So I recently placed an Amazon order for all the 5e hardcover books, about 10. They all arrived in the same box, with zero packaging materials. And predictably, all the books have bumped corners and rolled spines. One of the books has a wrinkled cover, which may be a manufacturer defect. And two of the books are bowed, which is probably from sitting in the humidity of an Amazon fulfillment center. So they are all going back. I am not expecting much better results from the replacements, but I'll keep the better of the two and send the other back. And probably repeat it a second time.

Not that long ago, Amazon would send all there books out plastic wrapped to cardboard backers, which protected and stabilized the books. I guess they don't do that anymore. They run about $1-3 per book less than Barnes & Noble, but BN properly ships books. I'll buy from them next time. /rant

Tarmogoyf wrote in When did Amazon forget how to ship books?:So I recently placed an Amazon order for all the 5e hardcover books, about 10. They all arrived in the same box, with zero packaging materials. And predictably, all the books have bumped corners and rolled spines. One of the books has a wrinkled cover, which may be a manufacturer defect. And two of the books are bowed, which is probably from sitting in the humidity of an Amazon fulfillment center. So they are all going back. I am not expecting much better results from the replacements, but I'll keep the better of the two and send the other back. And probably repeat it a second time.

Not that long ago, Amazon would send all there books out plastic wrapped to cardboard backers, which protected and stabilized the books. I guess they don't do that anymore. They run about $1-3 per book less than Barnes & Noble, but BN properly ships books. I'll buy from them next time. /rant

Man, that sucks!  Was this ordered directly from Amazon or from a third party seller?  

Either way, in my experience Amazon has been good at resolving customer service issues like this.  I'm sure they'll make it right for you.

Whenever I encounter this sort of problem, I just ask for replacements. If they've done the actuarial math to determine that proper packaging is more costly than the amount of returns they'll have to deal with, that's fine. But if I order a new item, I get a new item. I don't care how many times I have to send it back.

I've started to notice this problem with Lulu as well, and they used to be quite good at shipping. I take the same approach.

Tarmogoyf wrote in When did Amazon forget how to ship books?:So I recently placed an Amazon order for all the 5e hardcover books, about 10. They all arrived in the same box, with zero packaging materials. And predictably, all the books have bumped corners and rolled spines. One of the books has a wrinkled cover, which may be a manufacturer defect. And two of the books are bowed, which is probably from sitting in the humidity of an Amazon fulfillment center. So they are all going back. I am not expecting much better results from the replacements, but I'll keep the better of the two and send the other back. And probably repeat it a second time.

Had the same issue here with books being shipped all the way to Australia.  Which is why I predominately use Book Depository.  Though they are now owned by Amazon so hopefully they won;t change for the worse.

Tarmogoyf wrote in When did Amazon forget how to ship books?:So I recently placed an Amazon order for all the 5e hardcover books, about 10. They all arrived in the same box, with zero packaging materials. And predictably, all the books have bumped corners and rolled spines. One of the books has a wrinkled cover, which may be a manufacturer defect. And two of the books are bowed, which is probably from sitting in the humidity of an Amazon fulfillment center. So they are all going back. I am not expecting much better results from the replacements, but I'll keep the better of the two and send the other back. And probably repeat it a second time.

Not that long ago, Amazon would send all there books out plastic wrapped to cardboard backers, which protected and stabilized the books. I guess they don't do that anymore. They run about $1-3 per book less than Barnes & Noble, but BN properly ships books. I'll buy from them next time. /rant

Amazon hasn't shipped that way for years, maybe even a decade.  I don't even get a box, usually.  The books just come in bubble mailers.  I maintain my B&N membership because the free shipping is worth it, and the books almost always come in proper packaging.  I still order from Amazon because of their speed and cost (B&N takes days longer to mail stuff out), but I don't ever expect nice copies of anything I order from them anymore.  It's basically bargain bin quality.