Viper187

Still no wishlist filters. I also placed an order on Friday for something I didn't really want charged for until my billing cycle ended, so I chose the no-rush shit. Once Sunday I rolled around, I figured it was safe to just change it to my Prime 2-day, but it was "preparing for shipment." 2 fucking days later it still hasn't actually shipped. Either ship the motherfucker, or leave the order status so I can edit the shit! They have no business locking it into "preparing for shipment" for 3 fucking days.

fumanstan

I still don't see those filters, maybe Amazon just removed them completely and had data that it wasn't really used. Worst case, create smaller more categorized lists to manage and view them easier?

Amazon's free shipping is weird, I wonder if they pull items that people order and sit on them until there's a way they can combine items/shipments to local areas, although I have absolutely zero idea how any of that shipment stuff works. I don't get why you wouldn't just wait until Sunday to place the order if you have Prime though.

Viper187

Because it was a Prime fulfilled marketplace seller that I couldn't guarantee would still have it in a few days. I wanted to get it before it went up anymore, since some of the other sellers' prices were kind of nuts. Scrabble Onyx Edition, in case you were curious.

PhantomStranger

Amazon limits you to 600 'saved for later' items in your cart.

That sounds like a lot but I hit the limit years ago. Amazon could easily expand the limit without affecting them.

Me007gold

I just want them to up the archival limit. 100 is way to low

Cellar Door

Is there any benefit to leaving them as 'saved for later' in your cart instead of moving them into wish lists? I've got 20+ different wish lists for different categories of items (electronics, kitchen, blu rays, etc.). It makes it easier to find a particular item to check its current price. And I think you can have up to 2500 items in each wish list you create.

Viper187

That's what I was wondering. Wish lists are shit now since they removed all the useful filtering options though. Been complaining for 3 goddamn months and they keep saying they're working on it.

kd5

I have mine both Saved For Later and in my Wish List, Saved For Later because it's more convenient for me, Wish List for CamelCamelCamel.

grundle

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kotliko.../#70bb708e395e

Is Amazon's Shipping Policy A Form Of Consumer Fraud?

By Laurence Kotlikoff

November 23, 2016

When I encounter large companies acting in what appears to be a fraudulent matter, I presume I'm not special and that the company is harming the public in general. At that point I go slightly nuts and get far too aggressive (my wife says the right word is "rude") on the phone with customer support people who are not fundamentally at fault.

This happened yesterday with Amazon. I tried to wiggle out of my bad behavior to my wife using economics. I explained to my wife that being aggressive is a form of economic signaling to make people take your concerns seriously. But she would have none of that. "Rude is rude. Imagine you were at the other end of that call? How would you like being treated that way?"

She's right and I hereby issue a blanket apology to anyone in a customer support role that I've treated rudely over the phone in my 65 years on the planet. I also hope to be better behaved in the future.

Now to my concern about Amazon's shipping policy. And this is not connected to Amazon Prime, which has been the subject of several different class action lawsuits.

On Monday (November 21st, Today is November 23th), I purchased a birthday present for my wife directly from Amazon. Her birthday is on Saturday, but I wanted to ensure it arrived in time given the holiday traffic. So I paid an extra $30 for next day delivery. But at the back of my mind I sensed I had just thrown away $30. I buy a lot of things from Amazon and, while I haven't documented the number of cases, I have often paid for next-day delivery, yet the package didn't arrive on time.

I checked yesterday (Tuesday) using Amazon's tracking info and all looked good. The present would arrive by 8 PM. But when 8:30 PM showed up on the clock and the package hadn't arrived, I called Amazon's customer support. After the usual wait time, the Amazon support person came on the phone and was extremely polite. She immediately got UPS on the phone. UPS said they had no record of receiving the package, whereas Amazon's tracking said they had. I asked (with a rude tone of voice) how could that be? Isn't it the same electronic system being used? No answer. I wasn't sure they were getting my question, so I asked a few more times. Still no answer. UPS: We never received it. Amazon: We can't say where it is until UPS scans it. "But your system shows it handed over to UPS?" No answer.

The UPS person, who was also very polite, signed off. I asked the Amazon person, still amazingly polite, to please issue a refund for the $30. No, it's not yet midnight and, in any case, you need to contact the shipper, UPS, for a refund?

"But I paid Amazon the $30?"

"Yes, but the shipper is responsible."

"I write a column for Forbes that covers consumer fraud. This sounds like consumer fraud. Can you please have a supervisor call me. Here's my number."

"Please hold on."

"Ten minutes on hold and the supervisor was on the phone." Also very polite. "My colleague was wrong about the refund. I'm also going to refund your payment and extend your Amazon Prime service for one month."

"Thank you. But I'm interested in a bigger question. If Amazon sells expedited shipping and the parcel doesn't arrive on time, which Amazon can tell from its electronic tracking system, does Amazon refund the expedited shipping fee automatically? Or does the customer have to call?"

"The customer has to call."

"But many customers don't have time to call and be kept on hold and then reach someone and then told they have to argue with UPS and then be kept on hold to talk to a supervisor. You know from your electronic records when a customer paid for expedited shipping and it didn't take place. Also, shouldn't Amazon go back in its electronic records and discover all the people who paid for expedited shipping that wasn't provided and issue them refunds? Aren't you engaging in consumer fraud?"

"No one has ever suggested this before. I'll send an email to our technical team and maybe they'll consider doing this. Have a lovely Thanksgiving."

Now my blood was boiling. So was my wife's who thought I had used an angry tone of voice and was abusing powerless people in a huge company.

This morning I checked on Amazon. From their tracking system, the package sat with UPS for 24 hours in Kentucky and supposedly was sent out for delivery at 6:32 AM. It's exactly four hours later - no package. Amazon's system now "guarantees" delivery by 8 PM.

Bottom line. Amazon should immediately implement an automatic refund policy re charging customers for shipping services that they don't then provide. And the company should refund all payments for shipping services that were paid for, but weren't provided in the past. Amazon has the electronic means to do this. Not doing so truly does represent a form of theft. If Amazon's refund policy is not corrected immediately, I would hope some enterprising lawyer starts a class action suit against the company.

TheBang

His wife is right. He's rude.

Josh-da-man

1. Companies aren't going to do jack shit unless you complain. Amazon could go back and refund every customer who paid for express shipping and didn't get their package by the promised date, but why bother when those people never complained? It's just going to pull millions of dollars from Amazon's profit margin.

2. Shipping tracking is kind of hinky. Even though it may show something as shipped, it's still possible that the shipper never received it, just that it's in the system. It could sit in Amazon's warehouse for a day or two before it's in the hands of the shipper.

3. If, indeed, the issue is on UPS's side, then Amazon could certainly strong-arm UPS into providing better service. They are willing to do it with companies like Disney, so UPS should be a piece of cake.

Why So Blu?

This guy is a prick.

jjcool

These are the relevant lines that stick with me. I have prime, and I have never had to pay $30 to get something the next day. I have gotten quite a few items next day, and they have all been on time. So something is fishy there. Is next day shipping more expensive for some items than others? He mentions that this item, he never says what it is, went "UPS". Is it possible that it was some large item that went UPS freight? The article just screams bullshit to me, on top of the guy, admittedly, being a prick.

grundle

On many occasions during the last several years, I have said the following to amazon customer service representatives on the phone, in emails, and in text conversations. This is just me paraphrasing myself, so these are not my exact words:

"The reason my package was late is because amazon chose to use an unreliable shipper. The only shippers that always deliver my packages on time are UPS and Federal Express. Please always use one of those shippers for my orders. Please never again use the U.S. Post Office, Prestige, or amazon's own shipping service, as these all have a proven track record of being late."

Amazon's response to this has always been to ignore my request, and to continue using these unreliable shippers.

So last year, when I was eight months into my then-current Prime membership, I tried a new strategy. I said:

"I paid $99 for Prime membership so I could get two day shipping. My package was late. I did not get the two day shipping that I paid for. Therefore, I would like a full refund of the entire $99."

A few days later, amazon refunded the $99 to my credit card.

But even that didn't convince them to stop using unreliable shippers.

My most recent order is late. For just this one order, I talked to three different people, all on just one phone call. None of them showed any concern for the fact that amazon had again chosen to use two different unreliable shippers for this one order. I also sent several emails. In each of these communications, both on the phone and in email, I repeated my earlier statement about which shippers were reliable, and which were unreliable. Despite me being very clear about this, and me saying it multiple times to multiple people, amazon ignored everything that I said, and instead, they sent me the following email. This is a copy and paste, so this is amazon's exact words:

"Because you have had repeated shipping issues on Prime shipments, our Prime team will investigate the root cause of the problem and they will prevent this from happening again in future."

This proves, without any doubt, that amazon customer service representatives do not actually listen to the things that their customers say.

If they had actually listened to me, there would be no need for them to "investigate the root cause" as to why my so many of my packages are late.

Amazon has lost a huge amount of business from me because of their refusal to honor their "guaranteed" delivery date. I have been taking the bus and buying a lot of things at Target and Barnes and Noble (often for higher prices than what amazon charges, which is on top of the bus fare that I pay to get there) that I otherwise would have bought from amazon, if only they kept their promise regarding their "guaranteed" delivery dates. However, I still do use amazon when other sellers don't have the items that I want.

This time, I was seven months into my current prime membership, when I requested that my entire $99 be refunded, due to amazon's refusal to honor their "guaranteed" delivery date. The person on the phone said OK. Soon afterward, I received an email conforming that I will be getting my $99 back.

grundle

People who tell the truth are often pricks.

I'll take truth over good manners any day.

grundle

$30 to ship a washing machine and dryer overnight is not bad.

PhantomStranger

Dealing with Amazon's outsourced customer service by chat has become increasingly frustrating in the past five years. It took 20 minutes the other day for a rep to resolve a simple delivery issue of mine that should have been handled in 3 minutes.

Amazon knows they are the only game left in town for many customers. Their growing monopoly has given them a license to cut corners when needed in critical areas.

I get the feeling that Amazon wants out of the normal retail delivery business. They envy Apple more than they envy Walmart, though I think they plan to go after Walmart next.

davidh777

Amazon has certainly been trending in favor of their own devices, web storage, and streaming plans over regular retail. Much better margins to sell someone a kindle and have them purchase digital books within that ecosystem than to sell a physical book.

Viper187

I think the only reason I keep Prime at this point is it's the only place to order 12 packs of Surge online. I've started spending at BB more in hopes of hitting their premium/elite status by the end of the year. I've been emailing Amazon since June about the disappearance of the filters for sorting wishlists by price and keep getting the same canned responses. It's ridiculous.

Why So Blu?

No, some people are entitled assholes.

grundle

There is nothing "entitled" about someone wanting to get the service that they paid for.

grundle

Amazon just credited the $99 to my credit card, just like they said they would.

Again, these are the words that I said:

"I paid $99 for Prime membership so I could get two day shipping. My package was late. I did not get the two day shipping that I paid for. Therefore, I would like a full refund of the entire $99."

I realize that asking for the entire Prime membership to be refunded due to just one late order when I had already had that Prime membership for more than half a year (twice now - once last year, and once this year) may seem extreme, but they can't be allowed to get away with the stuff that they have been doing. If they would simply honor their "guaranteed" delivery date by using reliable shippers, then none of this would be happening.

fumanstan

Maybe i'm just lucky or it's the area I live in, but I don't think I've really ever had any issues with Amazon being late on an order, or if so it was only an extra day or so and I already forgot about it.

The article posted seems extreme to me, but also an issue not specific to Amazon. I don't think any retailer proactively sets out to apologize or refund a customer for a shipping delay, nor do I blame any company for not having that kind of policy.

DJariya

So mad today. My Wonder Woman 4K UHD pre-order, which I made 15 days ago, was not delivered today as promised. Apparently Amazon ran out of stock and didn't bother informing me.

How the hell did they run out of pre-order allotments when I made the order 15 days ago?

I got no communication from them and the order was left hanging since I got no word if it shipping or not. I checked the website and it said it was out of stock.

Contacted them by chat and they really had no answer, they just said pre-orders are 1st come, 1st serve basis. But still, if they didn't have enough stock to ship it by today, I should have gotten some e-mail or communication about it. Very bad fuck up. I know this is probably a really popular item, but still man.

Just told them to cancel it. I'll get it at Best Buy or Target faster than you rushing it whenever the hell that is. They gave me a $10 credit for fucking this up.

jjcool

Yes. That isnt bad. Does that make him more of a prick if he bought a washing machine for his wife's birthday? Is that worse than a vacuum cleaner?

A quick check on Amazon for washing machines yields some results with prime shipping. One said it would take 4 days for delivery, while the others had delivery to be scheduled. None of the ones that I looked at mention next day delivery being an option, much less a $30 upcharge.