Amazon will unbox your brand-new Motorola Razr to fold it shut before shipping

Humza

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Unbox therapy: With foldables ushering in a new, exciting form-factor (and price point) for smartphones, Motorola went back to its past and resurrected the iconic flip phone design in the new Motorola Razr. Amazon, it seems, is also a fan of the satisfying, visceral thud of the phone flipping shut as it will unbox customer orders of the phone to fold it before shipping.

It may not have rekindled as much interest in flip phones as Motorola would have liked, but the new Razr 5G still features that unique, usable form-factor that made the original so desirable. An eye-watering $1,400 price tag with subpar specs have definitely made it a hard sell, even for nostalgic fans, who'll now have to put up with some added inconvenience if they're buying it from Amazon.

Motorola, as can be seen in the picture below, has a rather swanky packaging for the Razr where it ships the phone unfolded to show off that 6.2-inch OLED screen. However, customers getting the unlocked version from Amazon will get theirs flipped shut in order to protect its display, according to the retail giant, which has added the following note in the product listing:

originally, RAZR was meant to be shipped in the unfolded position. However, to better protect the display, we have folded your RAZR – it’s safer but may not look as elegant as we hoped. We apologize if you see fingerprints on your device. We assure you your RAZR is brand new.

There could be an uptick in sales as the Razr 5G is currently going for $999, which is $400 off its original price. This discount, however, is not exclusive to Amazon, as The Verge reports, but can also be found on other retailers like Best Buy and B&H, who'll apparently ship the phone as Motorola originally intended.

Amazon's decision to safely ship the phone like this presumably comes in light of all the various logistical adventures that such packages go through from the warehouse right down to home delivery. The approach, however, also means that someone will already have had a hands-on with the phone before resealing and shipping it, ultimately tainting that brand-new unboxing experience of a device that still costs a steep $1,000.

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Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk .... a very basic concept of QC ..... hard to believe Motorola missed that .....
 
So Amazon knows more about the phone than Motorola so they ship it their own way, and they won't use gloves to close your phone to avoid fingerprints. Um, ok. I didn't know Amazon was a startup company...
Yeah WTF? What? Amazon can't afford to use latex when breaking into my package?

This is an unheard of practice. When people buy new, they want an unopened package. What do you think would happen if a regular store did this to any of its products? If Amazon wants to sell opened Razrs, they might want to consider changing this idea or apply a decent discount.
 
Yeah WTF? What? Amazon can't afford to use latex when breaking into my package?

This is an unheard of practice. When people buy new, they want an unopened package. What do you think would happen if a regular store did this to any of its products? If Amazon wants to sell opened Razrs, they might want to consider changing this idea or apply a decent discount.

Very much agreed, this isn’t an intelligent way to PR your product - from both Razr and Amazon’s perspectives.
 
They probably know some employees won't remember to always use gloves so on the off chance you see a fingerprint, they preemptively apologised
 
So Amazon knows more about the phone than Motorola so they ship it their own way, and they won't use gloves to close your phone to avoid fingerprints. Um, ok. I didn't know Amazon was a startup company...

Does Amazon know more about the phone? No. Does Amazon, a shipping juggernaut that specializes in deliveries and has to deal with damaged and returned items 24 hours a day, know more about potentially dangerous ways to package your product for safe shipment? Yep.

Motorola packaged the phone that way just for flash and to make it seem fancy, so you'd fell better about spending all that cash on it. It was more about form than function. Amazon doesn't want to be on the hook for customers complaining their screens got messed up in shipping. This is purely a pre-emptive "CYA" moment on their part.

But yah, seriously, go to all the trouble to unbox, flip the phone down, etc. and not mandate your employees are wearing some gloves? That seems kind of a weird misstep on the part of Amazon.
 
This is an unheard of practice. When people buy new, they want an unopened package.
When I buy new, I want a product that's never been used. The packaging isn't really that important, as long as it arrives undamaged. The last new car, refrigerator, and riding mower I bought didn't come in an unopened package, and back in the days when I bought phones by walking into an AT&T store, the new phones didn't either. Is this really such a big deal to get bent over? Do you think no one at the Motorola factory touched your new phone before packaging it originally?
 
Does Amazon know more about the phone? No. Does Amazon, a shipping juggernaut that specializes in deliveries and has to deal with damaged and returned items 24 hours a day, know more about potentially dangerous ways to package your product for safe shipment? Yep.

Motorola packaged the phone that way just for flash and to make it seem fancy, so you'd fell better about spending all that cash on it. It was more about form than function. Amazon doesn't want to be on the hook for customers complaining their screens got messed up in shipping. This is purely a pre-emptive "CYA" moment on their part.

But yah, seriously, go to all the trouble to unbox, flip the phone down, etc. and not mandate your employees are wearing some gloves? That seems kind of a weird misstep on the part of Amazon.
Shipping juggernaut can't ship a phone as is in its original packaging.

News at 11....
 
"Is this really such a big deal to get bent over? Do you think no one at the Motorola factory touched your new phone before packaging it originally?"

It just seems such an amateurish approach to a potential problem. It wouldn't have occurred to me to open the packaging and mess with the contents when there is another reasonable solution.
 
Really Amazon? Here's a thought...put the unopened phone package in an extra outer box rather than opening the bleepin' thing. ?

While I do agree that latex gloves are the simple answer here, and should not be a problem. Let's face it in the pandemic they should be to hand. (Although I hear so many people crying over a 30min use of a mask, yet 8 hours in one is a doddle cause you forget they are there)

But I am surprised that this is the approach Amazon took, when they always put an itty bitty item, in the largest box in the warehouse, and stuff a trees worth of brown paper in for good measure. So why not just pack them as usual ?
 
Shipping juggernaut can't ship a phone as is in its original packaging.

News at 11....

It's shipping in the original packaging. It's just not shipping in the original CONFIGURATION, because that has a potential for damage.

You have a hinged phone with a flexible screen, in an open and unsupported orientation that is obviously built for looks and style, not effective protection of your product when shipping individual units. The problem is excessive vibration and/or shock loads, which will occur in any package shipping situation, and the potential for damaging that hinge point. Fatigue cracking on those flexible screens is a real concern.

And, it's not like this is a $20 flip phone, if returns and shipping issues are a potential for Amazon at $1000 a pop, you can maybe understand why they are taking the cautious extra step to protect the product.
 
While I do agree that latex gloves are the simple answer here, and should not be a problem. Let's face it in the pandemic they should be to hand. (Although I hear so many people crying over a 30min use of a mask, yet 8 hours in one is a doddle cause you forget they are there)

But I am surprised that this is the approach Amazon took, when they always put an itty bitty item, in the largest box in the warehouse, and stuff a trees worth of brown paper in for good measure. So why not just pack them as usual ?

All the packing paper in the world won't prevent vibration and shock loads from affecting an unsupported hinge inside that package. I'm sure these Razr boxes will be inside another box as is normal for Amazon to ship, the problem is the way the Razr sits within its own manufacturing packaging.
 
"Is this really such a big deal to get bent over? Do you think no one at the Motorola factory touched your new phone before packaging it originally?"

It just seems such an amateurish approach to a potential problem. It wouldn't have occurred to me to open the packaging and mess with the contents when there is another reasonable solution.

The difference is Motorola employees are trained, Amazon employees are not. It's obvious that if Amazon is warning that there will be fingerprints on your $1,000 phone, then Amazon has no care for your purchase.
 
Amazon is the middle man, Motorola is the manufacturer. If Amazon has a problem with the way Motorola packages their products, then Amazon should take those concerns to Motorola.. Amazon should not be taking it upon themselves. If an Amazon employee damages your $1,000 phone and ships to you anyway, who will take the blame? Besides, I wouldn't buy a $1,000 phone when I can clearly see someone's paw prints all over it.
 
The difference is Motorola employees are trained, Amazon employees are not.
I'd bet that Amazon fulfillment employees receive more training on safe product packaging and shipping than those at Motorola.

. It's obvious that if Amazon is warning that there will be fingerprints on your $1,000 phone, then Amazon has no care for your purchase.
Because a fingerprint indicates carelessness .... but allowing your phone to potentially arrive broken demonstrates care and concern? I don't follow the logic.

If an Amazon employee damages your $1,000 phone and ships to you anyway, who will take the blame?
From personal experience-- Amazon will.

Besides, I wouldn't buy a $1,000 phone when I can clearly see someone's paw prints all over it.
But you'll buy a $40K car with far more fingerprints all over it?
 
But you'll buy a $40K car with far more fingerprints all over it?
[/QUOTE]

Absolutely not. If I see someone's greasy fingerprints all over a brand new $40,000 car that just tells me the car dealership has no care for the customers. Amazon has no care for it's customers. Motorola is not sending out their products with greasy fingerprints, Amazon is doing it.

It's your choice how you want to spend your money. If you enjoy someone's greasy fingerprints all over a brand new product you just purchased for a grand, that's your prerogative. I expect more integrity from a company that has a market value of over a trillion dollars

 
It's your choice how you want to spend your money. If you enjoy someone's greasy fingerprints all over a brand new product you just purchased for a grand, that's your prerogative.
When I buy a $1000 phone, I tend to focus more on its features and build quality, than whether or not it might have a stray easily-wiped-off fingerprint on it.

All Amazon is doing with this press release is (quite properly) warning people their package has been opened. You make it sound like every phone is arriving cocooned in a solid centimeter-thick layer of human grease. Think you might be overreacting a tad?
 
Thank you Amazon for thinking ahead, that's what everyone should be saying instead most are bitching and complaining and carrying on like a bunch of third graders that had their play period taken away! first and foremost by doing this Amazon is trying to protect themselves from being bombarded by returns and weather we believe it or not they are in fact helping us the customer by making sure that the items we receive are packaged properly and that they arrived with no damage so we as customers can enjoy what we pay so much of our hard earned money for, so no complaining! Amazon knows what they need to do
 
" $1,400 price tag "....................Hahahahahahahaha!! Yep, nostalgia suckers will buy it thinking the $400 discount is a good deal and still fork over $1000 for a Motorola gimmick!!

And people are fighting over packaging and finger prints!
 
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