I had a sudden occurrence of Plantar Fasciitis and ordered a foot massager from Amazon. Prime member since 2007 and estimated delivery was a month out on a foot massager shown to be In Stock and Fulfilled by Amazon.

Amazon customer service advised that the item was shipped from a third party. I suggested they needed to correct their item description page.

Couple of hours later, I called Amazon CS just to see if I'd get the same story. This time the CS guy just blamed everything on C-19 and said shipment would be as soon as possible.

Both calls, I'd told them this was an essential item for a medical condition. Didn't expedite or change anything. Delivery still a month out.

So I canceled the order with Amazon for the foot massager and ordered directly from the company that makes the foot massager. Cost was $20 more than if I'd ordered through Amazon.

I received the foot massager last week. About 2 weeks earlier than Amazon expected delivery date for the same item. When the foot massager arrived ... it was in an Amazon box !!!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:

NO, you're NOT 'entitled' to a Refund....Even asking for a Refund seems a bit presumptuous! Seriously, we're a little over six weeks into the 'Coronapanic' here, and you're complaining about the inconvenience of extended delivery times?? There are bigger things to worry about than a $16 Refund....Just Sayin'

So...if I can’t pay my Prime fee because of how the virus has inconvienienced me, Amazon would let that slide a while huh? Like I’m supposed to let them slide on this thievery?

Just sayin....

An extension of benefits would go a long way as opposed to an outright fucking.

Just sayin....

Have you ordered from Midway lately? It's taking them over a week just to get stuff out the door (and then another week to get where it's going, because they still use that crappy mail innovations shipping). And they're only dealing with the gun buying portion of the public. Amazon is dealing with the whole country, stuck at home, browsing the web and impulse buying, as well as panic buying. They're having labor issues, and I'm sure like everyone that's still open and working, dealing with sanitation and PPE in the workplace is making everything more difficult.

I'm no Amazon fanboy, but the fact that they're getting stuff out the door as quickly as they are is impressive. I'm willing to cut them a break over a few extra days. I'm getting my money's worth out of the online video portion of their service if nothing else.

I have found that requesting to cancel an order leads to it "in shipment, unable to cancel" more often than not.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:

their service gets a bit slower.

I would have no gripe with "a bit slower," given the current conditions.

However, a small item that is in stock in the Amazon warehouse, an item that normally is shipped with two day delivery for Prime members, and now takes more than three weeks, is not "a bit slower." A few days might me acceptable, a few weeks is not acceptable.

I did not request a refund from Amazon, I requested a reasonable pro-rated reduction in Prime membership renewal. My request was worded diplomatically. The rather rude, brusque, reply translated to "We are Amazon, we don't care about this, you can pound sand."

What did it say for delivery when you placed the order? Whenever they've missed a delivery guarantee for me, I've gotten a credit. I never tried to cancel and get a refund on prime though.

Amazon shows up here several times a week, and what I've noticed lately is estimates have lengthened, but delivery times have lengthened but as much. All of my last few orders have shown up one day early. Do need to plan more ahead than usual though.

As several have mentioned, aside from promised 2 day delivery, there are many benefits to Prime. The movies and kindle books are worth the price of admission to me.

For years I shopped Amazon tax free and now they charge state taxes on my purchases. Don't know how true, but I've read that Amazon makes money off that too. Apparently, the state doesn't get the entire tax that Amazon collects. Amazon keeps a percentage of the taxes it collects in consideration of the service to states.

My Prime membership is renewable each January. I feel the challenges of shipping and delivery delays aren't unexpected what with everything being in disarray and not normal right now. I'll still renew Prime next January mostly for movies and books but hope that 2 day delivery will be possible by then as well. I do think there should be some kind of Prime membership concession if 2 day delivery is no longer possible but not sure what that concession should be. After all, regardless of the shipping and delivery delays we are currently experiencing, I'm pretty sure it still costs Amazon the same.

And speaking of costs to Amazon for shipping, I've also read that the sweet deal Amazon has with USPS has in large measure contributed to virtually overwhelming USPS with packages and largely responsible for USPS fiscal deficit.

To some it might seem Amazon is killing local small business at an alarming rate while destroying the USPS system. Sound like a good deal?

I'm pretty sure Amazon considers the video portion to be the main benefit of prime and the expedited shipping to be a side benefit.

quote:

Originally posted by joel9507:
/sarc on

Yeah, what's with those slackers? It's not like there's anything unusual going on.

/sarc off

Seriously, guys? The crud hits, their business skyrockets as many local retailers close and many people are hunkering down, their workers get exposed/sick like everyone else, they hire 100K new people to get a handle on it...and somehow their service gets a bit slower.

Yeah, get a grip. There is a reasonable argument to extend your Prime subscription, if all you use it for is shipping stuff - the other services (video, music etc.) that comes with Prime has not been affected - but a refund?

Seriously.

People like to gripe. It is one of humans favorite things to do.

I used to tell my kids that if I gave them $20, they'd gripe it wasn't $25.

There is a member that got a credit for his prime membership.

https://sigforum.com/eve/forums...640079864#1640079864

I order from the supplier if possible. Too many knockoffs and problems with Amazon. Plus I just do not like Bezos and the way he runs his company.

I always try to by locally if possible. The local TV station is even running ads {at their expense} promoting local businesses including restaurants during this time. Small businesses including tourism are the backbone of our local economy.

quote:

Originally posted by Hobbs:
Don't know how true, but I've read that Amazon makes money off that too. Apparently, the state doesn't get the entire tax that Amazon collects. Amazon keeps a percentage of the taxes it collects in consideration of the service to states.

At least in Texas, that's true of all merchants. They can keep .5% of the tax they collect if they pay on time. That's about .04% of sales around here, which isn't much, but would add up on Amazon's scale. There are costs associated with collecting and remitting the tax though, and those aren't insignificant.

My take is all of the other things you get from a Prime membership ($10/mo) are worth the price. Movies and original series, music, unlimited photo backup and storage, very reasonable prints available from your photos etc. All worth it to me. Free fast shipping, which apparently has morphed into free slow shipping for some is just another benefit that has died with the current situation. Sure it's one you where promised when you signed up but look around... many many things that heretofore where common place are no longer so.

On 2 occasions in the last month, I have ordered something that seemingly took forever to ship. Granted it had a delivery date in mid May but was listed as prime. I cancelled each order and reordered the same day and had the products in 3-4 days. One item was $20 cheaper. .????

I've been a big fan of Amazon and their customer service for a long time. Not so much anymore. The OP is right. I've had ridiculous changes in shipping times. Apart from that my biggest gripe is on some material I ordered to hang my steel targets. It was scheduled to deliver April 22 (2 weeks from when I ordered even though it was Prime).

Well on April 22 it hadn't shipped. I found out online it is not in stock. Tried to cancel 2 times and it said it was shipping soon and couldn't cancel. Now 2 different chats with CS and they keep promising to cancel the order but both times they say it will take 2 days to cancel. So strange. Just refund me already (it was Amazon reward points that I'd like to use for a different product).

Funny thread this considering I was lambasted last week for saying the exact same thing and managed to get a $50 credit for my trouble.

Amazon do the right thing - if you ask

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by arfmel:
<snip>
I have increasingly been turning to other online vendors

Care to mention some examples? Always looking for options.

I'm not all that annoyed by the shipping thing (tho it certainly is arbitrary) but the selection on Prime Video really sucks lately. I'd be tempted to ditch Prime if I had suitable options for shopping.

My bride needed some pinking shears. I bought them from Michael’s online instead of Amazon. I’ve also bought from MidwayUSA and Don Hume Leather online this past week. The only real competition to Amazon for the entire broad range of items they offer seems to be Walmart online and ebay. Neither of which I have any great affection for.

Doubtful on the refund. Their terms are clear.

My experience has been that the extended delivery times quoted at purchase are usually a day or two longer than reality. Got a delivery at 8am today that wasn't due until Thursday.

I still don't know what's worse. Continuing to do business with a company that supports China, OR spending money out of town while the locals are suffering.

In either case, it doesn't seem to be the American thing to do.

You can always not renew it when that date comes up.

quote:

Originally posted by berto:
Doubtful on the refund. Their terms are clear.

My experience has been that the extended delivery times quoted at purchase are usually a day or two longer than reality. Got a delivery at 8am today that wasn't due until Thursday.

Not at all my experience. The last two items I ordered were one month to delivery. Third still not delivered. Not using them for anything I want in less than 30 days. Do all my shopping locally now. I'm not working, so their appeal is zero to me since I have the free time to drive to stores.

They may be gaining lots of business due to CV, but they've lost a crap ton of my business.