Got burned on Amazon (well, sort of)

[plowhog]

Hopefully my experience might help others purchasing online. Although I try *not* to buy on Amazon, I recently ordered a number of items. All orders were fulfilled except one.

I ordered Feb 12, on Feb 16th the status changed to "shipped," and on Feb. 21st status changed to "out for delivery." Except no product was ever delivered. I contacted the Seller about status-- and the Seller admitted they never had the product in stock ... ever. So, hmmm, why and how did the status change to "shipped?" Since nothing ever shipped? And then changed again to "out for delivery?" Since nothing was ever out for delivery?

Good news-- I did receive a full refund and then ordered from a different supplier.

One thing I learned about Amazon reviews is you can adjust the time period of when reviews were provided. In the case of this vendor, the reviews for "lifetime" (which is the default) were quite different from the most recent "1 month." Clearly this vendor is going downhill and from now on, before ordering, I will evaluate both of these. The "lifetime" rating seemed good enough at the time. But I never would have ordered based on the most recent 1 month reviews.

 

[3 Horse Ranch]

Hopefully my experience might help others purchasing online. Although I try *not* to buy on Amazon, I recently ordered a number of items. All orders were fulfilled except one.

I ordered Feb 12, on Feb 16th the status changed to "shipped," and on Feb. 21st status changed to "out for delivery." Except no product was ever delivered. I contacted the Seller about status-- and the Seller admitted they never had the product in stock ... ever. So, hmmm, why and how did the status change to "shipped?" Since nothing ever shipped? And then changed again to "out for delivery?" Since nothing was ever out for delivery?

Good news-- I did receive a full refund and then ordered from a different supplier.

One thing I learned about Amazon reviews is you can adjust the time period of when reviews were provided. In the case of this vendor, the reviews for "lifetime" (which is the default) were quite different from the most recent "1 month." Clearly this vendor is going downhill and from now on, before ordering, I will evaluate both of these. The "lifetime" rating seemed good enough at the time. But I never would have ordered based on the most recent 1 month reviews.

Not only vendors but product quality of any product can slip, or can rise. If I see something that has more than the usual 5-10% bad reviews I look to see if the bad reviews are recent or ancient. If ancient, than the glitches have been ironed out and it's probably safe to buy.

 

[zzvyb6]

Turns out my J.D. dealer sells on Amazon. The price for a new radiator screen panel was cheaper at the dealership than from the Az shopping cart. Plus no sales tax for AG purchases at a store here.
But always watch the reviews, some with a grain of salt. Ignore the complaints about having trouble assembling stuff from folks who don't know which end of a screwdriver to use.

 

[5030]

I try not to buy from Amazon if at all possible, especially if it's offshore stuff. With the current middle east stuff going on, container ships are having to go around the tip of Africa and that in itself causes a long delay (10-12 days longer) plus the container cost has went way up.

First thing I do when looking at any item on Amazon that I might potentially purchase is I look to see where it's made at and then look at the reviews. Amazon has a bad habit of only publishing positive reviews anyway. I've basically weaned myself away from them and deal direct with the suppliers for a few reasons, mainly because Amazon charges any vendor on there a fee to list their stuff and I've found that dealing direct with the vendor usually results in a lower price because they aren't paying that Amazon fee. Smart vendors most always roll that cost into the advertised cost of the item. Same applies to Flea Bay btw. I buy a ton of welding supplies as well as consumable machine tool cutters and associated items and for a while now, I've been dealing direct with those suppliers and I've filed tax exemptions with them so I don't pay sales tax either. Some suppliers are hard to deal with, MSC is one, but for the most part they are all perfectly willing to deal direct with me. Do keep in mind we are a legitimate company and not an individual and we have the required sales tax exemptions.

I like to play by the rules all the time as one never knows when 'big brother' is watching.

 

[WinterDeere]

We spend roughly $50k per year through Amazon, and I've never bothered checking any vendor review. Amazon backs you, on the exceptionally rare occasion that one defaults or fails to deliver, so I'm not wasting previous time in checking each vendor on each item.

I think they were here 3x yesterday, delivering about 8 different items. Light day, since wife is out of town.

If we run out of paper towels or toilet paper, and no one is running to the grocery store today, we know Amazon will have it here in the morning.

 

[MattB4]

I buy routinely from Amazon, Ebay, Aliexpress, Walmart, Home Depot, and a few others sites less frequently. By and large it works for me since free shipping and the ability to get items not available locally is a great thing. Heck with my old 1-ton Chevy it costs me $15-20 dollars to just to drive to town.

Yes you do need to learn some of the gotchas for buying off the 'net.

 

[5030]

We spend roughly $50k per year through Amazon, and I've never bothered checking any vendor review. Amazon backs you, on the exceptionally rare occasion that one defaults or fails to deliver, so I'm not wasting previous time in checking each vendor on each item.

I think they were here 3x yesterday, delivering about 8 different items. Light day, since wife is out of town.

If we run out of paper towels or toilet paper, and no one is running to the grocery store today, we know Amazon will have it here in the morning.

If it comes via Fed-Ex you will be good. If it comes via Amazon delivery, you might not be. We have had more than one occasion where the stuff is shown as delivered and it didn't show up or the delivery driver left it down the road at another address or they just tossed the package in the front yard and it was raining and the stuff got soaked.

It's all happened to us more than one time in the past.

Far as Amazon backing you up, I don't buy that. I've found first hand, getting a refund from them to be quite involved. Like any corporation that is profit oriented, they have no issue taking your money, but giving it back is always another story. Bezo's didn't get where he is or as wealthy as he is by being a nice person. On the contrary.

The ONE thing we never do is pay for that Prime crap. If I need something or my wife does and it's an immediate thing, we buy it locally. Anything either of us buy from Amazon, we will build up the order until it qualifies for free shipping and then get it, but like I stated earlier, it's always advantageous to deal direct with any supplier as it will usually cost less because they don't have to pay the Amazon portal fee.

Actually, I did the same thing with the custom made motorcycle parts I sell world wide. I park a .com website that lists all the items we make here and sell and long ago I quit selling them on Flea bay and taking 3rd party payments as well because it all incurs portal fees. Now, if you want something, even if it's offshore (and I sell a lot of products we make offshore), you direct wire my bank the funds in USD or send me a Postal Money Order or a personal check for the full amount (I don't pay for shipping, never have) and when everything clears. I send your products and I always send them with tracking and signature required upon acceptance. I don't need or want any 3rd party intervention. I sell a gob of stuff in the EU and Japan.

The lone exception to that is, I have a distributor in Switzerland that handles a lot of my products and he remits to me directly. One aspect I've always disliked is dealing with customs, especially Canadian customs. I can actually sell products overseas to EU countries and have them deliver faster than dealing with Canadian customs, especially Ontario customs. At any rate, no matter where it it is going, the paperwork is always a PITA.

 

[plowhog]

Far as Amazon backing you up, I don't buy that.

Before this, I have never had a refund on Amazon.

In this case, the vendor very quickly agreed to provide a refund. Then about 12 hours later Amazon sent an email with the "good news" a refund was issued ... lol.

 

[5030]

I bought a complete set of carbide tipped annular cutters on Amazon (read expensive) as all annular cutters are and when they arrived, they would not fit my Hougen Mag Drill because the model I own is the one with the quick change chuck so it requires a specifically machined Weldon shank cutter and the ones I did purchase on Amazon plainly stated that but when they arrived they were not machined to fit so I returned them. This was an Amazon direct deal, not a 3rd party vendor at all and it took me numerous phone calls and e-mails to finally secure a refund. Not a small ticket item either. The total cost was well north of 1500 bucks, plus I had to return them on my dime, not theirs, even though their ad was misleading and inaccurate which I pointed out to them and last time I checked, it was never corrected. Turned around and bought them direct from Hougen and all was good and they fit properly as well and they cost less to boot.

 

[WinterDeere]

If it comes via Fed-Ex you will be good. If it comes via Amazon delivery, you might not be.

Things vary by location. Here, Fed Ex has a nearly-zero batting average, it's actually very rare that they get anything right. My neighbors and I are just used to calling each other, every time the Fed Ex truck drops of one of our packages at the other's house. Sometimes, they're dropping things on my door step, for houses clear across town!

Amazon pretty much always gets it right, here, as do UPS and USPS. Only Fed Ex seems to have trouble reading giant numbers plainly visible on suburban mailboxes.

A little more than weeks ago, I ordered a new pair of pallet forks, and seller shipped by Fed Ex. Truck showed up 10-12 days ago with one fork. I spent 10 days checking tracking, and watching the other fork travel all over the country. I was actually getting envious, while it spent some time in Florida, on it's way from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Eventually, they got it turned around and sent my way, but it took a good two weeks. Finally arrived two days ago, pretty banged up, but... it's a pallet fork, I'm going to bang it up anyway.

 

[sd455dan]

Things vary by location. Here, Fed Ex has a nearly-zero batting average, it's actually very rare that they get anything right. My neighbors and I are just used to calling each other, every time the Fed Ex truck drops of one of our packages at the other's house. Sometimes, they're dropping things on my door step, for houses clear across town!

Amazon pretty much always gets it right, here, as do UPS and USPS. Only Fed Ex seems to have trouble reading giant numbers plainly visible on suburban mailboxes.

A little more than weeks ago, I ordered a new pair of pallet forks, and seller shipped by Fed Ex. Truck showed up 10-12 days ago with one fork. I spent 10 days checking tracking, and watching the other fork travel all over the country. I was actually getting envious, while it spent some time in Florida, on it's way from Virginia to Pennsylvania. Eventually, they got it turned around and sent my way, but it took a good two weeks. Finally arrived two days ago, pretty banged up, but... it's a pallet fork, I'm going to bang it up anyway.

Some areas there are a Lot of Contract labor companies for FedEX.
They wear the company clothes arrive in a white FedEx marked vehicle, but are not actually FedEx employed drivers.

 

[5030]

Some areas there are a Lot of Contract labor companies for FedEX.
They wear the company clothes arrive in a white FedEx marked vehicle, but are not actually FedEx employed drivers.

How most of Fed-Ex operates actually. One of my good friends is a Fed-Ex contractor with 60 trucks on with them and he does real good and so do his employees. Maybe that is why we get good service from them, who knows. I do know one time I followed a USPS shipment I ordered all over the country, talk about a high mileage shipment, there it was and like Winter Deere when it arrived it looked like it was on the bad end of a street fight. Some times I think they workers play basketball with packages.

 

[ponytug]

Some areas there are a Lot of Contract labor companies for FedEX.
They wear the company clothes arrive in a white FedEx marked vehicle, but are not actually FedEx employed drivers.

True, but I think Harry Truman's line still applies...
"The buck stops here"

I think that it isn't up to me to do their job, and if the delivery crew can't manage, then it is on the vendor to make it right, as they were the ones who chose the shipper.

We used to have a terrible local (statewide) delivery service, and packages were always tossed somewhere, not necessarily in a ditch here, but somewhere. I spent many hours with various vendors who chose this shipping company making it clear that it was on them as they chose the shipper, and that I wasn't going to drive 25 miles of roads looking for a nondescript package somewhere. It took a few years, but we haven't had a delivery from those folks in over a decade. Plus, most of the time, the package had been driven umpteen miles loose in the back of a 1 ton van, and looked like the delivery vehicle had been a cement truck: nicely tumbled and abraded.

I get that running a delivery or freight company isn't easy, but there are minimum standards such as getting the item to the correct destination intact, or you go the way of "Yellow". My $0.02 is if your driver can't get it done, call your local office and keep speaking with the supervisor. Feedback helps them do a better job.

All the best,

Peter

 

[sd455dan]

True, but I think Harry Truman's line still applies...
"The buck stops here"

I think that it isn't up to me to do their job, and if the delivery crew can't manage, then it is on the vendor to make it right, as they were the ones who chose the shipper.

We used to have a terrible local (statewide) delivery service, and packages were always tossed somewhere, not necessarily in a ditch here, but somewhere. I spent many hours with various vendors who chose this shipping company making it clear that it was on them as they chose the shipper, and that I wasn't going to drive 25 miles of roads looking for a nondescript package somewhere. It took a few years, but we haven't had a delivery from those folks in over a decade. Plus, most of the time, the package had been driven umpteen miles loose in the back of a 1 ton van, and looked like the delivery vehicle had been a cement truck: nicely tumbled and abraded.

I get that running a delivery or freight company isn't easy, but there are minimum standards such as getting the item to the correct destination intact, or you go the way of "Yellow". My $0.02 is if your driver can't get it done, call your local office and keep speaking with the supervisor. Feedback helps them do a better job.

All the best,

Peter

Actually you just said the part I was implying.
Agreed, FedEx is where the buck stops.

If they have poorly run service by their contractors the contractors need to be replaced with either FedEx personnel or a Contractor that runs a tight ship.
I will say locally both seem to be well run.

 

[Menagerie-Manor]

For me Home Depot is a 50 mile round trip equating to approximately $10 in gas plus the sales tax in CA. Needed four 3/4" ips railing flanges last week and that would have cost about $55 with the drive and tax. Two day later they are on my bench at a cost of $9.99 for a set of. Even my local hardware store where it would have to be ordered would still be close to $50 at almost $12 each.

 

[Yander]

We spend roughly $50k per year through Amazon, and I've never bothered checking any vendor review. Amazon backs you, on the exceptionally rare occasion that one defaults or fails to deliver, so I'm not wasting previous time in checking each vendor on each item.

I think they were here 3x yesterday, delivering about 8 different items. Light day, since wife is out of town.

If we run out of paper towels or toilet paper, and no one is running to the grocery store today, we know Amazon will have it here in the morning.

We spend a lot on Amazon, but I hope it isn't $50k.

I'm afraid to look lol. Probably more like $10k. We order a lot of consumables from there. Though we are starting to find other sources that are bricks and mortar.

 

[Yander]

How most of Fed-Ex operates actually. One of my good friends is a Fed-Ex contractor with 60 trucks on with them and he does real good and so do his employees. Maybe that is why we get good service from them, who knows. I do know one time I followed a USPS shipment I ordered all over the country, talk about a high mileage shipment, there it was and like Winter Deere when it arrived it looked like it was on the bad end of a street fight. Some times I think they workers play basketball with packages.

Maybe FedEx could teach their drivers to stay on my driveway and off my yard. Next rut I see I'm calling to rat someone out.

I have plenty of gravel and space to navigate, they just get in a hurry.

 

[Code54]

Amazon has been great for us. We had a few vendor problems over the years and in one case they tried a return item fee that was not listed anywhere. I just chatted with Amazon and the young lady looked at everything, saw where I was credited less than I should have been, and Amazon made up the difference. I cant complaint about that.

I also look at the total cost of the item. Sure I can get it for $2 less locally but I need to spend $5 in gas, and waste about an hour of my time. Times money, gas is cash, so ordering it and having it arrive on my doorstep is smart move. Sure if I need it this second I will go get it, or going to that area anyway I may just pick it up, but Amazon makes it easy for me to save a trip. Also in a lot of cases Amazon is a LOT cheaper than I can fins stuff locally. For example - I was rewiring a SxS and using a lot of wire looms. Locally 10' was $10.99, Amazon, 100' for $18.99 delivered the next day. It is something we use commonly so that is hard to beat.

 

[Yander]

Amazon has been great for us. We had a few vendor problems over the years and in one case they tried a return item fee that was not listed anywhere. I just chatted with Amazon and the young lady looked at everything, saw where I was credited less than I should have been, and Amazon made up the difference. I cant complaint about that.

I also look at the total cost of the item. Sure I can get it for $2 less locally but I need to spend $5 in gas, and waste about an hour of my time. Times money, gas is cash, so ordering it and having it arrive on my doorstep is smart move. Sure if I need it this second I will go get it, or going to that area anyway I may just pick it up, but Amazon makes it easy for me to save a trip. Also in a lot of cases Amazon is a LOT cheaper than I can fins stuff locally. For example - I was rewiring a SxS and using a lot of wire looms. Locally 10' was $10.99, Amazon, 100' for $18.99 delivered the next day. It is something we use commonly so that is hard to beat.

Yes, my logic also. I'm not retired and my time is valuable to me. I have been starting to cross check the Amazon prices with other sources though. Their prices are not always the best and other companies ship for free or at least do an in-store pickup at my convenience.

 

[DarkBlack]

We and everyone I know, has, and has had great service from Amazon.
Sometimes we order it and it arrives in a few days, cheaper than just the product alone locally, nevermind the fuel and time driving we save.

They didn’t get to be the world’s largest retailer, and 6th largest company in the world, by not pleasing customers.