Groucho

I tried the Prime free trial and put in several pre-orders with the two-day shipping. For every single one, Amazon held on to the item for as long as a week before it shipped. Meanwhile, the status on the item was "In Stock" the entire time! So my two day shipping was turning into as much as nine days.

Needless to say, I didn't subscribe.

Draven

I've had great success with Prime. I don't like that they don't deliver on Saturday, but I buy lots of little things like paperbacks and DVDs, so rather than swing by Best Buy or the bookstore and pay more, I just order and get it in a few days. It's definitely worth it to me.

shootingguard3

Prime always takes forever! I mean, they are a good delivery service, but just make sure you're not in a hurry for anything.

disneyguy

That might be you but I get my packages in two days; 3 at the most..
Saying always is a bit extreme..
DG

SkullOrchard

I remember the good old days when I could place a free shipping order with Amazon and receive that order within 48-72 hours. It didn't cost me an $80.00 membership fee either.

Now when I place a free shipping order for an 'in-stock' item, Amazon usually holds that order for anywhere up to a week before they ship it.

I refuse to pay $80 a year for a service I used to get for free.

Viper187

Yeah, that's why I refuse to use free shipping. Don't they also ship it media mail when it's free and like first class(?) as standard? Media mail and anything else equally slow should be history by now. It's 2008 FFS.

EdTheRipper

Same...I have yet to encounter a Prime order that didn't arrive when they said it would. I placed two orders on Tuesday evening and both are scheduled for delivery from UPS tomorrow.

Arpeggi

My PRIME experience on preorders: they ship on Monday or Tuesday, I get them on Wednesday or Thursday. It's been like this for 2 years.

Walter Neff

I do nothing but free shipping from Amazon -- mostly books -- and I've never gotten anything sent media mail by them. It's always UPS or USPS w/tracking number.

SkullOrchard

Once Amazon ships my order, I get it quickly, usually within 72 hours.

RonG617

Are you sure the two day shipping was checked off when you placed your orders? This sounds like what they do for super saver shipping. In the year since I have had Prime, everything I have ever ordered has shipped the next morning after ordering.

Double_Oh_7

Come on. It's a DVD. Unless it's a last-minute gift or something, do you REALLY need it, like, NOW!!? Prime seems like a waste of money to me.

clckworang

I live in way deep South Texas. The nearest really big city is San Antonio, which is a 4-hour drive away. The nearest Netflix distribution center is Houston, which is about 6 hours away. Needless to say, pretty much anything I order takes a long time to get to me.

Having the Prime membership has been so convenient. I have never seen them hold up my orders, except when items are out of stock. They usually ship the same day I order, depending on the time I ordered, often using 2 different packages, which I appreciate because I know they're trying to make sure I get my full order as quickly as possible, even if it means sending multiple packages. And as was mentioned, it's nice to not have to make a minimum order to qualify. Feel like ordering just that one cheap DVD? No problem!

But you need to know that you're going to use it enough to justify the price. Shortly after I first got a Prime membership, I lost my job. I was stuck struggling in multiple part-time jobs, making a lot less money, just trying to pay my bills every month. I wasn't happy I finally decided to go Prime, not having any extra money to spend on anything non-essential. But after about 7 or 8 months, I finally found a great full-time job making more money (and a better schedule), and I have been making up for that lost time. I'll be happy having a full year to enjoy my Prime membership when it gets renewed soon.

The Cow

Not just for DVDs.

EdTheRipper

Exactly. I've ordered all types of stuff using Prime. I've ordered a blender, a dvd burner, books, etc. It's not a necessity to get it in a matter of days but it certainly is a nice feature.

Groucho

Yes, I had selected the two day shipping. Worked great for in-stock items. But for pre-orders, they screwed me every time.

redcat

I've always been very happy with Prime. I live 2 1/2 hours from the nearest city, so ordering online is constant for me. Considering the fact that I get far cheaper prices to begin with for books and CD's, I don't pay sales tax, and 90% of the time my orders come the day after I order them, I will gladly pay the fee every year. I sort of understand that people get upset about having to pay for something that they once got cheaper (or for free), but if you understand basic economics, you'd understand that your thinking is a little simple and naive.
Today, I saw something new. I got an e-mail explaining that I could get release day delivery for Madden 2009 if I just cancelled the item that I'd pre-ordered and re-ordered it with a special option selected (free for Prime Members) stating that you want release day delivery. If you live in a big city this might not seem like a big deal, but for those of us in the middle of nowhere, it's a nice thing to have.

RichC2

Prime is fantastic.

BravesMG

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll throw it in here. Amazon is awesome, I pre-ordered Madden 09 because I had a bunch of credit about a month ago. I just got an email today saying that I've been upgraded to release date shipping without charge, so I'll have Madden in my hands guaranteed on Tuesday the 12th.

Amazon's customer service is so far above everyone else's that it's not even a race anymore. The only downside to Amazon is that if I order something that I end up wanting to return, I get stuck with the shipping. That sucks, but as long as I'm careful with what I order, they are getting about 90% of all my media purchasing.

DeanoBKN

I took advantage of the 30 day trial, and Amazon suckered me in because I ordered quite a bit through them during that month. I didn't subscribe, because like others, I didn't really NEED those items here that fast. It was just nice that they did come so soon

DVDFreak28

I love Prime! My membership is going to expire next month and will be renewing it, it has been great!

davidh777

Congrats, clckworang

stingermck

I just signed up for Prime due to being too lazy to do Tuesday shopping after working now, and the release date guarantee for certain games.

I do have a question about the 'invite family' I was wanting to invite my best friend, who we order stuff together at other sites to split shipping.

How does that work anyway? I can ship it here no problem, under his name, but how would it work for him ordering? After the invite, would he just have the prime option, and then select my address, or what?

pilot

If you invite him, it would be like he's paying, but he gets to use prime because of your invite. He can ship to whoever and wherever he wants. Doesn't involve you at all except you're the one who added him under you.

stingermck

Thanks! Thats cool. So he wouldnt need my account or anything, he would just have the Prime option on his, after the invite? Nice