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Company admits use of boxes '500 times too large'



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Published Date: 07 October 2008
A company which sent out tiny items of stationery in boxes 500 times their size has been labelled "ridiculous" by traders in Northampton.
Online firm Viking Direct sent tiny correction rollers to a firm in Earls Barton in boxes capable of holding hundreds of the devices.

After receiving the bizarre packages, the Earls Barton firm reported Viking Direct to Northamptonshire Trading Standards officers who took immediate action because of the waste of packaging.

And after seeing pictures of the massive boxes used to ship the tiny devices, stationery expert Tracy Goldsmith, who is the branch manager of Colemans stationery in St Giles Street, Northampton, said the situation was crazy.

She said: "It just looks absolutely ridiculous to me. There's no way putting something as tiny as that in a box that big could ever make sense."

After being challenged by Trading Standards, Viking Direct admitted using excess packaging for its products.

The firm, part of Leicester-based Office Depot International, agreed to sign a caution following the investigation and carried out an internal investigation and implemented new systems to make sure it complies with packaging legislation.

Concerns about excess packaging can be reported to Trading Standards on 08454 040506.

The full article contains 208 words and appears in Northampton Chron & Echo newspaper.
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  • Last Updated: 07 October 2008 10:50 AM
  • Source: Northampton Chron & Echo
  • Location: Northampton
 
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1

synaesthesia,

Rushden, Northants 07/10/2008 11:21:51
Sounds right, used to order from them all the time when working in an office and boxes this size were often used to ship single ink cartridges or even smaller items. Viking are a terrible company for this sort of thing.
2

Fed up living in Northampton,

Northampton 07/10/2008 12:39:21
Amazon sent me a Memory Card for my Digital Camera in a box big enough to hold a small printer once.

At my last place we also had a CD drive for a HP server delivered on a palet! I kid you not!
3

Errol Flynn,

Guildhall Road, Northampton 07/10/2008 13:08:43
Perhaps The Chron should contact 'Office Depot, Gowerton Rd, Brackmills' which is basically the same company as Viking, 'Office Depot' also sponsor Northamptonshire County Cricket too.
4

bacon butty,

07/10/2008 15:32:40
i hope my box is the right size when i pop my clogs.
5

bacon butty,

07/10/2008 15:33:36
this company now seems "boxed in!"
6

Michael S.,

07/10/2008 16:11:14
Hey saves money on getting boxes if you need to move or store items away.Wonder what size box i'll get if i ordered a couple pens and pencils?.
7

Errol Flynn,

Guildhall Road, Northampton 07/10/2008 16:37:27
Yeah perhaps they should change the name of the Company to...

From 'Viking' to 'Vi-KING Size'

or from 'Office Depot' to 'Office Debacle'





8

Michael S.,

07/10/2008 21:05:08
Maybe they use big boxes for small items cause they fill it with useless paper,you get more paper in the boxes then the item itself.
9

Top Driver,

07/10/2008 23:49:32
Or they go to the other extreme and ram so much in the box that you cannot lift it and it splits and the contents go everywhere, it's not always the couriers fault but the clowns that fill the boxes
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