Packing Slips (for gifts mailed from the vendor)-- why?

Factual Questions
1

Silly question of the day: I ordered some gifts for my sister and family from a web site that specializes in sending gifts (they’ll wrap the gift, enclose a message, etc.). My sister just wrote to let me know that they received the package – which included a packing slip that described what was in the boxes!!

Is there a reason why a company has to include a packing slip? Or is it just a stupid oversight on their part?

2

Having worked for a mail-order/shipping company I can offer a few reasons…

  1. The person packing the box is usually not the same person who took your order. The packing slip tells him/her exactly what’s supposed to go in the box. As long as he’s got the packing slip right there, he may as well put it in the box so that…

  2. The recipient can verify that she has received everything. If the buyer and the recipient are the same person, and there was only one item ordered, the need to verify contents might not be a big deal. However, an order with mulitple items may also have multiple destinations. While there wil be only one invoice, there will be separate packing slips for each destination.

  3. If the shipment arrives damaged, the packing slip provides the receiver with the necessary information for making a loss claim against the shipper.

  4. Many shipping companies (UPS, FedEx, etc) require a packing slip. This is usally attached to the outside of the package. There are several reasons for this. The most common reasons are: interstate/international commerce regulations (a company needs to be able to identify its cargo); if a package somehow breaks open and spills its contents during shipping and handling, the packing slip helps the shipping company to identify which items should have been in the box so that they can repackage the items.

There are probably a number of other reasons for it, but a lot of it just comes down to tradition and standard operating procedure. The packing slip provides an extra level of accuracy checking.

I’m going to assume that your consternation is rooted in the packing slip giving away the “surprise” of what was in the gifts, and that’s understandable. But don’t worry about giving away prices - packing slips rarely show prices.