Amazon's Slow Free Super Shipping

[easysurfer]

I ordered a couple of things from Amazon using their Free Super Saver shipping (one item would have costed over $40 just for standard shipping). I ordered it on 3/4 and as of now, the items haven't even left their warehouse yet. What happened to Amazon's shipping? They used to be so fast, even with free shipping. Looking on the internet, it seems I'm not alone as other customers are irate about their new free shipping strategy.

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer I ordered a couple of things from Amazon using their Free Super Saver shipping (one item would have costed over $40 just for standard shipping). I ordered it on 3/4 and as of now, the items haven't even left their warehouse yet. What happened to Amazon's shipping? They used to be so fast, even with free shipping. Looking on the internet, it seems I'm not alone as other customers are irate about their new free shipping strategy.

This is Amazon's way of motivating you to subscribe to Amazon Prime, a yearly fee based service that ships more promptly and gives the impression you are getting 2 day delivery.

[bltkmt]

I can't tell if the abover is being sarcastic, but I am a big fan of Amazon Prime. $75 per year and free 2-day shipping. In many cases I get my items in one day. I use Amazon a lot, and find this to be a great deal (for me).

[ERD50]

It varies. I use the free shipping all but one time out of probably a hundred orders. Occasionally an item gets delayed, it's been rare.

I often get the product in 1, 2 or 3 days, very seldom does it take 4 or 5, almost never longer. I consider the $75 for Prime a waste. I rarely ever need anything faster than a few days, but of course, each person has to decide that for themselves.

Somewhere I posted suggestions - I won't go through the whole thing again, but basically - divide your orders up so each order just hits the $25 level. Many items ship from different warehouses, and they don't combine those orders, so one delay won't affect the rest. If they are separate orders, one delay won't affect the rest. But if an item is delayed in the same order and same warehouse, one delay will hold up the other items from that same order/warehouse. This is rare anyhow, but even rarer if you split the order.

-ERD50

[Lakedog]

I had never been willing to pay for Prime but this year a friend asked if I wanted to try it by sharing the cost -- I think the membership can be shared by up to five different accounts/email addresses so three of us split the cost of Amazon Prime. I do order more from Amazon than any other online merchant, and it has been nice to receive items in 1-3 days rather than a week or more.

The other nice thing about Prime is that you don't have to order $25 worth of stuff to get free shipping.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakedog I had never been willing to pay for Prime but this year a friend asked if I wanted to try it by sharing the cost -- I think the membership can be shared by up to five different accounts/email addresses so three of us split the cost of Amazon Prime. I do order more from Amazon than any other online merchant, and it has been nice to receive items in 1-3 days rather than a week or more. The other nice thing about Prime is that you don't have to order $25 worth of stuff to get free shipping.

It may be 'nice' to get it in 1-3 days ( I normally get it that fast anyhow), but I think it's 'nice' to have the $75 (or a share of that) in my wallet ever year.

Really, how often do you need it faster? For those rare times, I could pay the shipping and still be ahead. I keep a bunch of small $, non-time-sensitive stuff in my cart, and when I need to get over $25 I fill it out with one of those. Never been a problem for me.

-ERD50

[MichaelB]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bltkmt I can't tell if the abover is being sarcastic, but I am a big fan of Amazon Prime. $75 per year and free 2-day shipping. In many cases I get my items in one day. I use Amazon a lot, and find this to be a great deal (for me).

No sarcasm.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 It varies. I use the free shipping all but one time out of probably a hundred orders. Occasionally an item gets delayed, it's been rare. I often get the product in 1, 2 or 3 days, very seldom does it take 4 or 5, almost never longer.

That's my experience exactly.

[KB]

My son gets Amazon Prime for free because he is a college student and has a .edu email address. I just use the free shipping and have noticed that it takes a little longer these days.

[Sarah in SC]

I use only the free ship option and have found that with the exception of holiday time, it comes pretty quickly. But, I think they use the delaying tactic to get you to pay for shipping then.

[Lakedog]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 It may be 'nice' to get it in 1-3 days ( I normally get it that fast anyhow), but I think it's 'nice' to have the $75 (or a share of that) in my wallet ever year. Really, how often do you need it faster? For those rare times, I could pay the shipping and still be ahead. I keep a bunch of small $, non-time-sensitive stuff in my cart, and when I need to get over $25 I fill it out with one of those. Never been a problem for me. -ERD50

Sometimes I do need it faster but not that often. Not having to buy stuff I really don't need to get to $25 for free shipping is the best feature of Prime (for me). Sharing the cost is the only way I would even consider it (approx $26 this year).

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lakedog Sometimes I do need it faster but not that often. Not having to buy stuff I really don't need to get to $25 for free shipping is the best feature of Prime (for me). Sharing the cost is the only way I would even consider it (approx $26 this year).

But I never do that. I buy stuff that I want/need, but simply are not time critical. I could buy it today, next week, next month, or in six months, but it is something I would buy. Fill a cart or wish list or something with 5 or so of those items and just use as needed. And if you get to the point you do need them, just add them on. Some of them are items I replenish from time to time, so they are always there.

This might not work for everybody, I'm just pointing out that there are alternatives to paying for Prime that might work for many people.

A while back, they offered a free Prime trial. I signed up, ended up using it once for no reason at all. It made no difference to me if I got the product in 1 or 5 days. Cancelled before the free trial was up.

YMMV.

-ERD50

[easysurfer]

What get's me a little is that my order has been sitting waiting for shipping for the past 4 days and it's in a status of cannot change. So, if I wanted to cancel that, I can't even do that. I do understand the idea. It's like flying...do you do prefer to go coach and wait around with everyone else or pay for first class. Depends on what type of flyer you are.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer What get's me a little is that my order has been sitting waiting for shipping for the past 4 days and it's in a status of cannot change. So, if I wanted to cancel that, I can't even do that.

This happened to my niece - she ordered the wrong item, and then it was 'locked' so she could not cancel. She found the customer service page, called or emailed (not sure which, but I think phone), and they removed the lock for her.

-ERD50

[easysurfer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ERD50 This happened to my niece - she ordered the wrong item, and then it was 'locked' so she could not cancel. She found the customer service page, called or emailed (not sure which, but I think phone), and they removed the lock for her. -ERD50

Good to know. Nothing like good old human intervention.

I wasn't planning on canceling my order though. At least not yet.

[Martha]

I travel around a lot. It is important to know when to expect things that are shipped to me. So, I subscribed to Amazon Prime. I use Amazon quite a bit.

[GregLee]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer I ordered a couple of things from Amazon using their Free Super Saver shipping (one item would have costed over $40 just for standard shipping). I ordered it on 3/4 and as of now, the items haven't even left their warehouse yet. What happened to Amazon's shipping?

I use Free Super Saver shipping a lot, because (with just one previous exception) there have not been special shipping charges to Hawaii (which are elsewhere almost universal). But it does seem that there have been recent changes. I have 4 orders now waiting to be shipped, and the shipping estimate for one of them is May 16!

[ziggy29]

Quote:

Originally Posted by easysurfer Good to know. Nothing like good old human intervention.

At least as long as they still employ humans to answer the phones...

[calmloki]

My head keeps changing the post title: Amazon's Super Slow Free Shipping

[ziggy29]

Living more or less in the boonies (70 miles to the big city), we wind up using Amazon a lot for stuff we can't easily get nearby, to the point where Prime is pretty cost-effective per item purchased.