markw wrote: Its the nasty flimsy bags the boards themselves are packed in that are the problem - compared with all other makes they are very poor.
Mark,
I'm not sure how the 'flimsy' bags are such a problem for you? How is this issue affecting you?
My Alphamats colours are ordered in ones, twos, fives etc, according to what I need for the week and a few extras for stock, and the company that supplies them packs them in the original plastic bags and then in a double thick corrugated cardboard box made especially for mats.
This box is extremely rigid and tough, but on some occasions the carrier does manage to damage the contents.
When I get them, I take them out of the bags, which are disposed of, and put the mats in a rack where they are stored on edge in a vertical attitude.
Frankly, I am not concerned about the bags at all as I have no use for them anyway.
Occasionally there are some specks in light colours, which is a pain, but these get replaced at no charge, so it does have some nuisance value. I'm not sure that there are any matboard manufacturers who makes 'perfect' mats with no defects, ever, so I'm sticking with Alphamat because of it's properties and quality.