I have had pretty good luck with Midway as well. I do recall in April, 1977 - when I ordered a bunch of reloading equipment, including a new RCBS press kit, that the entire order of all size items was in a very large box, however I distinctly remember there was nothing to prevent things from moving around within that big box. As I recall, there was a split in the side of the box where I presume the large box had been dropped and/or thrown.
I carefully checked the entire order and all was there - and fortunately everything in great condition!
I guess I should have sent them an email, as, how do they know unless they are told?
If I were working in their shipping department they would be losing money and coming down on me as I would have everything triple-boxed and wrapped and have fun with all the noodles and packing material!
:banghead:
I've sold things on eBay for a year or so and got pretty good at wrapping things so they won't get damaged. I recall a chainsaw I was sending needed so much padding that I literally placed my shredder over the tall, long, narrow box and kept feeding the shredder all manner of old paperwork, newspapers, magazine pages, etc. for about forty minutes until the box was firmly-filled with shreddings - as I kept pushing it all down in the box and the box seemed to never fill up!
And, I was actually RUNNING OUT OF STUFF TO SHRED! I was literally shredding TRASH!
I got an email later from the recipient telling me it took them over a half an hour to open the thing!
LOL
On one other occasion, I ordered several items from Midway and upon opening the box, one small item fell out which I apparently didn't notice! I called them and the customer-service woman was very friendly, noting that the item was, in fact shipped, and I told her that it is even checked off on the packing slip I received, however "it's NOT HERE!" After putting me on hold for about 90 seconds, she finally came back on and had arranged to re-ship that particular part! No sooner did I get off the phone and there was the item, right under my desk, on which I had opened the box! I quickly called them and got someone else and told them to HOLD THAT ORDER! Fortunately, I got them just in time before the order went to shipping! They thanked me up-and-down and I apologized up-and-down and felt pretty foolish!
Incidentally, I have seen several times where there is a large plastic, gray sealed bag that is placed in with the goods, and somehow, the foam within the bag kind of hardens like styrofoam around everything it is meant to protect - they must need to shake it or somehow break something within to make the foam start to set up!
I bet that stuff is not cheap!
I happened to Google and just found that foam here:
http://altapackaging.com/liquid-foam-packaging.asp
I have had shipments from many other companies and I would rate Midway's packing process to be up there with some of the best I have received!
