Sacramento Republicrat

All kidding aside, how does this happen? I know a lot of shipping is automated these days, but was there not a single person along the way who noticed that a package was going out with only a bag inside? Rush, no less! And how many times do things like this happen? It’s probably not an isolated incident if a writer from a prominent Apple blog happened to be on the receiving end of it. If you’re wondering where all those surcharges on your AT&T bill are going to, consider it a “We’re a poorly run company” tax to pay for garbage like this.

I purchased an iPhone during the refurb sale that AT&T had last week. In two working days I got my 16 gig iPhone, times two. Two identical boxes, two identical iPhones and two identical charges on my debit card. Given the good deal, I decided to keep both (yes, despite the impending update). Imagine my surprise when my wife called me at work the next day to report that a third box had arrived from AT&T via DHL 2-day shipping, and that it was twice the size of either of the iPhone boxes. Given the previous day’s spoils, I couldn’t wait to get home.

Arriving at my house, I located the box and sat down with it on the couch. It was very, very light, but I’ve become accustomed to good things not weighing much. Pulling out my trusty Swiss Tech Utili-Key, I carefully sliced open my unexpected delivery. Inside was a packing slip with a single line item:

75011 MISC iPhone PPA BAG … $0.00

Yes, it was an unsolicited, rush delivery, plastic iPhone bag. This is definitely not a first for AT&T and the monetary waste involved in packing and shipping a completely unnecessary plastic bag is, I assume, passed back to the consumer. Next time you look at your AT&T bill, you can think about my MISC iPhone PPA BAG … which I’ll be cherishing forever. Or at least until the novelty wears off.