The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I know this belongs in the STORE FORUM, so I will be brief lest I incur the wrath of it not being a bargain. But I just have to vent and say Amazon sure sucks these days. There are so few genuine deals anymore and having items saved in your cart for later has become excruciating to check everyday and see that they are being raised and lowered by pennies. I think it's time to start being afraid that they may become the only player in town. There, I've vented and I feel better.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

^ I feel the same. I've only bought four BDs from Amazon this year. One was a DotD (The Mel Brooks Collection) and the other three were Disney titles that had decent pre-order coupons. Their everyday media prices suck. Hopefully the week leading up to Black Friday will bring some respectable deals.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

^ But Amazon will make up for it all in a month. They won't hold back for BF deals. The deals are coming...

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

Compared to past years, I've bought relatively little from Amazon in the way of blu rays or dvds this year. The prices are mostly crappy. It's better by far, though, than the formerly great Deep Discount--which has become a non-starter in online disk sales. I'd say 80 percent of my buys this year have been bricks&mortar, and used sales.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

Amazon has invested in a horribly expensive amount of infrastructure in the past few years and has to basically charge normal retail pricing now to be profitable. It's very likely their prices are never going to get back down to what we became accustomed from them over the years.

Another player is going to have to enter the Internet retail space before we ever see great pricing across the board again. I thought it was going to be Walmart, but they don't seem interested in competing with Amazon.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

To be honest aside from a few purchases this year, I'll probably be doing the majority of my Amazon bluray shopping on the black friday holiday period. That's the one time where Amazon is forced to price match on most of their items.

Did anyone purchase "Kiss of the Spider Woman" yesterday/last night? Some marketplace seller was selling used-like new copies for under $1. Even with $2.98 shipping, the total came out to less than five bucks. It was probably a price mistake as the seller is now selling that item for $9.99.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

^ Yes, I ordered a copy listed as "New" and it already shipped this morning. :thumbsup:

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

Got a "like new" copy in which the desc indicated it was brand new. Shipped like 2 hours after I placed the order.

Amazon is good for 2 things:
1) PMing other retailers
2) Amazon Marketplace sellers

They do occasionally have the good deal, but it has become more scarce. Though I've hardly noticed with the BB U&S getting all my money.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

Since we're going off topic, I'll add my 2 cents and I won't quote a bunch of messages which I thought were right on the mark...

PhantomStranger, I was aware that Amazon has a huge software team (and I also know their interview process is ranked among the most difficult and they are fussy beyond fussy), but I never connected their infrastructure expenses with the reason their prices have been crappy for the last couple years (or more), except during BF week/holiday season as others have mentioned. I've been hoping for a long time that Amazon would start being competitive again, but what you wrote about their infrastructure costs made me realize Amazon will never be the low price leader again. You're right that Walmart.com doesn't care... and certainly not their B&M stores who have poor inventory. Right now the low price leader seems to be BB, but that's offset by BB being OOS so often on what I want. [Just yesterday I went to get 3 last things with U&S and 1 was totally OOS and nobody could find the other 2 in spite of a 4+ quantity. That's what happens when you stick movies randomly on endcaps and displays all over the store. After 20 minutes of 1 employee and I looking everywhere I just gave up and left empty handed.]

sleepyhead55, I also do most of my Amazon shopping during the BF period which is when Amazon is aggressive at PM'ing. The rest of the year, I'm right with you and drmar35mm in buying elsewhere. I probably also buy 80% from B&M stores (BB and Target) or used from Gohastings because their prices are simply better than Amazon's. My #1 beef with B&M stores is low inventory and being OOS. B&M stores are truly gutless about having any excess inventory. In the old days they erred on the side of too much. Now they are the other extreme and don't care about constantly annoying customers with the OOS excuse because they only got 4 copies on release day.

The fact I don't have Amazon Prime (though I hope I can get a 30 day trial in November having been 18 months since my last one) also means I pass on most borderline deals because I can't find anything else to hit $25. The Crash S1 BD for $4-$5-ish was a good example. It's on my list.

So what's the point of all these posts? I guess: Amazon's prices are crappy compared to what they used to be, and it won't ever change except during the holiday season and on select deals.

That's why this thread is useful... to post those few select deals. Thanks, Lizard, for continuing to do that in spite of Amazon's generally poor prices. I don't know how you're going to keep up with the deals for BF week when Amazon finally comes alive before going back to sleep for another year.

BTW, never once have I ordered a price mistake from an Amazon MP seller (or Amazon) and not had it canceled. I guess some people get lucky though.

Re: Amazon Blu-ray Discounts and Deals Thread #27
 

Yay, analysis!

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Yeah, I've noticed this general trend, especially in the last year. The crappier prices, combined with Calif. sales tax being charged means that I've cut my spending way back, eliminated in most cases. Now, with Target & BB pricematching in store all online deals this BF, Amazon won't see a penny of my business for the rest of the year. Exception might be from Marketplace sellers.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Amazon still gets my money. No sales tax yet for me. Once that happens, who knows what I will do. Would cost me a hell of a lot more to drive to Target or Best Buy and pay tax, than it does to order from Amazon.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I signed up for a Prime trial on November 21 and I could swear it was two months. Come to find out they charged me after one month and I had to cancel it today. Am I crazy? Is it always one month?

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Normally 30 day trial period..

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Its either been 1 or 3 months before. Don't ever remember 2 months.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Same here. I use Amazon for everything I possibly can. Prime. No tax. No problem.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I still buy a lot of stuff from Amazon. They might not always have rock bottom low prices on everything but they're fairly competitive with most other retailers for the most part. It's not like their pricing is terrible or anything it's just sort of average now days which I'm fine with. Still the easiest option for me to find a lot of more obscure titles that the big box retailers won't carry. Plus where I live there's still no tax on items and I've got Prime so it's still pretty worth using them for me.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

What's with the thread crapping? This is supposed to be a thread about "complaining about Amazaon" not praising them. ;)

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Love Amazon. Of course now I know who the Rosicrucians are.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I don't buy enough from Amazon to justify spending $79 a year for Prime just to save on shipping, it would end up costing me in the end. The free shipping is really all I would use it for. If they would lower the annual cost of Prime it might be worth it to me (and alot of others I'd guess).

I have nothing else to complain about, Amazon has always been good to me. -kd5-

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Just thought I would vent. Joined prime back in November. Placed an order on 12/21, shipped on 12/22 delivery estimate 12/24 (lasership?). The morning of 12/27, there had been no further updates to the tracking except for 12/22 one. I emailed Amazon and asked them about it and they said it was lost and they would resend it by next day service at no cost to me. (UPS). I get an email on 12/27 saying it would be delivered on 12/28. Nothing shows up on 12/28. Today, 12/31, the doorbell rings. I see a package and a woman running to her little white station wagon. I checked the tracking for both and it was the 12/22 one that was delivered. The UPS stiil has the Next Day service one which I guess might be delivered on 1/2/2013.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Couldn't that be the shipping services fault?

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Yes, but Amazon decides the shipping service selected, and there's another thread on here complaining about Lasership's quality.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

But that's how many complaints out of how many total packages? Realistically, it's going to be a small number and the complaints weren't there before they signed up with them. If the complaints are too high for amazon, they'll drop them but they'd need to do it at the end of the contract.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I noticed I was charged tax on my prime membership this year. I understand the tax on a product but I was kind of surprised for the tax on the service.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I'm just saying that ultimately, it's the seller that is responsible for making sure that the package gets to the buyer successfully. The buyer has a relationship with the seller, not the shipping company. The seller is the one who has a relationship with the shipper, in that they are the shipper's customer, and they select the shipper that they contract with to deliver the product safely to the buyer. A problem with the shipper is ultimately a problem for the seller.

Really? State sales taxes are usually applied equally to goods AND services.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Which is why they shipped a replacement out instead of not doing anything. Amazon can't send an employee out to personally track down where a missing package might be in the country.

Now if they didn't bother to send a replacement out, then I'd blame Amazon but they didn't do anything wrong. They did what they were supposed to do.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I always buy things in spurts (Blu-rays and everything else)...keep a list of things I'd like to buy, and eventually when the list gets long enough I'll buy a bunch, usually online and usually on Amazon. So I'm currently searching for things and adding them to my cart, and I'm amazed at how many things are out of stock that I want. A frying pan, compression running pants, protein powder, a dry erase board, and a pair of shoes. I've never had this issue with Amazon in the past. Did they change the way they handle inventory? They're obviously not items that sell a ton, but it just seems odd that like 5 of the 7 things I want aren't available (from Amazon themselves).

Having Prime shipping doesn't do me much good when everything I want is backordered. :(

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

My experience as a frequent Prime user is that when an item has been backordered it usually isn't for very long. And since nothing I'm ordering is of an urgent nature I'm usually fine with that. Plus, with the 1-2 days I'm getting on deliveries I can't complain.

I tend to notice it more - though not often - on items not supplied by Amazon, but by 3rd parties that are not Prime eligible.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

OK, so here's a new one... Amazon Prime member. ordered a bluray mid day yesterday, Thursday...

check out my shipping options

FREE regular 3-5 days
FREE Prime Two day shipping (estimated arrival Tuesday 29th) -- huh?
and then I could pay another $3.99 to have it arrive Saturday (which by my math is technically 2 days from my order date)
and then I could pay $8.99 (!!) to have it delievered the next day today, Friday.


Seriously? Are you seriously going to call it FREE Prime 2 day shipping?

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

As a buyer the only complaint I have is the constant price fluctuations and their refusal to PM stuff that has significant price drops. with BBY and Target PM'ing Amazon, they are going to start losing some business, at least from me.

As a seller, I'm getting sick of the listing restrictions. It's bad business and makes Amazon a "bully" who has gotten way too powerful. These restrictions can seriously affect people's livelihood and will drive some to eBay.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Has anyone here ever had difficulty canceling an item? I bought a cheap in stock blu-ray and a book that was on pre-order. The order was over $25, so I got free shipping. The movie was delivered last week, but I received a Barnes & Noble coupon the other day and was able to order the book for less than what Amazon was selling it for. I logged on to cancel the book from the Amazon order and got the following message:Yes, I used a gift card for the order -- but I don't see how canceling an item increases the total. Even if they wanted to charge me shipping for the blu-ray, the funds would still be on the gift card to cover it after the cancellation. Anyway, I entered my credit card and it still displayed the same message and won't allow me to cancel the book. In 12 years of shopping with Amazon, I've never seen such a thing. I contacted customer service and am now waiting for a reply.

EDIT: Here's the response.

Weird.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Well Monday was a holiday, so no deliveries on Monday. Sunday never has deliveries, And sometimes UPS doesn't deliver Saturdays either, depending on where you live.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Still doesn't make any sense. The 29th is six BUSINESS days later. I ordered something with prime on the 19th and its scheduled to come today.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I like Amazon so much that I didn't think I'd have anything to contribute to this thread but I have to say that my gold box deals in 2013 have really stunk. Seems like they used to be based on purchases I've made there but now it's whatever.

Cat food when I don't have a cat.

Windows 7 when I bought a computer from them months ago with Windows 7 on it.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Bummer. I used to like those a lot. Now all I get are a bunch of coupons and local deals which are just echoes of what's in the local deals emails, anyway.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Same. I used to get 6-9 movies in the gold box each day with at least a couple of them being of actual interest. Now, if I get any movies at all it isn't something even remotely in line with what I've bought from them.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Good and bad within the last 24 hours...

The good: I got a free one-month Prime trial. I was a Prime member for a year back in 2010-2011...so I didn't think I'd ever get another trial, but I did.

The bad: Anyone else have to type in ReCaptcha-style letters and numbers when logging in? Because I just noticed that today and it's annoying.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

I typically have been happy with Amazon service, but they have been slipping in the shipping department. I order a good amount from them, and if I don't need it right away I usually pick the 3-5 day shipping. But the last 4 orders I have had shipped either two day or next day has been late.

This time for some reason they decided to ship USPS and of course it is running late.

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

LOL My Gold Box finally has some great books in it! I know they're great because I already own them when I bought them from a store besides Amazon. Isn't there a way to tell them that? Isn't there a way to give them even more personal information?

Re: The complaining about Amazon thread
 

Go through "Your Recommendations" for Movies & TV and Books, etc. and indicate which ones you have and which ones you're not interested in, leaving the ones you are interested in on the list. Could take a while if you've never done it before. Afterward, wait 2 or 3 days and usually your recommendations that are still on the list will start to show up in the Gold Box. Then periodically repeat the focusing of the recommendations to the items you're interested in and for the most part they'll show up.

I just updated my recommendations the other day and I now have 8 items in my Gold box, all from my recommendations list.