How a Misaddressed Sample Package Taught Me to Verify Everything (Even the Obvious)

That Package That Never Arrived

If you've ever spent two weeks tracking a package only to find it was returned because you forgot to include “Apt B” in the address, you know the sinking feeling. I certainly do.

I'm the office administrator for a 200-person beverage company. I manage all our packaging and office supply purchasing — roughly $50,000 annually across 8 vendors. In early 2024, our VP of Operations asked me to look into sustainable aluminum packaging for our new line of craft sodas. She wanted something that aligned with our company's green branding, and I'd heard about Ball Corporation's advocacy for aluminum recycling and their sustainable beverage products.

The Research Phase

I spent about three weeks comparing options. Ball Corporation wasn't the cheapest, but their focus on recycling advocacy and closed-loop systems was exactly what my VP wanted. I went back and forth between Ball and another supplier for almost two weeks. Ball offered better sustainability credentials; the other saved us 18% on unit cost. Ultimately, I chose Ball because the brand story mattered more to our marketing team.

But I made a classic mistake: I assumed the rest of the process would be straightforward. I'd ordered samples before, right? How hard could it be?

The Sample Request

I filled out the online form on Ball Corporation's site, requesting a set of 24-ounce aluminum cans and bottles. The form asked for a shipping address, and I typed in our office address without much thought. Our building has separate units — we're in Suite 200, but there's also a warehouse at the same street number. The form had a field for “Apartment/Suite,” and I left it blank because, well, our street address alone had always worked for FedEx and UPS.

(Ugh, another assumption.)

A week later, my tracking number showed “delivered,” but nothing arrived. I called the shipping company — turns out the driver left the box at the warehouse next door because the address matched the street number but didn't specify Suite 200. The warehouse staff, not knowing what it was, set it aside. Then came the real problem: they didn't want to open it, so they requested a return label. The package went back to Ball's shipping center, and I had to start over.

The Turning Point

I was furious at myself. A stupid omission — not including the suite number — cost us a week of delay and $35 in return shipping. Meanwhile, our marketing team was pushing for the sample to finalize label designs. My VP asked me where the cans were. I had to admit I'd messed up.

I also had a secondary problem: our office's packaging tape dispenser had broken that morning, and I'd ordered a dual glue gun to fix some display boxes. That showed up on time (finally!), but it was a reminder that when you skip verification, even small things can snowball.

The Water Bottle Flavor Infuser Incident

Around the same time, my colleague from HR asked me to buy a water bottle flavor infuser — something for the company's employee wellness program. I almost ordered the first one I saw on Amazon without checking the dimensions. But because I was still smarting from the address fiasco, I measured the office water cooler cup holders and read reviews about fit issues. Turned out the popular model was too tall for our dispenser. If I hadn't verified, we'd have been stuck with 20 infusers nobody could use.

That's when the lesson really hit: 5 minutes of verification beats 5 days of correction.

How I Fixed the Process

I created a 12-point checklist for any order that goes to a new vendor or involves a new product. The first item is: Verify the full shipping address, including any apartment/suite/unit numbers, and test it by looking it up on Google Maps. (I know, obvious — but so easy to skip.)

For the Ball sample re-order, I called their customer service first and confirmed exactly how they read the address field. Turns out they use a standard USPS address format that expects the line “Suite 200” after the street. I updated the order, and this time the package arrived in 4 days flat. The cans were gorgeous — the sustainability credentials were solid, and our marketing team loved them.

The Dual Glue Gun Lesson

That dual glue gun I mentioned? It worked great for the display boxes, but I also used it to repair the corner of the sample box that got scuffed in its misadventure. It's a handy tool, but it shouldn't be a band-aid for preventable problems.

My checklist now also includes a step called “Postal Format Validation.” I use the USPS website to check the standardized version of any address before I hit submit. It's saved me at least three times since — once for a vendor in Texas where the city name had two spellings.

What I Learned — and What You Should Do

Looking back, I should have spent 2 minutes looking up the address format. At the time, I didn't think about it because I'd placed hundreds of orders before. But each vendor's shipping system can interpret addresses differently. Ball Corporation's system clearly didn't handle the missing suite field the way I expected. Don't assume your regular address format works for every vendor — especially when ordering from a company known for sustainability leadership, like Ball.

“The cost of prevention is almost always lower than the cost of rework. A simple address verification could have saved me a week, $35 in return fees, and a lot of embarrassment.”

If you're an admin buyer looking at sustainable packaging, here's my advice:

• Verify the shipping address format before you place the order. Use the USPS address lookup tool (usps.com).
• When ordering from a major supplier like Ball Corporation, call their customer service to confirm how their system reads the suite/apt field.
• Keep a spare dual glue gun in the supply closet — you'll need it for something, but don't rely on it to fix systems failures.
• For any new product category — whether it's a water bottle flavor infuser or something else — do a physical fit test before buying in bulk.

Prevention over cure. It sounds like a cliché, but it's the only way I can keep my job stress down and my VP happy. That one address mistake taught me more than any training manual ever could. Now I check everything twice — even the things I think I already know.

Oh, and the water bottle flavor infusers? I found a different model that fits, and the employees love them. Because I checked first. (Thankfully.)