Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

He didn't say what he was getting his wife for her birthday. I was trying to make a joke at his expense.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

So you're working the system then? How is that better? Shit happens, but hey blame Amazon and not the shippers. Why don't you call the USPS, UPS, or FedEX to complain? Once they get it it's out of Amazon's hands.

You're so righteous, dude. :sarcasm:

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Amazon IS to blame, especially when they choose to keep doing business with other garbage carriers in spite of ridiculous amounts of complaints (A1, Lasership, Prestige). Moreover, they and other online retailers forever refuse to allow people to choose our shipping carrier no matter what we pay or are willing to pay. The option is NEVER there. Also, Prime members pay for "2 Day shipping," but if you check UPS etc tracking, that's pretty much NEVER the shipping method that's actually used. They ship Ground and expect it to get there anyway. They keep doing the bullshit where UPS/FedEx hand off packages to the post office and expect it to get there. They use USPS shipping that's NOT guaranteed to be 2-day. If they're not willing to do it right, I'd rather have Prime be straight USPS Priority Mail or UPS 3 Day Select all the time, with heavily discounted overnight/2-day, and just avoid the bullshit.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

^ Nah, people want their cake and eat it too -- this is why we can't have nice things. You missed my shipping deadline? Give me an extra year of PRIME at no charge! Huh? How is that fair. If anything, they should give you back a pro-rated refund of your PRIME membership not the full $99, because you more than damn well got your $99 worth in 6 months. I would not be surprised if they raised PRIME again in the near future.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

So what on Amazon would cost $30 to ship next day with prime?

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I agree with what you said but especially the part I quoted. They did this to me with movies ALL the time. The movies only arrived in two days about half the time. Amazon always took the cheapest way out and blamed the carrier if it was late. I only raised a stink once when the late item was a gift and I was very angry. This was one big reason I dumped prime. I didn't feel they lived up to their two day promise.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Unprovoked, Amazon threw a free month of Prime my way.

They couldn't have done it at a worse time, as just previous to it, I had ordered a bunch of stuff that I the fee 2-Day shipping could have helped, and I had time to watch some of their crappy original content.

But right after I got they gave me that trial run (which I didn't ask for), I had zero things to order and zero time to watch their crap. I ended up canceling it early, just so they won't bill me for the new month in case I forget.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I can see it both ways. I don't have Prime and likely never will, and am not somebody who typically cares when the package arrives, as long as it's intact and in "retail new" shape, i.e. no slices through the bar code. Amazon still disappoints a bit too often. But if you're expecting 1-day or 2-day shipping and get something else (allowing for the hand-off to the carrier, which can get held up), you have a right to be upset. This being a recurring problem, if the only way to get Amazon's attention is for (optimistically) millions of people to demand a refund of their $99, so be it. Hit 'em where it hurts. Amazon is wagering that few enough people will complain about shoddy Prime service that they make more profit this way than by fixing anything.

On a similar tangent, I recall a story from earlier this year about Wal-Mart not employing as many loss prevention staffers, figuring that just letting people steal stuff is cheaper than a larger payroll.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

That's another thing. Why the fuck are marketplace sellers still slashing fucking bar codes!? That drives me nuts, and I always give them negative feedback for it. It would be nice if there was a way to blacklist sellers so we don't have to keep track of the assholes manually.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

It's not the seller doing the slashing, but closeout titles the label (typically WB) desires to mark as such. Although I am seeing fewer slashes on Big Lots disks, which may be a good sign. I always thought "Fulfilled by Amazon" items were supposed to be indistinguishable from Amazon's own, but that's not the case maybe 25% of the time. Amazon could police this. After all, isn't it their people slapping the Amazon inventory bar code sticker over the original? But again, I suspect it's coming down to expense. People like me who will return 3 or 4 copies until they get one intact are few enough that it isn't worth the money. And if Amazon doesn't care, sadly, the sellers tend to stay quiet.

I'd love to have the Marketplace system add one more condition: "retail new". "New" means an items is still sealed and unused. "Retail new" means it looks like an item you'd find on a store shelf and would be proud to give as a gift.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Surprisingly, one thing that has NEVER bothered me about Amazon is the time it takes for items to be shipped. I couldn't care less about getting Prime (it is exhortion, and pure gravy for them). If I make a (rare) order on Amazon and my package takes a week to arrive, so be it. I'm patient. I'll opt for free shipping every time, even if I need to spend $35 to get it, I just collate and place a "big" order at that time for multiple items.

If I was paying $99 a year for "expedited" shipping from Amazon (a cold day in hell, THAT would be), then I'd be upset if they didn't honor the written contract that they agreed to when signing up for that service (ie, guaranteed 2-day shipping service). If they get away too often with not honoring that Prime contract with too many people, it will burn them. They've calculated that they can have a certain % "fudge factor' and get away with it. The bean counters have done this, and the amount they save doing so goes to line their coffers as pure profit.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

It is 100% amazon's fault that my package was late, because amazon deliberately chose to use an unreliable shipper.

When I pay for two day shipping, I have the right to expect amazon to use a reliable shipper.

When amazon deliberately chooses to use a shipper that takes more than two days, amazon is committing fraud, and I have every right to ask for my money back.

There is no reason for me to contact the shipper. I am not the shipper's customer. I am amazon's customer.

UPS and Fedex are always on time for me. The shippers that are late for me are the U.S. Post Office, Prestige, and amazon's own shipping service. I have repeatedly asked amazon not to use those shippers for me, because they do not give two day delivery. When amazon chooses to deliver my packages later than the "guaranteed" date, it is committing fraud.

It is not "working the system" to ask for my money back when I never got what I paid for in the first place.

If amazon had simply listened to me, and used only reliable shippers, I never would have asked for the money back.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Thank you.

For the record, the U.S. Post Office "two day priority" is a scam. My package that was ordered on Sunday, shipped on Monday, and had an "expected" delivery date of Wednesday (according to the U.S. Post Office tracking website), was not actually delivered until Tuesday the following week. There were no holidays in that time. And for the Post Office, Saturday is a business day. So the Post Office delivered my package five business days later than the "expected" date.

Also, the online tracking (again, from the U.S. Post office tracking website) said the package was at my local post office on Friday, waiting for me to pick it up. But when I went there to get it, they said they did not have it.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

If they had actually offered me a pro-rated refund of the prime membership, I would have taken it. But they did not do that. Instead, multiple people repeatedly ignored everything that I said. They offered me nothing except excuses.

Me: "Why does amazon continue to use shippers that it knows are unreliable?"

Amazon customer service reps: "We choose shippers that offer the best service."

They deserve to lose their $99 for that.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

The writer didn't say.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Approximately half of my day revolves around Amazon. It's a #'s game. Maybe .5% of their shipments don't get delivered on time. Maybe the SKU was misplaced in their warehouse, and it took an employee hours to locate. Maybe a trailer didn't get picked up off the dock in time to reach the airport. Amazon's logistics system is lean and beautiful. But it's not magic. And you're not paying to be included in an elite delivery service. You're paying to be included in a UPS/FedEx/USPS expedited service.

If you don't like it, you mark "missed fulfillment promise" and return the product (Amazon will pay shipping). That's their process.

Amazon has amazing AI that tracks every penny a SKU is making them (based on cubic volume, profits, cost of fulfillment, etc.). If they're still making money, the system allows them to make customer concessions (such as free Prime). And they eat costs all day every day. But if that SKU becomes unprofitable (even at the customer's unreasonable requests or error), they'll dump it and won't look back.

I'm a little torn on their 3rd-world ghetto-ized economy. On one hand, it seems lean and efficient. On the other hand, they drive down their prices so far that it puts stress on everyone they pay. For example, UPS might move 1M Amazon packages a day. But they make very little profit (if any) on moving all of those packages. Same goes for the vendors. It creates positive cashflow for everyone. But you can be moving $1B a month, and still losing money. And that happens when companies see that opportunity to work with that much money. UPS walks a fine line, trying to profit from moving all of those packages. And they might be better off if they didn't deal with Amazon at all, and let FedEx/USPS take the hit.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Yes. I know. Which makes his story seem all the more far fetched.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Maybe you should save time and just put all these points in your sig? :shrug:

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

:thumbsup:

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

If the shipper misses a guaranteed delivery date, call Amazon, and you can get one month added to your Prime membership (up to 12 times per year).

https://www.dealnews.com/features/Ho...ee/938946.html

Amazon actually changed the wording in the Help page linked in the article to remove that provision (one month free for Prime shipments) a few months ago, but I called in on a shipment that was one day late last month and they still gave me an additional free month on my Prime membership.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Thanks.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

These new prime football looking cardboard boxes Amazon is using as of late to ship items are sturdy as hell. They should always stick with those. :)

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I haven't ordered from Amazon in awhile but last night I did grabbing a new PC Mouse and a couple of CD's...including the 2 Disc Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Anthology....darn I'm still tore up about his passing...

But I noticed the "Free Shipping with $25 & Over" is back from the $35 so that's good....

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Fucking Amazon can't even override their own purchasing limits. They limited Mass Effect Andromda to 3 copies. I ordered 2, but the package got lost. It was literally impossible to order 2 more after they refunded the original order. The email people said to call the 800 number, and the 800 number people couldn't even override it.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

For someone that supposedly has so many problems with Amazon, you sure do order a lot of stuff from them.