Amazon is *slow* without Prime

[TrophyWife]

We've seen a recent slow down for sure!

 

[broadway]

I have intentionally purchased some super low-priced stuff (small electronics mostly) that ships from China - that can take 3- 6 weeks. Not good if you don't notice, but this is stuff for future projects of mine

For the small electronic parts for Arduino Uno projects I buy those on eBay.
I have a couple of sellers and they are pretty decent.
I look for shipping by ePacket which translate into Airmail.
Most orders take about 21 - 28 days.

 

[Red Badger]

Just do what I do...find a friend or family member you can trust and they can trust you...make sure they have pricme...get their credentials and go to town. You can save your billing, shipping and credit card info...just log in and order stuff.

I give my friend $10/year even though he doesnt want me to pay him. If everyone he lets log in gave him some money prime would be covered. Been doing it that way for years.

Where I'm from, we call that stealing.

 

[ERD50]

For the small electronic parts for Arduino Uno projects I buy those on eBay.
I have a couple of sellers and they are pretty decent.
I look for shipping by ePacket which translate into Airmail.
Most orders take about 21 - 28 days.

Yes, I actually probably have used ebay for those things more than I have Amazon. I check the seller profile, and I've had zero problems on ebay. And go back to the same seller if I can. And they do seem to have a wider selection of electrical components and modules and stuff. I outfitted my 30+ year old bench power supply that I made back then with a digital Volt and Amp meter, I think it cost like $3 or something.

-ERD50

 

[meierlde]

Actually Amazon now has both warehouse centers and sorting centers. The warehouses ship to the local sorting center where the items are sorted out for delivery to the local post office in my case where it is then delivered. So few if any orders go thru UPS/Fedex any more. I don't know how it works in cities however. Do they use the USPS for the last mile or other methods. (check the shipping message for details)

 

[jimbee]

Yes it is. It's been that way for a long time.

 

[broadway]

Actually Amazon now has both warehouse centers and sorting centers. The warehouses ship to the local sorting center where the items are sorted out for delivery to the local post office in my case where it is then delivered. So few if any orders go thru UPS/Fedex any more. I don't know how it works in cities however. Do they use the USPS for the last mile or other methods. (check the shipping message for details)

That's what happened here.

Amazon used USPS Parcel Select for this order.
It left their warehouse in NJ and arrived at USPS facility in Carteret, NJ at 7:55 pm yesterday 6/15.
It arrived at recipient's post office in Staten Island at 6:14 am today 6/16.

The box will either get delivered today or tomorrow.

Basically, Amazon dragged their feet until 9 days has elapsed then took the box to the post office. It could have gone out sooner, but Amazon deliberately made me wait the 10 days.

This isn't going to force me to get Prime.

 

[CRLLS]

That's what happened here.

Amazon used USPS Parcel Select for this order.
It left their warehouse in NJ and arrived at USPS facility in Carteret, NJ at 7:55 pm yesterday 6/15.
It arrived at recipient's post office in Staten Island at 6:14 am today 6/16.

The box will either get delivered today or tomorrow.

Basically, Amazon dragged their feet until 9 days has elapsed then took the box to the post office. It could have gone out sooner, but Amazon deliberately made me wait the 10 days.

This isn't going to force me to get Prime.

I rest my case.

 

[broadway]

I haven't shopped at Amazon in 2017 except for a book shipped by a seller in Amazon marketplace and 2 physical gift cards.

The book arrived in a timely fashion from that seller.

I haven't shopped at Amazon much since the free shipping limit increased to $50. Now that it's back down to $25, I gave it a try with this order.

Talk about major disappointment.
Pathetic for them to use their software algorithms to deliberately delay an order to make it seem better to buy Prime.
I am majorly turned off.

 

[Fermion]

I love Amazon prime. Living in a RV we sometimes need things not available locally and the two day free shipping is just the bees knees. We probably order about 30 things a year from Amazon and use the free shipping.

Prime video we watch Man in the High Castle and Bosch, both of which I like a lot.

I use prime reading to get a few free books for my Kindle.

All this for like $100 a year?

Aside from all of that, I really like being able to buy a TV show that I like and stream it or download it to watch later, which you can do on Amazon. We are watching Alone season 4 right now. We don't have cable (and thus don't pay $30 to $100 a month) so paying $17 for a 10 show series occasionally isn't really that bad.

 

[broadway]

LBYM means we don't buy much.
The year is almost half over and the only purchase from Amazon was a book and two gift cards.
From the looks of it, it was good thing the book was not fulfilled by Amazon, and thus I received it in less than 7 days.

I live in NJ where I am now taxed for Amazon purchases because they have opened 3 warehouses.
For the privilege of paying taxes on those goods, I should receive my orders in a timely fashion.

 

[Fermion]

When I say we buy a lot on Amazon, I don't mean we buy $3000 TV sets, but rather household items you would normally buy at a big box store. When you calculate the cost of driving 1+hr to get to the store, usually the Amazon price + free shipping is quite a bit cheaper. You have to pay tax in our state when you buy at a local store.

 

[broadway]

When I say we buy a lot on Amazon, I don't mean we buy $3000 TV sets, but rather household items you would normally buy at a big box store. When you calculate the cost of driving 1+hr to get to the store, usually the Amazon price + free shipping is quite a bit cheaper. You have to pay tax in our state when you buy at a local store.

I understand. You are in the boonies.

I am in overcrowded NJ hence this Amazon tactic annoys me greatly.

 

[Red Badger]

When I say we buy a lot on Amazon, I don't mean we buy $3000 TV sets, but rather household items you would normally buy at a big box store. When you calculate the cost of driving 1+hr to get to the store, usually the Amazon price + free shipping is quite a bit cheaper. You have to pay tax in our state when you buy at a local store.

+1.

A few other reason I use Amazon over big boxes; usually a much, much wider selection and thousands of reviews. Lowe's accuses me of having a mistress after all or our years together.

 

[broadway]

Since I refuse to pay for Prime, I also am unwilling to wait 10 days for their free shipping.

If I can find it in a big box store locally, I will buy it there.
Just as I did for the carbon monoxide detector I bought at Target the other day.
Not any more expensive than Amazon.

 

[meierlde]

When I say we buy a lot on Amazon, I don't mean we buy $3000 TV sets, but rather household items you would normally buy at a big box store. When you calculate the cost of driving 1+hr to get to the store, usually the Amazon price + free shipping is quite a bit cheaper. You have to pay tax in our state when you buy at a local store.

Agreed being 60 miles from any big box stores but walmart does increase the cost of shopping there. For soap and detergents Amazon does work well also.
Plus of course Amazon has a far far greater selection than any brick and mortar bookstore/ CD store.

 

[Bestwifeever]

That's what happened here.

Amazon used USPS Parcel Select for this order.
It left their warehouse in NJ and arrived at USPS facility in Carteret, NJ at 7:55 pm yesterday 6/15.
It arrived at recipient's post office in Staten Island at 6:14 am today 6/16.

The box will either get delivered today or tomorrow.

Basically, Amazon dragged their feet until 9 days has elapsed then took the box to the post office. It could have gone out sooner, but Amazon deliberately made me wait the 10 days.

This isn't going to force me to get Prime.

You got the shipping you paid for.

 

[EastWest Gal]

I got a prime membership almost 3 years ago. I didn't really appreciate it until 2016, when I started ordering all kinds of things-sous vide machine, computer components, sun protection clothing for snorkeling, food items I can't find locally, my MIL's book, published this year. There is also music and video services. It only takes a few orders to pay for the membership. We saved $150 shipping charges on the computer parts alone. I'm not sure I understand the "I refuse to pay for" sentiment. Why do people who have been well paid for their services over the years refuse to pay others?

I will pay more for local services when it helps local folks. If I can, I try to hit the small mom and pop places rather than the big box stores for stuff. A dollar more here and there is well worth it to keep our local economy in better shape.

Most of the stuff I get from Amazon, I cannot find locally in a desirable quality.

Last, by being involved in the Amazon Smile program, every order helps one of the nonprofit organizations in which I am involved.

 

[Fermion]

I'm not sure I understand the "I refuse to pay for" sentiment. Why do people who have been well paid for their services over the years refuse to pay others?

That one right there is kind of humorous. You will have a lawyer, engineer, or doctor who charges $150 to $400 an hour for their services balk at paying $99 a year to someone else.

(not saying all on here are lawyers, engineers, or doctors but you look at the net worth surveys and have to come away thinking ER.org is not made up of wal-mart employees).

 

[Koolau]

This is why I stopped paying extra for prime. It really wasn't two day shipping, unless you counted the actual days that it spent being shipped

It was easily 4 days as described above, the day ordered and delivered didn't count as days. Neither do Saturday or Sunday (Sunday I can see, but Saturday seems to be a busy delivery day for UPS, FEDEX, and USPS)

Actually, USPS now DOES deliver packages on Sunday. From what I understand, one of the reasons Amazon uses USPS is because of Sunday deliveries. YMMV

 

[CardsFan]

You got the shipping you paid for.

+1

OP: If you were satisfied with 10 day delivery when you ordered, why the rant on how long it took? (assuming it arrives today or tomorrow).

My experience with Amazon has been quite satisfactory. Things rarely arrive after the scheduled date, and usually several days early, BUT, how can I complain if they meet the commitment?

I suspect you are a victim of your locale. My guess would be that the NYC area has a high percentage of Prime users, and they get the priority because they paid for it. It would make sense if your order was given a "ship no later than date" in the Amazon system. Everything promised earlier was processed earlier, and yours was shipped on time.

As for paying for Prime, I personally don't buy enough to justify it. If I am buying on line, I just ASSUME it will take a while to get to me, so I better not need it right away.

 

[Fedup]

I still need to un prime my Amazon account. I buy very little and stuff I buy don't have to be delivered within a quick time frame.

 

[beanctr88]

We do not pay for Prime and many things that we buy still arrive in two to three days, even when they say when ordering that it will take a week or more. We generally order things that are not time sensitive to us, but we still seem to get them very quickly. We get good updates via email and text on the status and I don't feel like they have ever sat on or delayed an order.

 

[easysurfer]

I ordered something with Prime but is delayed a day or two.

The delivery status shows mechanical problem along the way (maybe the driver had a flat or something ). I had a time in the past where stuff got damaged during transport. Doesn't happen often, but happens.

 

[meierlde]

I ordered something with Prime but is delayed a day or two.

The delivery status shows mechanical problem along the way (maybe the driver had a flat or something ). I had a time in the past where stuff got damaged during transport. Doesn't happen often, but happens.

Once had an order delayed because I-20 between Chattanooga and Dallas was closed due to snow, you really can't blame Amazon for the weather (it turned out that airports in the TN/Ky area were also closed so air shipment would not work.