[allritenow]

It has been several years, but I was a manager on the inbound side at multiple FCs over the span of a couple years. Most likely reason for the mis-matched box size recommendation is due to the Warehouse Management System (WMS) that tracks all things (what is where when and item dimensions) having incorrect measurements of the item dimensions. On the outbound side, as you definitely know, packers are absolutely discouraged from using their judgement when selecting a box. Hell, there was a specific metric that was basically the adherence to the recommended box size. But when an ASIN first appears in a warehouse, the WMS will send the item to be scanned. The scanning process is used to input the dimensions and weight of the item. I know for a fact that some of the associates that performed that function would get lazy. I even had receivers that would completely fudge the numbers when the system asked the item to be sent to cubiscan. So there you have it - can't blame the packer on the outbound side. The problem was usually found when inbound didn't properly enter the item dimensions.