its a pain in the you know what

 

[declansdad]

I guess everyone has a pet peeve but talk about your first world problems.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

I went to a Costco on the way from work. I didn't go deep into the store, but I noticed a lot of what they sell now comes in flats from the manufacturer that specifically don't need to be opened for display.

I hate to break it to you, but most of those pallets are wrapped in plastic that they remove before the put the pallet out on the floor for customers. And guess what they use to cut the plastic off: items with sharp blades, such as box cutters.

 

[goofyintoronto]

Many times i'd pick up a package from the grocery store to see a cut right down the middle of it (from the box cutter). On a few occasions i'd see a lot of them with a cut. Yes, its VERY annoying! I wish they'd be more careful with how deep they cut the box.

Also, as a pp mentioned, the store loses money because of the damaged products.

 

[Disneyhabs]

I've never seen box cutter damage at a Best Buy. I don't think they use them. I've have seen damaged clothing and sealed food packaging (chips, frozen foods, etc) that was compromised. I've heard of plastic bottles leaking when they were cut through.

Besides that, there's a lot of injuries from box cutters. I'd post some photos, but that might get me in trouble here.

There are some alternatives. There's one alternative that uses a hooked blade similar to a letter opener rather than an open blade.

I have. The box for my sons x box one was sliced through from unboxing at BB not a big deal as it went in the garbage anyhow so it is no issue at all.

 

[Hollywoodhaha]

I work in a retail store and our trucks range from 1300 to 2200 pieces and we have about 8 hours to open the stuff and put it out, no other options than using a box cutter.

 

[bcla]

I buy a lot of wine ans have never seen this
Wouldn't they open about 1 -2 inches from top? How would the label get cut???


We open lots of boxes where I work-its a pain in the you know what

Depends on where they cut it. Some of the fancier wines come in trays where the bottles are turned in opposite directions, and they lie flat on their side when the box is up. I've seen foil that got nicked and even glass with a scratch. Other bottles are in simpler boxes with or without cardboard dividers. I've seen boxes that were cut halfway down - right at label level.

So perhaps my beef isn't necessarily that box cutters are used, but that employees are often careless using them. A fancy wine shop is going to have customers perhaps looking to impress friends or a date. I get that some sort of sharp instrument is used to unload plastic-wrapped shipments, but often those are literally dozens of trays where it's only pierced once, and the employee can actually see where it's being cut. I know those mega shipments of Kleenex come that way, and I've never seen one cut open.

 

[Pakey]

I work for a food manufacturing company that sells several very different items to Costco; these same items are also sold to other retailers. Costco dictates how items are packaged, both individually and grouped. They are specific enough that they only accept a specific brand of pallet and specific plastic wrap on those pallets. The trays have to be specific dimensions and the plastic wrapping each tray is also very exact. At Costco, those trays are no longer individually wrapped in plastic but I can assure you that every tray we send is wrapped individually in addition to the pallet wrapping.

I can't see how they would open these pallets and remove the tray wrapping without box cutters.

 

[bcla]

I work for a food manufacturing company that sells several very different items to Costco; these same items are also sold to other retailers. Costco dictates how items are packaged, both individually and grouped. They are specific enough that they only accept a specific brand of pallet and specific plastic wrap on those pallets. The trays have to be specific dimensions and the plastic wrapping each tray is also very exact. At Costco, those trays are no longer individually wrapped in plastic but I can assure you that every tray we send is wrapped individually in addition to the pallet wrapping.

I can't see how they would open these pallets and remove the tray wrapping without box cutters.

Again - my biggest issue isn't necessarily that a certain tool is used, but that often they're careless with the tool enough to damage the packaging. In the case of stuff in those trays that are wrapped together, I'm sure they can see what they're cutting into to avoid damaging the product and/or packaging. However, at some retail locations, I notice that every single package on the shelf has been sliced into - probably as someone went around the perimeter of the shipping box.

I've bought stuff from The North Face before and have been to their outlet store in Berkeley (was their former headquarters, manufacturing facility, and warehouse). They occasionally have these sample sales (manufacturer's samples are sold to the public at a discount - often only in one size), and they just stick everything semi-randomly in their shipping boxes. These boxes have clear instructions not to use box cutters. I can't imagine someone buying a $400 snow jacket finding it acceptable that someone cut through the fabric.

I kind of like the idea of a tear string. These work for specialty shrink wrap, and lots of shipping companies use them. UPS and FedEx use cardboard boxes with these strings.

 

[powellrj]

The box cutter is all about speed. That said, those things have different settings. The first notch only exposes about 3/16" of razor. Plenty to cut the tape without damaging the carton contents.

I was a sales rep for over 25 years and my company always provided the cutters I used and they were never like that.


http://www.staples.com/Staples-Box-...3&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=33-273241175-2

We usually cut more than just the tape and would cut the box to make a display ready piece.

 

[indygirl99]

Again - my biggest issue isn't necessarily that a certain tool is used, but that often they're careless with the tool enough to damage the packaging. In the case of stuff in those trays that are wrapped together, I'm sure they can see what they're cutting into to avoid damaging the product and/or packaging. However, at some retail locations, I notice that every single package on the shelf has been sliced into - probably as someone went around the perimeter of the shipping box.

I've bought stuff from The North Face before and have been to their outlet store in Berkeley (was their former headquarters, manufacturing facility, and warehouse). They occasionally have these sample sales (manufacturer's samples are sold to the public at a discount - often only in one size), and they just stick everything semi-randomly in their shipping boxes. These boxes have clear instructions not to use box cutters. I can't imagine someone buying a $400 snow jacket finding it acceptable that someone cut through the fabric.

I kind of like the idea of a tear string. These work for specialty shrink wrap, and lots of shipping companies use them. UPS and FedEx use cardboard boxes with these strings.

I would challenge you to work a shift with my DH. When the truck pulls up they have 30 minutes to offload the truck and get everything into the walk in freezer. There are 2 of them who offload the truck and they can average 100+ pallets per truck.

Then they pull the pallets out one at a time and have to get them loaded into the store freezer in less than 30 minutes.

I challenge you to not use a box cutter and get that pallet unloaded in the less than 30 minute time period.

 

[charming23]

I use bix cutters at my job. I work clothing retail and am always very careful about how I cut the tape to not damage anything. I get about 100 cases a week and I am the only one who can dedicate all my time to stock so using the box cutter is essential to get things done faster.