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As the school year comes to a close, many students who live far from Boston prepare to store their belongings until the next academic year. For the second year, Boston College Student Agencies (BCSA) has partnered with Collegeboxes to provide BC students with a place to store their things over the summer.
Collegeboxes is the largest provider of student shipping and storage services in the United States and provides not only storage but also nationwide shipping. The company was founded in 1999 at Duke University and currently serves over 50 schools across the country. Over 600 BC students used the service last year, and the BCSA received positive feedback. "[The BCSA] works to make sure that [moving and storing] is as easy on the students as possible," said Ricardo Salinas, CSOM '09. As part of its services, Collegeboxes agrees to pick up the students' belongings from their door or at designated collection points on the campus. At this point, they will either ship items to a desired destination or store them for the summer. To ensure safety, all boxes are bar coded and tracked with a tracking system that was implemented this year.
Another new addition to the Collegeboxes shipping program is the starter kit. Every customer receives a starter kit from UPS containing five double-walled Collegeboxes, a roll of tape, label pouches for computer-printed labels, a marker, and furniture tags. The supply kit costs $45, and there are additional fees for the storage and shipping, which are priced per semester. Collegeboxes is partnered with numerous other companies in an effort to provide quality service. Businesses such as UPS, Store to Door, and Zipcars help Collegeboxes with the transportation and storage of students' belongings.
While Collegeboxes provides on-campus student pickup and delivery, its exclusive partnership with BC hinders students from using other storage companies. "[Collegeboxes] had to sign a contract with the school, and BC officially endorses them as the service provider of choice," Salinas said. During the move-out and move-in periods, the campus is closed, and if a student were to use another company, the business would need approval by BC Police Department to be on campus. Salinas said it is understood that Collegeboxes is the service that students should use. Though technically students are allowed to use other service and delivery companies, on a large-scale operation, the other businesses would not be allowed to park on campus, which would make it difficult for students to move their things. The monopoly that Collegeboxes has at BC allows for the company to have more control over prices and dates. Based on BC's move-in and move-out times, Collegeboxes schedules certain dates when they are available to pick up and drop off students' belongings. If a student needs a special date for delivery and pickup, he or she must set up an appointment with Collegeboxes and is charged $100 in addition to the regular storage and shipping charges. "If there were other companies, I think [Collegeboxes] would try more to please the customer," said Nicole Porter, Collegeboxes customer and A&S '09. "Since they don't have competition, they do not have to worry about it." Because Porter came to campus early for her resident assistant (RA) training, she had to set up an appointment to have items delivered. Porter said Collegeboxes was not quick to respond, and she had to wait for a week for her belongings to arrive.
Based on a survey evaluating customer satisfaction, there has been more positive than negative feedback about the service. The BCSA looked for a company that provided good service and positive customer service reports. There have been significant changes in the way Collegeboxes' operations work, and they continue to make their services and technologies as up to date as possible. "We work to make sure that it is as easy on the students as possible," Salinas said. "We want to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible."
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