At the start of last fall, students throughout the University found themselves without books, mini fridges, or even bedding after Collegeboxes, the ubiquitous summer shipping and storage company, experienced lost shipments and delays at colleges nationwide. With summer fast approaching, Barnard has warned its students not to rely on Collegeboxes—going so far as to ban pickups on campus—but the Columbia administration has made no mention of last year’s debacle. Columbia should dissuade its students from entrusting their belongings to the self-proclaimed “very best in collegiate shipping and storage.” What’s more, it should keep Collegeboxes off of College Walk.

At first glance, Collegeboxes seems like a great deal. The service originated in 2000 as part of a class project at Duke University, and it has since expanded its empire to over 50 schools. Its edge is convenience. Collegeboxes draws customers by offering door-to-door pickup and delivery. By combining storage and shipping options, the company purports to make life cheaper and easier for students who need both. Rival services—such as SummerStorage.org, which Barnard endorsed this year—provide storage but not shipping and require curbside pickup and delivery. Ideally, Collegeboxes fills a niche that might otherwise go unfilled, but the company has lost sight of its student roots. For all of its lofty promises, Collegeboxes has failed to hold up the most essential part of the bargain: returning students’ belongings at the end of the summer.

Columbia should take a cue from Barnard and from other universities that have taken note of Collegeboxes’ chronic shortcomings. Students at New York University who used Collegeboxes have complained of lost and delayed packages, and the school’s Inter-Residence Hall Council has considered cutting relations with the
company. Harvard’s Undergraduate Council called for a severance with Collegeboxes due to the volume of complaints. At the beginning of April, Barnard sent its students an e-mail listing more than 80 student grievances, many of them unqualified horror stories. The e-mail announced that any student who nonetheless chooses to use Collegeboxes will have to arrange an off-campus pickup location, as the company is no longer permitted on campus. Barnard’s preferred alternative, SummerStorage.org, has worked with Barnard students for 10 years with only one complaint to date. These institutions learned the hard way that Collegeboxes is not up to the task of summer storage. Columbia students, too, have had their fair share of tribulations—more than enough to warrant kicking Collegeboxes off campus.

Amid the frenzy of finals and term papers, moving out will become yet another challenge to students as the academic year comes to a close. If Collegeboxes is allowed to tent on College Walk in the coming weeks, it is all but certain that some unwary students, especially first-years who have no prior experience with summer storage, will be seduced by the company’s supposed convenience. Although Collegeboxes does not number among the three vendors listed on Columbia Housing’s Web site, neither has the Columbia administration alerted the student body to the problems of the past. And while the administration has made no arrangements for Collegeboxes to be present on campus, it admits that the company could easily get space if sponsored by another organization. This should not be an option. The University should bar Collegeboxes from campus and direct its students to look elsewhere for summer storage.

Amanda Sebba recused herself from this editorial.