Hi Glen, I will give you two examples of just how frustrating this can be.  I once got charged for "reboxing" boxes that we checked out and were onsite at the time (go figure), then I found multiple instances of boxes being "reboxed" that had been destroyed several years previously (the boxes didn't actually exist).  

If a box truly needs to be reboxed (and I have seen many, many examples of this - we - the customer - aren't always "innocent" in these situations), then I have arranged for the vendor to send the box to us for review.  Most vendors will "bag up" the box somehow for transport.  If you start getting lots of these situations, you can determine if an issue exists.  As noted by someone else on the listserve, I have also seen where boxes have been damaged by the vendor (this is obvious on brand new boxes that are crunched or the handles ripped out - aka "thrown boxes").  You simply have to monitor this situation.  The most important step is to arrange a review process with your vendor, then proceed from there.  If you vendor is unwilling to do that, then you have to go into "dispute resolution :(."  Most vendors I have dealt with have been very happy to deal with broken boxes as needed.

In short, when you store boxes offsite for many, many years (especially if they were sent offsite in copy boxes or larger banker boxes or were sent back offsite in poor shape), they will begin to break down.   This is a risk for the customer and vendor.  An agreed-upon process should address this, but if you have a collection of thousands of boxes 10 or 20 years old (or older), and the vendor has to do some sort of move or renovation, be prepared for lots of boxes "in poor shape" to be discovered.  Most warehouses aren't like the "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where a box will sit in the same place for decades.  On the flip side, due to attempts in the past by a small number of vendors to exploit "reboxing", you have to be on your toes to make sure the process is being done appropriately and is on the "up and up."

Good luck!!!


Brett Wise CRM, IGP, CIP | American Board of Pediatrics
Director of Records & Information Management
111 Silver Cedar Court
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 929-0461
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