Amazon is *slow* without Prime

[easysurfer]

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.

This time, the delay is pretty much a non-issue for me as I'm not really in a rush for the item anyway. If the item was something like a computer part to repair something broken, I'd be climbing the walls and crying bloody murder .

 

[CRLLS]

Delays during the shipping process are sometimes unavoidable. I can't blame that on Amazon. Nor can I blame Amaxon for 3rd party shipments. But the issue as I have experienced it is Amazon intentionally delays starting the process if you aren't Prime so that it shows up at the latest possible date.

And talking about 3rd party vendors, I recently bought something thru Amazon.com from a 3rd party vendor. Then I received a notice that have confirmed the cancellation of my order. Huh? I didn't cancel anything. I checked Amazon and the order was already shipped and in transit. So I waited it out to see what would happen. A day later I got Amazon confirmation of the completed shipment and it was delivered "in or near the garage door". I checked outside and it was not there. So I checked the FedEx (or was it UPS) website and it was delivered to a place 2 states away! So I called Amazon and asked "What gives?" They told me they had identified the seller as a fraud and they cancelled the order and reversed my billing. I thank them for that but why didn't they say that in the email? Why, after cancelling the order, did it show up on their site as being delivered to my house? And why did the FedEx site say it was delivered someplace else? All I got back was the seller put in a valid tracking number but not one for my order. The Amazon system fills in the delivery info based on confirmation from FedEx and uses my Amazon ship-to address as the end point of delivery.

You'd think that as great a company as Amazon is, and I do like them, they would check and crosscheck delivery info, would send emails that communicated better the details of cancellation that occurred, and would not list a package as being delivered AFTER the order was cancelled. Nowhere on my order did it show that the order was cancelled at all, let alone, cancelled due to a fraudulent seller. I did get the bill reversed but that is a different issue.

 

[Peter]

I just had a similar experience. In my case it was a USPS shipment. I didn't bother contacting Amazon, since I had my refund and simply ordered the item again from a different vendor.

 

[ERD50]

Wait, I'm confused.

OP, when you placed the order, did it say 10 day delivery, and you accepted it? Reading between the lines, that seems to be the case (you didn't say they missed their delivery date - unless I missed you saying that). And if that's the case, how can you complain? They are delivering it as promised.

Why would it sit for days until shipping? Who knows? But that's Amazon's business. If they promised 10 days, and you get it, their inside baseball is not our concern. I've never been in charge of a massive warehouse, but I could imagine all sorts of possibilities.

If you didn't like the 10 day delivery offer, you should not have accepted it (if that's the case here).

I got a prime membership ... We saved $150 shipping charges on the computer parts alone. ...

You only saved $150 if you really would not accept the regular, typical 3-10 day shipping w/o Prime (typical for me at least). For me personally, I rarely need/want it faster than regular shipping. I figure if I did want it faster a few times a year, it would be cheaper for me to just pay on a case by case basis.

I think they may ship via the same fast methods regardless of which shipping is selected. They just delay the day it ships. I think this is to tease the buyer into joining Prime. ....

Then how do you explain my history:

I DO NOT have Prime, and my 8 shipments (7 orders, one got split) this year are as follows:

Counted as Delivered Day minus Order Day (So order anytime June 01, delivered June 10 = 9 days)

8, 6, 10, 3, 6, 9, 5, and 8 days ...

Compared to the Prime people saying it is often 4 days when you include the day of order and day of delivery.

-ERD50

 

[broadway]

Delays during the shipping process are sometimes unavoidable. I can't blame that on Amazon. Nor can I blame Amaxon for 3rd party shipments. But the issue as I have experienced it is Amazon intentionally delays starting the process if you aren't Prime so that it shows up at the latest possible date.

THIS ^^^^


I know they intentionally delayed.

 

[broadway]

Wait, I'm confused.

OP, when you placed the order, did it say 10 day delivery, and you accepted it? Reading between the lines, that seems to be the case (you didn't say they missed their delivery date - unless I missed you saying that). And if that's the case, how can you complain? They are delivering it as promised.

You are not understanding the point.
Note the subject line ----> Amazon is *slow* without Prime

I know that I accepted the 10 days.

And now I know why it is 10 days from a warehouse in NJ to a home in Staten Island just across the Hudson River.

They intentionally delay the shipment to make the delivery time look bad when it should not have been. All to force me to pay for Prime. Where I live I don't need to pay for Prime to get delivery that is fairly quick. The reason it isn't is because of deliberate footdragging by Amazon. I find that unethical.

You want to know how fast it can be, if Amazon was ethical?

I bought something from Boxed.com on Monday morning about 9 am 6/12.
It was shipped from their NJ warehouse at 8:24 pm 6/12.
The box was on my front door at 11:35 am 6/13 next day.
Free shipping because the order was over $50.
UPS.

How about another example?
Walmart.com
Order placed 10:06 pm Thursday 6/15.
2-day delivery from a warehouse in NJ
Order arrived on doorsteps 12:13 pm Saturday 6/17
$5.99 shipping because there was no option for free pick-up at the store.
Fedex Home.

 

[ERD50]

You are not understanding the point.

I know that I accepted the 10 days.

And now I know why it is 10 days from a warehouse in NJ to a home in Staten Island just across the Hudson River.

They intentionally delay the shipment to make the delivery time look bad when it should not have been. All to force me to pay for Prime. ....

It's beyond me how you can know their intent.

How about this? Maybe they knew they were backed up in their warehouse, more orders than worker hours committed, so they made sure they didn't over-promise on the delivery.

I'm much better accepting a 10 day delivery, than a 5 day promise that turns into 10 days and excuses.

Now sure, if that was the case, they would have prioritized the Prime shipments, that's part of what people are paying for. But if they promise 10 days, and I don't like it, I should either pay for faster shipping, or try another seller.

I really can't understand complaining when you got what they promised.

-ERD50

 

[broadway]

It's beyond me how you can know their intent.

How about this? Maybe they knew they were backed up in their warehouse, more orders than worker hours committed, so they made sure they didn't over-promise on the delivery.

I'm much better accepting a 10 day delivery, than a 5 day promise that turns into 10 days and excuses.

Now sure, if that was the case, they would have prioritized the Prime shipments, that's part of what people are paying for. But if they promise 10 days, and I don't like it, I should either pay for faster shipping, or try another seller.

I really can't understand complaining when you got what they promised.

-ERD50

Again you are missing my point.

And I don't believe your rationale for Amazon's behavior.

And yes I won't be using Amazon unless necessary.

 

[Cobra9777]

I think it's entirely plausible that they continuously prioritize Prime until they *have* to process non-Prime to meet their delivery commit. There is nothing even remotely unethical about that. Additionally, I do not believe they would quote a non-competitive delivery commit as a strategy to promote Prime. They would more likely lose that customer to the competitor than convert them to Prime. If they quoted 10 days, it's either because they had legitimate logistical reasons or 10 days is the norm for that item on other sites. Yes, they want to to promote Prime, but they still have to compete with other online sellers for their non-Prime business, which is still huge.

 

[broadway]

I think Amazon doesn't care about the non-Prime customer.
That's what I think.
Once the people are addicted to Prime, they are locked in. They don't realize that maybe the competitors have caught up.
So, the Prime people are locked in.
Then, as a two-prong approach, Amazon slows down the delivery to non-Prime to force them to Prime.
These non-Prime people don't compare, because they don't realize that Amazon is playing this game with their orders.
Many like you wouldn't think that Amazon would deliberately do this.
These non-Prime people keep hearing how quick Prime delivery is.
So, some of these non-Prime people switch.

But to me the reality is that for people who live near an Amazon warehouse, they really don't need Prime if Amazon did not plays games by deliberately sitting on orders for 5 business days.

 

[tinlizzy]

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

Amazon packages are the ONLY packages the USPS deliver on Sunday afaik.

 

[mf15]

I'am convinced it is deliberate, a few years ago it was not this way.
The slow none prime shipping even happens when you actually pay for shipping,
as opposed to free shipping.
Ordered my AVR from Costco, got it the next day.
Just got a coffee maker from Amazon took a week.
Old Mike

 

[meierlde]

I'am convinced it is deliberate, a few years ago it was not this way.
The slow none prime shipping even happens when you actually pay for shipping,
as opposed to free shipping.
Ordered my AVR from Costco, got it the next day.
Just got a coffee maker from Amazon took a week.
Old Mike

What type of shipping did they promise on the email? If they met their promise you have nothing to complain about.

 

[broadway]

What type of shipping did they promise on the email? If they met their promise you have nothing to complain about.

You people are still not getting it.

We are not talking about meeting a promise are we?

We are talking about deliberately slowing down shipment to make it look like unless we buy Prime, shipping will always be SLOW.

If people bother to buy from other online merchants they will see this deliberate foot dragging as a LIE.

It is especially quite obvious if you have been buying from Amazon a long time.

 

[broadway]

I'am convinced it is deliberate, a few years ago it was not this way.
The slow none prime shipping even happens when you actually pay for shipping,
as opposed to free shipping.
Ordered my AVR from Costco, got it the next day.
Just got a coffee maker from Amazon took a week.
Old Mike

I have been buying from Amazon since I moved to NJ in 2000.
At that time the closest warehouse was in Delaware.

Anyway, I wrote to Jeff Besos telling him I know what Amazon is doing, and that I will not buy from them unless I have no other choice.

 

[audreyh1]

You people are still not getting it.

We are not talking about meeting a promise are we?

We are talking about deliberately slowing down shipment to make it look like unless we buy Prime, shipping will always be SLOW.

If people bother to buy from other online merchants they will see this deliberate foot dragging as a LIE.

It is especially quite obvious if you have been buying from Amazon a long time.

No, I honestly don't get your beef.

You've attributed motives to Amazon for changes in your non-Prime shipping times. I don't get your upset since Amazon is under no obligation to you other than delivering what you buy when they say they will. I think there are lots of possible explanations for the recent changes in shipping times - sheer volume being one of them, and possibly way more Prime customers competing for shipping bandwidth.

Just buy from whomever you prefer.

 

[broadway]

No, I honestly don't get your beef.

You've attributed motives to Amazon for changes in your non-Prime shipping times. I don't get your upset since Amazon is under no obligation to you other than delivering what you buy when they say they will. I think there are lots of possible explanations for the recent changes in shipping times - sheer volume being one of them, and possibly way more Prime customers competing for shipping bandwidth.

Just buy from whomever you prefer.

I think people drink the Amazon Kool-aid and refuse to see.

And I did say I was going to be elsewhere if I could, and I have since 1 book and 2 gift cards is way less than what I used to buy before from them.

 

[audreyh1]

I think people drink the Amazon Kool-aid and refuse to see.

And I did say I was going to be elsewhere if I could, and I have since 1 book and 2 gift cards is way less than what I used to buy before from them.

Yes, you've made it clear that you think we Amazon Prime members are being duped. You are basically insulting our intelligence. I, personally, don't understand why you attribute "kool-aid drinking" to the majority of Prime members and are so upset over it.

I think it's just a difference of opinion and buying style. You've made it clear that you don't like to pay for annual subscriptions/memberships from vendors. Just because these don't appeal to you, doesn't mean they aren't perfectly reasonable choices for other buyers.

We buy from many vendors and always pay attention to price and shipping times and compare across multiple vendors. We are in no way "locked in".

 

[Bestwifeever]

Even if evil Amazon is plotting to "force" non-Primers to drink the Prime Koolaid, so what? They are a business and allowed to try to make money however they can. The non-Primers can congratulate themselves for being supersmart and not falling for it and getting the albeit slow free shipping they get, and the Koolaid drinkers can be the dupes with what thry consider is a reasonable fee that includes many benefits besides free shipping. Win-win!

 

[broadway]

Yes, you've made it clear that you think we Amazon Prime members are being duped. You are basically insulting our intelligence. I, personally, don't understand why you attribute "kool-aid drinking" to the majority of Prime members and are so upset over it.

What makes me upset is that Amazon thinks that I am as easily duped as the Prime members.

Why am I insulting your intelligence?
You may not live with an hour of 3 Amazon warehouses as I do.
The only reason this order took 9 calendar days was foot dragging.

This order has been an eye-opener.
That you choose not think it is significant is your right.

 

[broadway]

Even if evil Amazon is plotting to "force" non-Primers to drink the Prime Koolaid, so what? They are a business and allowed to try to make money however they can.

Who said they aren't allowed to do this?
I don't agree with it, and I refuse to buy from them.
And I am bringing this to the attention to as many people as I can.
So that they can be smarter consumers.

Why does bringing up this issue of deliberate foot dragging by Amazon make Prime members upset?
YOU should be asking yourself that!

 

[audreyh1]

What makes me upset is that Amazon thinks that I am as easily duped as the Prime members.

Why am I insulting your intelligence?

Your declaration that we are easily duped and have been duped in paying for Amazon Prime.

OK - you are upset because you feel like Amazon is trying to manipulate you.

 

[broadway]

Your declaration that we are easily duped and have been duped in paying for Amazon Prime.

OK - you are upset because you feel like Amazon is trying to manipulate you.

Oh, yeah, Amazon is trying to manipulate its customers.
You condone it.
I don't.

Just as with Google, Amazon has plenty of data to show it how to take advantage of our weaknesses.
Amazon is not benign.
And I think we are fools if we believe that they are not trying to manipulate us.

With this latest order I want to shout to Amazon - I am not an idiot. I know what you are doing.
And my email to Jeff Besos said as much.

 

[Bestwifeever]

If you really wanted to get back at Amazon you should continue to make them give you the free shipping even though it's slow.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh, yeah, Amazon is trying to manipulate its customers.
You condone it.
I don't.

Just as with Google, Amazon has plenty of data to show it how to take advantage of our weaknesses.
Amazon is not benign.
And I think we are fools if we believe that they are not trying to manipulate us.

With this latest order I want to shout to Amazon - I am not an idiot. I know what you are doing.
And my email to Jeff Besos said as much.

I simply don't agree that there is any particularly nefarious manipulation going on, so there is nothing evil that I am "condoning" as a customer. I see a business offering incentives, not evil-minded manipulation. That's what businesses do to gain and maintain customers, and I don't see Amazon as being "worse" than other businesses in this respect. You may think I'm blind, but again I don't agree. This is a difference of opinion, nothing more.

Of course Amazon offers incentives for Amazon Prime membership, that's why we sign up for it. We perceive a value proposition. Whether Prime membership is a good value for any customer totally depends on their buying habits and other Prime benefits that the customer may value. I think most customers are perfectly capable of looking at the cost/reward tradeoff and making a reasonable choice for themselves.

No company is completely benign. Neither is capitalism.