When You Care Enough to send ... Something
Written: Jan 12 '06
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Carepackages
SUE'S PRE-RAMBLE
My teen genius left our humble home for “Hollywood U” last year and as any decent student’s mom, I’m always on the lookout for ways to add color to Teen Genius’s sun-drenched concrete dorm existence. Before he left home, we got the chance to order linens with Hollywood U’s colors and logo to benefit the dorm activity fund, so I took advantage of giving him a way to become the stylish dormie he was meant to be. Several weeks after ordering the custom blankies, I got an email from the linen company. They could help me liven up Teen Genius’s days with gifts from their sister website, Carepackages. About twice each semester they’ve sent me similar emails and I’ve ordered Care Packages filled with toys and treats and had them sent to my unsuspecting man-child. He always seems genuinely touched by the variety of goodies and time wasters so I keep using Carepackages and their services.
SITE NAVIGATION/SHOPPING
The Carepackages main page lists about twenty categories of gift packages; everything from Baby to Camp to College to Sympathy (though I’d hesitate to send one of these to someone who is grieving). They provide about 50 packages that they reshuffle among the various categories. I found the same “Couch Potato” package in half a dozen categories. It’s easy to move from one category to another and the pages load fairly quickly. When I click on a category I see short descriptions for several packages like this one for the “Couch Potato” – “For a Couch Potato friend. A variety of munchies that will keep them crunching! Warning: Box may contain crumbs.” I can choose to buy it right then or get more details like these – “The necessities for a night in front of the tube. Featuring: Doritos, Pringles, Newmans Popcorn, Cheez-Its, Combos, Rice Krispie, Famos Amos Choc, Chip Cookies, Salted Peanuts, Sunflower Seeds, M&M Peanuts, Twizzlers, Pinky Sponge Ball, Mike & Ike, Reeses Pieces, and more!” It comes with a greeting card that reads – “Inside copy:For a favorite Couch potato friend. A variety of munchies that will keep you crunching! Warning: Box is not edible and contents may result in crumbs...” In addition to the care packages in the categories there is usually a set featured on the main page. There are usually two or three small boxes and one that includes all of them.
CHECKOUT/BILLING
Check out Carepackages is fairly easy. As soon as I click on “Buy It” for an item, I am taken to my shopping cart where the item’s cost and its shipping charges. The “Couch Potato” I used in the example above costs $19.50 and the shipping is $6 for a total of $25.50. The site retained my information, so checking out on subsequent visits has been very painless. They only accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover—sorry Amex. They send a confirmation email when the purchase is made, but nothing after that.
SHIPPING/DELIVERY
The shipping costs seem to be just a little high: $6 for up to $30 in purchases and it doesn’t top out until the shipping charge hits $40 for $495.01 and above. They don’t send an email when the purchase is shipped or received. The worst part of the shipping issue is that it seems to take forever. I can’t specify a date that I want it to be received and even though I always start checking a couple of weeks after I place the order, it’s usually another week or two after that before the Teen Genius gets it at Hollywood U.
PRODUCT
The items at Carepackages are all various configurations of individually wrapped or small packages of snacks like oreos, skittles, instant soup, tea, cocoa, popcorn, and sometimes a small toy like a beach ball or teddy bear. The current featured packages include a variety of fresh fruit. Since Hollywood U’s dorms have a problem with ants, I tend not to order food that would attract them to Teen Genius’s room, so I’ll pass on the unwrapped fruit. Otherwise, my son has enjoyed all of the snacks and the toys haven’t wimped out after a few uses.
WHAT I LIKE
What do I like about Carepackages? I didn’t have to go to the store, pick out a bunch of products, find a box and create a protective nest for the snacks and then paid more in postage than I spent on snacks.
WHAT I DON'T LIKE
The only thing I don’t like about Carepackages is the shipping time involved. They sell “Get Well” and “Cheer Up” packages and in the amount of time it takes them to get there (weeks), the cold will be gone and that nasty girlfriend break-up will be all forgotten.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
If you have a child away at school or camp, a friend with a new baby, or you know someone who needs long-term cheering, Carepackages could be your answer. Just make sure that you have plenty of lead time for shipping.
COMPANY INFORMATION
Carepackages
www.carepackages.com
1-877-354-1205
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? snacks and treats
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Epinions.com ID:
bartzone
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Location: Bellevue, WA
Reviews written: 137
Trusted by: 45 members
About Me:
I have never felt certain of my writing, ...only quite certain of my opinions. Chesterton
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