aja8888
Moderator Emeritus
And my email to Jeff Besos said as much.
So how did that work out for you?
And my email to Jeff Besos said as much.
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!
So how did that work out for you?
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.
Don't know.
He'll probably ignore it.
His email address is jeff@amazon.comHe might read it if you spell his name right.
What makes you think customers aren't also ordering from someone else? And routinely check prices from other vendors as well as shipping times?How can a customer determine whether Prime is a "good" value when Amazon deliberately makes it appear to the customer that the other choice is not a "good" value?
Non-Prime = 9 calendar days because of Amazon deliberate foot-dragging.
Prime = 2 calendars days
reality = 2 calendar days only the customer doesn't know it because my order from Boxed.com and Walmart.com proves it
For me in NJ, Prime simply isn't necessary. But Amazon manipulates the shipment delay to make it appear that it is.
Plain and simple.
I am going to buy from Walmart.com with the 2-day free shipping for $35 and actually get the order within 2 days + order day.
I find this defense of Amazon's actions very troubling.
It's like "see no evil, hear no evil".
Completely disregard the data.
Amazon has rigged the shipment system.
The customer isn't seeing the truth unless they order from someone else.
For someone on the east coast near an Amazon warehouse, they need to re-calibrate!!!!
What makes you think customers aren't also ordering from someone else? And routinely check prices from other vendors as well as shipping times?
I don't understand why you think customers can't determine good value.
Completely disregard the data? What you are providing is anecdotal, not the whole data.
I order from other vendors all the time. Other vendors offer free shipping, sometimes fast, so if the total cost is better and the time acceptable and I trust the vendor, I'll order from them.Why would you as a Prime customer order from someone else?
You are enamored of your fast free shipping.
And again, the data is tainted when it comes to Amazon, unless the customers order recently from someone else, they won't know what is the new reality when it comes to shipment times.
Note: at no time in this discussion entire discussion am I talking about price of items ordered.
I have always been talking about the lengthy shipment time (6 business days for preparing shipment + 1 day shipment in my recent order) without Prime.
I order from other vendors all the time. Other vendors offer free shipping, sometimes fast, so if the total cost including shipping is better and the time acceptable and I trust the vendor, I'll order from them.
So your premise that Prime members won't order from anyone else because they are "enamored" is false.
Easy. We order so much online that we easily make back that $99 which I consider a "convenience fee".People do what they are most comfortable with.
Why would you pay $99/year and buy from someone else?
Easy. We order so much online that we easily make back that $99 which I consider a "convenience fee".
These days I get a lot more for that $99 - we watch a lot of Amazon Video shows, I get 5% cash back on everything I buy through Amazon, 2% of that is because I'm a Prime member, I read the occasional free Kindle book.
We don't feel any obligation to only buy from Amazon in spite of being Prime members. We know we easily buy enough each year to justify it even though we only buy from Amazon when the total price is right. It still often is.
And if that ever changes, and if we no longer value the other Prime perks, we'll drop our Prime membership like a hot potato.
I order from other vendors all the time. Other vendors offer free shipping, sometimes fast, so if the total cost is better and the time acceptable and I trust the vendor, I'll order from them.
So your premise that Prime members won't order from anyone else because they are "enamored" is false.
And I don't have Prime, and I do exactly as you say. Check prices (including shipping to determine total cost), check promised delivery time. Order.
I dispute the claim that Amazon sits on shipments of non-Prime orders to encourage Prime subscriptions (though the would be expected to prioritize Prime over non-Prime). There is no way to determine the reasons from the data.
Regardless, they publish the delivery date, if you don't like it, don't order from them. What the heck is the big deal?
OP is not making any sense.
Am I sensing a trend here? OP complains about something, no one really sees the issue:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/argh-basketball-next-doors-86735.html
Kids, playing basketball in their own yard, during daylight hours - Oh, the humanity!
A company delivers a product in the time they promised - Oh, the humanity!
-ERD50
I'm not taking your posts personally. I'm disagreeing with you about your thinking that Amazon Prime members don't comparison shop because they are somehow blind or enamored by "free" fast shipping (that they have essentially paid ahead for). Or that they only consider Amazon shipping times, and not shipping times from other vendors.If that is the case, then why are you taking my posts about this matter so personally?
This post is about the shipment delay manipulation by Amazon. Period.
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.
I don't think you have any idea what was going on during those "preparing for shipment" days. You just think it was deliberate footdragging, but that's only an assumption.
Bottom line is that you were told the expected delivery time, you accepted that, and then you decided to complain about it based on a possibly spurious assumption.
I'm not taking your posts personally. I'm disagreeing with you about your thinking that Amazon Prime members don't comparison shop because they are somehow blind or enamored by "free" fast shipping (that they have essentially paid ahead for). Or that they only consider Amazon shipping times, and not shipping times from other vendors.
Yes, you've made it clear that you think we Amazon Prime members are being duped. You are basically insulting our intelligence.
What I am referring to --- >
I do think your general characterization of Prime members as foolish/blind dupes is incorrect, so I spoke up to disagree.
I'm sure Mr. Bezos will see the error of his ways when he reads this thread.
I doubt most people here are taking a random anonymous poster personally but someone seems to be . I think some tried to help make sense if whatever issue the OP is having with Amazon, which I thought I understood but now I don't.
And, yet again, you are missing my point or deliberately choosing to ignore my point.
Prioritizing Prime shipments is one thing.
6 business days "preparing for shipment" is quite another.
You believe that the shipment time is not being manipulated.
I believe they are.
Too bad you feel that my posts are irrelevant.
What difference does it make? I don't care if the 10 day delivery date from a company is because they are trying to push me to pay for faster shipping, or it is because it actually takes them that much time to deliver it. 10 days is 10 days. As long as they keep their promise.
I am sorry you are still confused.
I can't help that you find my timeline of this delivery delay manipulation by Amazon difficult to understand.
The simple fact of the matter is either you believe that Amazon would sit on an order for 6 business days before shipping it out or not. I do, because I saw it happen to the order I made.