Walmart shipped each pool noodle in its own box.
It might sound unreal, but someone shared the video on r/mildlyinfuriating, and the image of a doorstep buried in an army of identical cardboard boxes appeared almost cartoonish.
The customer placed a standard bulk order: 165 pool noodles. It was received by Walmart's system, processed and shipped in 165 different boxes, each containing a single, nearly weightless foam noodle.
"That driver is so happy," one commenter wrote. "I know he was checking his route and was like, 1 stop? Let me check these boxes… oh shit… yeah, all for one guy, and they weigh nothing. Free eats."
Another commenter discussed how the system likely worked. Large conglomerates, such as Walmart, have switched to automated packing systems, in which an algorithm determines the box size for each item.
Algorithms likely control much of the shipping process, and packers are powerless to override it. One box, one noodle, 165 times because that was how the system processed the order.
Not too long ago, a different shipment caused a similarly unusual shipping issue. For their twins' seventh birthday celebration, a couple ordered five packs of Harry Potter dishes, each carrying eight plates for forty guests.
Thirty-two guests were left without plates and three packs were still en route after Walmart divided the order and sent one pack on the morning of the celebration. Commenters shared similar Walmart delivery complaints..
Someone in that plates thread had already seen the pool noodle disaster video. "I just watched a video of a guy who had 165 boxes delivered all containing one single pool noodle," they wrote. "Walmart need to sort themselves out haha."
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byu/MambaMentality24x2 from discussion
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Back in the pool noodle thread, a former FedEx employee offered additional insight into the shipping process. They said: "Walmart is famously bad at packaging their online orders. When I used to work at FedEx, the most common shipper I saw damage for was Walmart. Usually because they'd throw something in an incorrectly sized box with little to no packing material and just send it."
One commenter went so far as to call for a boycott of both Walmart and Amazon, describing both companies as harmful to everyone outside of the billionaire class.
Walmart has not made any public comments about its automated packaging or order splitting procedures. For years, the company's shipping concerns have gone viral on Reddit and customer review sites without receiving a formal response.
