Superdaddy

I agree...if only I had the time to make sure all my orders are placed in the A.M., I would.

I remember being told by a CSR one time that the guarantee officially was two days from shipment, not two days from order, to account for the very variables you allude to (items not in stock or ordered late in the day).

Quite frequently, orders I place early in the day get to me the next business day. I love it. This is particularly true when they originate from that DE shipping address that they use. Being in NY, I know that whenever that shows up on the UPS tracking, it won't be long at all before the package shows up.

bunkaroo

So Amazon decided to refund my entire Prime fee after 5 months of use instead of agreeing to stop using A1 on my account. I guess they really don't care about quality of service.

Meanwhile I've already spent over $300 on movies and games in the past couple weeks that would have been theirs. What a waste.

hindolio

^ i am not defending this new practice by amazon, which sounds just awful, but my guess is the reasoning is some kind of contractual thing. i.e. amazon has already contracted a1 for delivery for a certain period of time blah blah whatever.

in any case, if you havent already, perhaps an email or phone call in the right direction might help amazon see their dumb ways for the future. as in, if they get enough complaints, maybe they will switch back later. i know it doesnt help you now, but i have a hard time believing amazon just doesnt care about customer service.

Josh-da-man

Amazon has been steadily going downhill for years.

Up until about six or seven years ago, I placing orders at Amazon almost weeky for books and things.

Now, I don't think I've placed a single order this year.

meglet

Interestingly, I've been getting much better service from Dynamex (who appear to be a similar service to A1 International) lately.

Items shipped via Dynamex arrive the same day, usually before I arrive home from work. One day, I had 2 boxes ship to me, at 2 different addresses (work and home) and someone from Dynamex called to see if they were both coming to me and would I like to have both shipments delivered to one address.

There were definitely some teething problems when they were first used, but now I'm actually happy to see Dynamex as the courier. So, I'd say if A1 is still having problems, make the effort to call or email every time and complain. It's annoying, but Amazon really does have enough leverage to make the courier change their ways if there's enough complaints/incentive. Or so says my dad who used to work for a shipping company.

jjcool

Still havent had anything delivered by anyone other than UPS from Amazon here at my end.

Viper187

Dammit! I was finally gonna start using Prime and now this. I think I'll be more temped to avoid Amazon in the future if this isn't resolved. That thread someone linked to on Amazon has been there for what, 6 months? STILL no real response from Amazon about the issue? No option to choose your courier or blacklist one? It's insane. Has anyone determined the actual areas affected by these A1 assholes or are they everywhere?

bunkaroo

The thread is actually over a year old. It seems A1 is branching out by subcontracting. Apparently in the Chicago area they're using some fly by night joint called Chicago Messenger.

Not sure what area you're in, but if there is an established local courier service you might be at risk too.

Prime is not worth $79 when it's some shady courier doing the delivering.

OmahaStar

Uh, how do you figure? It was started on August 11, 2009. Today is September 3, 2009. This thread is less than a month old. Not sure how they measure time on your planet, but where we come from, a month is just a wee bit less than one year.

Walker Boh

They weren't talking about this thread on DVD Talk. They were talking about this thread on Amazon.

Viper187

You're right. That started in 2008. WTF? A year and a half and Amazon isn't saying shit? What gives?

Living Dead

AN EXCERPT FROM THE HANDBOOK OF SUCCESSFUL SARCASM: "When making fun of others, make certain to have your facts straight in order to avoid looking stupid."

bunkaroo

Better stay on the bench a bit longer.

vg111

Well, just to update this thread:

My last 6-7 orders have been shipped via UPS as usual now instead of A1.

Not sure if they changed anything, but if they keep it up ... I'm gonna renew my Prime subscription


-Chicagoland area if anyone is interested.

bunkaroo

Thanks for the update. I've been monitoring the Amazon thread and it still sounds like some are getting A1.

I was thinking of using them for a couple things next month to see what happens. For now I've just been giving the business to Fry's and Best Buy.

Gizzyeq

I just got my first package delivered by A1 on Sunday. My first order from Amazon after renewing my Prime membership.(Before that was UPS every time even the order I placed 3 days earlier)

The guy that delivered it was driving what looked like his own minivan (looked like a Honda Odyssey)
It did come 1 day earlier than scheduled, but I wasn't expecting it to come on Sunday. Lucky I was home.

I was pretty worried about them because of reading this thread and the one on Amazon but I guess it turned out ok. The not being able to track it is pretty damn stressful tho.
I do hope they go back to UPS tho, I couldn't care less about receiving packages on Saturday or Sunday

shacmasta

Yea I'm a bit disappointed with this A1 courier service they are using as well. My item(wizard of oz) was delivered w/o a problem but I know I will run into one soon, since I work in NYC and see them first hand and how they operate and it isn't good at all.

fumanstan

My recent order from Amazon is coming from ONTRAC.

http://www.ontrac.com/

First time i've seen of it and I order a ton of stuff from Amazon

EdTheRipper

I ordered two items yesterday from Amazon. Both are expected to arrive tomorrow. One from FedEx and one from "Unknown". Obviously with the mystery shipper, I have no tracking info. I'm hoping to not encounter any issues here but I'm a bit skeptical.

jjcool

Just placed an order from Amazon on Sunday. got notice Monday morning that it was being shipped free 2 day via UPS. Still havent gotten anything delivered with prime by any company other than UPS.

EdTheRipper

This is my first time with anything aside from UPS. That's why I'm so freaking nervous about it,lol.

jjcool

I would be too. That item I ordered sunday, showed up today, delivered by UPS. When you pay for prime, you are paying for the shipping, and in my opinion, you are paying for UPS or fedex shipping. My opinion is that Amazon is not living up to their end of the deal if they are using these fly by night companies, and anyone gettign something delivered by them should complain each and every time. I wont suggest anyone claiming they are not recieving the packages, because that would be wrong.

EdTheRipper

Agreed with you 110%. UPS and FedEx are the main reason I signed up for Prime and even renewed my membership in it. I trust my UPS driver and he typically delivers around the same time each and every time. That's the type of service I'm paying for. If I wanted some schmuck dropping packages on my porch from some random company, I'll take my business elsewhere.

And now, my Amazon tracking page shows a tracking number that appears to be a UPS number. Why it would still be listed as "Unknown" is beyond me. Guess I'll find out tomorrow.

EdTheRipper

I wound up e-mailing Amazon about my concerns yesterday. I received a $10 credit on my account. It's a nice gesture but it doesn't make up for the peace of mind that comes from having a package delivered by a reputable company. And they still don't seem to know who is delivering my package.

As a frequent Amazon shopper (69 orders in 2008 and 42 so far this year), I think this is the first time I've genuinely been pissed about something they've done.

Pointyskull

You're lucky. My frequent complaints about the use of A1 was met with a couple of "gee, we'll look into it" form letters.