rant - Time to drop Amazon

[newbury]

So I've got Amazon prime with FREE 2 DAY DELIVERY!!

It's not worth the bits it's written with. Besides the standard doesn't include weekends etc. it's been taking 4 days or more to get stuff. This last was the worst. Ordered a hard drive NEEDED for backup on Sunday. Delivery PROMISED BY WEDNESDAY.
Oh they delivered it ok, except to the @#$%## post office who MIGHT get it delivered by Saturday, or not.

 

[MarkF48]

Recently I was looking for a particular propane torch. I have Prime so I narrowed the search to Prime items. Found the torch I wanted in Amazon Prime, but read the screenshot below. It might be Prime with supposedly two day shipping, but....???? :laughing:



I do like Prime in most cases saves me a wasted trip to a local store that many times doesn't have what I want and I use the movie feature with it, so to me it's worth what it costs.

On an item like that hard drive or similar, try B&H Photo . I ordered a portable drive from them this past Monday and it was delivered Tuesday (NY to MA). They are pretty quick.

 

[k0ua]

Recently I was looking for a particular propane torch. I have Prime so I narrowed the search to Prime items. Found the torch I wanted in Amazon Prime, but read the screenshot below. It might be Prime with supposedly two day shipping, but....???? :laughing:

View attachment 381514

I do like Prime in most cases saves me a wasted trip to a local store that many times doesn't have what I want and I use the movie feature with it, so to me it's worth what it costs.

It now has the free music feature too. I don't know if you care about that but it is something they added last month. Over a million songs on there.

 

[MarkF48]

It now has the free music feature too. I don't know if you care about that but it is something they added last month. Over a million songs on there.

I got the email about that and I have to look into how that works. My wifes been using the book thing that she likes.

 

[oosik]

The only time I will purchase off the internet is when its not available at a local outlet or I don't need delivery at the speed of light. I've tried them all and to expect delivery quicker than 7-10 days here where I live - - is to also believe in the tooth fairy or "free delivery". It just ain't gonna happen.

 

[k0ua]

I got the email about that and I have to look into how that works. My wifes been using the book thing that she likes.

You can start here. But basically you select what you want from the categories, and put them in your library, then stream them from you library. You can play them from any device, your pc or smartphone or tablet etc. You can't actually download them as a file on your PC, just stream them as often as you want, but of course there are ways.

Amazon.com: Prime Music

 

[newbury]

The only time I will purchase off the internet is when its not available at a local outlet or I don't need delivery at the speed of light. I've tried them all and to expect delivery quicker than 7-10 days here where I live - - is to also believe in the tooth fairy or "free delivery". It just ain't gonna happen.

This was to be delivered to downtown Ithaca, New York. Instead of going a commercial carrier they dropped it at the Post Office on Wednesday.

Recently I was looking for a particular propane torch. I have Prime so I narrowed the search to Prime items. Found the torch I wanted in Amazon Prime, but read the screenshot below. It might be Prime with supposedly two day shipping, but....???? :laughing:

View attachment 381514

I do like Prime in most cases saves me a wasted trip to a local store that many times doesn't have what I want and I use the movie feature with it, so to me it's worth what it costs.

On an item like that hard drive or similar, try B&H Photo . I ordered a portable drive from them this past Monday and it was delivered Tuesday (NY to MA). They are pretty quick.

No their ubiquitous web site still says delivery by Wed, July 2nd. The ONLY reason I used Amazon was their promised 2 day shipping. I would have gone elswhere or direct to Best Buy if I had known it was going to take a blasted week.

They had shafted me several other times before I had prime, when I would order and take standard shipping and then they drop it off at a Post Office. So a 5 day delivery would take two weeks.

 

[Gary Fowler]

This was to be delivered to downtown Ithaca, New York. Instead of going a commercial carrier they dropped it at the Post Office on Wednesday.

No their ubiquitous web site still says delivery by Wed, July 2nd. The ONLY reason I used Amazon was their promised 2 day shipping. I would have gone elswhere or direct to Best Buy if I had known it was going to take a blasted week.

They had shafted me several other times before I had prime, when I would order and take standard shipping and then they drop it off at a Post Office. So a 5 day delivery would take two weeks.

I don't see how it takes 7 days for the PO to deliver it OR to get you a notice to pick it up. The notice should go out the following day after delivery of the item to the PO, at least that is how my post office does it. If it is small item, the mail carrier brings it out to my box. So far most of my internet deliveries come by Fed EX or UPS. I did get a tire delivered to my next door neighbor rather than to me even though my PO number is on my gate and mail box.

 

[newbury]

I don't see how it takes 7 days for the PO to deliver it OR to get you a notice to pick it up. The notice should go out the following day after delivery of the item to the PO, at least that is how my post office does it. If it is small item, the mail carrier brings it out to my box. So far most of my internet deliveries come by Fed EX or UPS. I did get a tire delivered to my next door neighbor rather than to me even though my PO number is on my gate and mail box.

Yeah, I didn't understand it either. Seems they dropped it off at the wrong post office, it had to go back to Memphis, and then down to Fulton and off to me. But my "carrier", who I think has been replaced, had many times delivered US mail to the wrong address and it took several extra days to get to us. That was one of the reasons I usually was willing to pay extra for FedEx or UPS.

My bigger complaint is that Amazon used to use FedEx and UPS and those companies USED to deliver themselves. Now they use

UPS SurePost

UPS SurePostｮ is an economy, residential, ground service.

This service combines the consistency and reliability of the UPS Ground network with final delivery typically provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

Now my drive got to

Ithaca, NY, United States 07/02/2014 1:48 P.M. Received by the local post office

and won't be delivered until Saturday, maybe.

So my drive got to the post office on Wednesday but might not be be delivered until Saturday.

"Prime" boasts FREE 2 day shipping. No mention they they only ship it to the Post Office.

 

[sseelhoff]

So I've got Amazon prime with FREE 2 DAY DELIVERY!!

It's not worth the bits it's written with. Besides the standard doesn't include weekends etc. it's been taking 4 days or more to get stuff. This last was the worst. Ordered a hard drive NEEDED for backup on Sunday. Delivery PROMISED BY WEDNESDAY.
Oh they delivered it ok, except to the @#$%## post office who MIGHT get it delivered by Saturday, or not.

And for those who don't know, the "free shipping" isn't free. Prime members pay a higher product price to cover the "free" shipping.

Amazon Customers Accuse E-Commerce Giant of Cheating Prime Members - ABC News

In what she hopes will be certified as a class-action lawsuit, Burke accuses Amazon of encouraging third-party vendors to increase their prices to Prime members by the amount they charged others for shipping, without revealing that a portion of those alleged "inflated" prices was for shipping fees, the lawsuit claims.

"For example, if the price of an item is advertised for $10 with $3.99 shipping and the [vendor] wishes to match or top their price, the [vendor] would charge $13.99 or higher," Burke alleges in the suit.

These sellers raise their prices to match or top their competitor’s total price, as items are sorted by price on Amazon's site, Burke alleges in the lawsuit.

 

[chopped]

not to defend them but here I get stuff delivered alot via fed ex and they have a deal with the post office and many times its loged as ''delivered' but it doens tarrive here for days in their book delivered is to my post office and not to me.So basically ive paid for it but they save money by involving the post office. ( dept thats terrible service)So many times it sits in the PO
I think you should email them and explain and I would set a price on it and tell them they owe you a refund of XX amount.If more people did this maybe they would get the message.
Reciently I waited almost 60 days for a shock strut that the site always said was avaliable yet they said it was back ordered.
I suspect that like wal mart as they grow so bit they loose touch with average people

 

[brin]

I know this much...I have been a really happy customer of Amazon for many years...-0- complaints...I am not a member of Prime...I try and wait an order when it is over $25 and then I get free shipping...If I need something right away ...I buy it locally...I mean Amazon can't work miracles with shipping for free...they are a business for profit...I give them a great big..:thumbsup:

 

[newbury]

And for those who don't know, the "free shipping" isn't free. Prime members pay a higher product price to cover the "free" shipping.

Amazon Customers Accuse E-Commerce Giant of Cheating Prime Members - ABC News

Yes, but I price shopped around and the Amazon seller had the best price at the time. And the Prime membership is $100/year.

not to defend them but here I get stuff delivered alot via fed ex and they have a deal with the post office and many times its loged as ''delivered' but it doens tarrive here for days in their book delivered is to my post office and not to me.So basically ive paid for it but they save money by involving the post office. ( dept thats terrible service)So many times it sits in the PO
I think you should email them and explain and I would set a price on it and tell them they owe you a refund of XX amount.If more people did this maybe they would get the message.
Reciently I waited almost 60 days for a shock strut that the site always said was avaliable yet they said it was back ordered.
I suspect that like wal mart as they grow so bit they loose touch with average people

Yes, I emailed them, they said I could return it after I got it. I've been "bitten" so many times by "deliver in X days" then it becomes "XX days" that I always try and check it out. This thing was delivered to the post office in 2 days, they could have delivered it directly to the house.

I know this much...I have been a really happy customer of Amazon for many years...-0- complaints...I am not a member of Prime...I try and wait an order when it is over $25 and then I get free shipping...If I need something right away ...I buy it locally...I mean Amazon can't work miracles with shipping for free...they are a business for profit...I give them a great big..:thumbsup:

I don't give a flip about them "working miracles". The complaint is they PROMISE 2 day delivery then drop it at the post office on Wednesday for delivery on Saturday, maybe.

I wonder what would have happened if I paid for 1 day delivery ($4) instead of free 2 day, would I have gotten it Tuesday or Thursday?

 

[brin]

I don't give a flip about them "working miracles".

?

Sorry...did not intend to stir you up so...I was simply posting my experience...

 

[rekees4300]

So I've got Amazon prime with FREE 2 DAY DELIVERY!!

It's not worth the bits it's written with. Besides the standard doesn't include weekends etc. it's been taking 4 days or more to get stuff. This last was the worst. Ordered a hard drive NEEDED for backup on Sunday. Delivery PROMISED BY WEDNESDAY.
Oh they delivered it ok, except to the @#$%## post office who MIGHT get it delivered by Saturday, or not.

I'm dropping my Prime membership because they increased the price from $79 to $99. For me, not worth it just for the 2 day shipping. The other Prime benefits like movie streaming are only realistic for folks (aka city dwellers) who have broadband speeds and unlimited monthly data caps.

Don't know why Amazon sent your hard drive to USPS? I never experienced that situation in the 4 years I've had Prime. They have always done an exceptional job of delivering merchandise within the 2 days.

 

[Bird]

I'm another one who has never had the Prime membership, prefer to buy locally, but have bought quite a bit of stuff from Amazon that I was unable to find locally. And I'll buy from Amazon if their price is substantially lower than a local price (just off hand, can't remember that happening). But so far I've had no complaints at all with Amazon.

And their warehousing is mind boggling:
Inside Amazon’s ‘Chaotic Storage’ Warehouses «TwistedSifter

 

[Western]

I'm dropping my Prime membership because they increased the price from $79 to $99. For me, not worth it just for the 2 day shipping. The other Prime benefits like movie streaming are only realistic for folks (aka city dwellers) who have broadband speeds and unlimited monthly data caps.

My wife's experience as well, when the price increase was noted, she decided to cancel before it renews. Personally I think it's a bogu "perk" that makes them 100 per, for doing nothing.

 

[CHDinCT]

Count me as another former Prime member. We've had Amazon Prime for maybe 5 years and would order and receive items from them every week. Between the increase in the membership price to $99/yr and the fact they now collect sales tax in CT, I started shopping around more for higher dollar items. I have found that maybe 80% of the time, I find the same item on e-bay "buy it now" with free shipping and no sales tax. With pay pal, checkout and payment on e-bay is about as fast as Amazon, and i don't give anyone my credit card info. As long as you're not in a total rush to get something, I'm finding better deals on e-bay. Even at that, I usually get e-bay shipments in less than a week. You just have to read carefully and make sure what you're buying is the correct model, and condition, etc.

Plus, like someone mentioned, the prices for Prime items are no longer that good, probably due to the hidden shipping charges. For example, just an hour ago, I was pricing the cost of Dewalt Lithium Ion batteries. A set of two DC9181 batteries are $164.90 (not Prime eligible but free shipping) on Amazon. Same item on ebay is $114.49. (Links posted below)

And, have you noticed a lot of lower dollar items that were Prime eligible are now "add on items", meaning they ship as a Prime item (2-day shipping) as long as your Prime order totals $25. I have used the video streaming a few times, but that was not enough to keep me at this point.


DeWALT DC9181-2PK 18 Volt Compact Li-Ion Battery 2 Pack - Cordless Tool Battery Packs - Amazon.com

2 Dewalt 18V 18 Volt DC9181 Compact Lithium ion Battery Packs New x 2 | eBay

 

[SirReal63]

We use it a lot, not just for the shipping, but movies, T.V. shows and music. I have 65 full albums on my Prime that I can stream to my PC, Phone and iPad. I used to Ebay a lot, but found that you never really know if what you are getting is legitimate or not. Ebay is where a lot of people go to unload sub par items, refurbs and counterfeit items. I have been burned on Ebay more times than I care to remember.

 

[rekees4300]

My wife's experience as well, when the price increase was noted, she decided to cancel before it renews. Personally I think it's a bogu "perk" that makes them 100 per, for doing nothing.

Around $30 of the $100 is profit. Here's an interesting article about Prime. It's about 10% ($500 million) of Amazon's total net income!

Re-Evaluating Amazon Prime's Strength - Forbes