What the hell has happened to Amazon

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

We have placed between 142 and 170 orders per year since 2011.  What has changed in recent years is we have been placing smaller orders for simpler things (books, order again items, etc.).  I simply don't trust them for more significant purchases, at least not like I used to, and I'm thinking more and more that they aren't good for our country.  My kids will find things like higher-end athletic shoes in the stores and want to buy them for less on Amazon.  I try to teach them not to take advantage of someone's expertise, then deprive them of their livelihood just to save $20.  However, I generally order books from Amazon because book store employees rarely know anything about the books they are selling while I've always found Amazon book reviews to be reliable.

This was my first Amazon purchase back on September 23, 2004:

[Anastasis 23,482]

My first order. 

The Sky Is Crying

Stevie Ray Vaughan

Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc

Return window closed on Dec 11, 1998

$12.99

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

You were a head on the curb.

[Anastasis 23,482]

Just now, ImissWallyPryor said:

You were a head on the curb.

I feel like curb stomping myself for not recognizing the potential back then. 

[cmontexas 3,279]

Great song though 

[RPM 26,351]

If you order stuff from Amazon, be sure to log in through Amazon Smile. A portion of your purchase goes to the charity of your choice. I chose the Texas Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. This year I donated $16. It's not much, but it's more than nothing. If everyone signed up it starts to add up.

[Hefeweizen 5,331]

 

The Black Company

Glen Cook

Sold by: Amazon.com Services, Inc

Return window closed on Oct 3, 1998

$4.79

 

What a buy!  One of my favorite books.  I stick to prime items, no marketplace purchases unless I know the seller is legit.  There are a lot of scams on there now.

[Sandman 3,412]

8 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

Amazon’s search feature sucks. 

I get so enraged when I'm typing in the search bar and the auto-fill options show the EXACT thing I'm looking for, yet the product isn't available on amazon at all. 

My main issue isn't with shipping or things being late (although that's happened a few times), it's that they just don't seem to have what I want anymore, or the price is more than I want to pay. We used to order several items a month, now it's a handful per year.

[PilotsError 2,320]

13 hours ago, Dewey said:

They are at odds with FedEx fwiw, apparently amazon is not happy with their lackluster service. 

 

I know people are complaining about FedEx, but Amazon's new delivery service sucks.  I have columns on my porch and FedEx would always put the packages behind them so they couldn't be seen from the street.  These idiot fucks now driving for Amazon REFUSE to do so and leave them right in the center.  Not just us, but every house.  It's infuriating.

Also, the stupid answers to questions is completely on Amazon.  It's not clear at all in the emails it's going on the site.  Sometimes they'll ask a question about the product and give multiple choice.  One of the answers is I Don't Know, and you might click on one of them thinking it's just a quality control survey, and then you click I don't know and it publishes under the fucking question.  Idiots.

[Lat22 4,015]

Damn.  I have 167 orders this year.  No problems that I can think of. They deliver some of my shit on the same day for crying out loud.

[woohorn 1,131]

Ha. I never knew about the emails with the product q&as. That explains a lot.

[XYZ 2,154]

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

16 minutes ago, Lat22 said:

Damn.  I have 167 orders this year.  No problems that I can think of. They deliver some of my shit on the same day for crying out loud.

I don’t think the problem is the timing, and amazon has even gotten even faster recently as they keep building more and more local warehouse space.  The problem is that a fair amount of amazon products are poor quality and the website is becoming more difficult to find useful info.

amazon has squeezed so much money out of the logistics that the only remaining area that can create more profit is lower quality. When amazon used to purchase 100% of what they sold, the quality was higher. Now they’re a glorified flea market in many cases.  And I believe that amazon looks the other way about counterfeiting.

[Dbeasy 15,089]

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

I order one tic tac breath freshener every three days.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,977]

26 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

 

I know people are complaining about FedEx, but Amazon's new delivery service sucks.  I have columns on my porch and FedEx would always put the packages behind them so they couldn't be seen from the street.  These idiot fucks now driving for Amazon REFUSE to do so and leave them right in the center.  Not just us, but every house.  It's infuriating.

Our house has a picket fence that surrounds the house and yard with our driveway and carport outside said fence. There is a pretty awesome catahoula that lives inside the fenced off area. She is very protective of our family. Almost too protective. She is also pretty young and likes to chew on anything she can. Delivery drivers seem to think it is a good idea to leave packages inside the fence where she can destroy them.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

21 minutes ago, XYZ said:

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

Condoms. Don’t know where your mom has been. 

[Homercles 10,206]

41 minutes ago, PilotsError said:

 

I know people are complaining about FedEx, but Amazon's new delivery service sucks.  I have columns on my porch and FedEx would always put the packages behind them so they couldn't be seen from the street.  These idiot fucks now driving for Amazon REFUSE to do so and leave them right in the center.  Not just us, but every house.  It's infuriating.

Also, the stupid answers to questions is completely on Amazon.  It's not clear at all in the emails it's going on the site.  Sometimes they'll ask a question about the product and give multiple choice.  One of the answers is I Don't Know, and you might click on one of them thinking it's just a quality control survey, and then you click I don't know and it publishes under the fucking question.  Idiots.

Them and USPS 

[CooterBrown 18,027]

Jus looked and my first order was on 2/9/99 and I ordered Microstation 95 Quick Reference and Inside Microstation 95.

[hullabelew 3,724]

WSJ has been giving them shit for awhile now, mostly about how they deal (or don't deal) with 3rd party sellers.  This is just one of the recent articles.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site-the-result-thousands-of-banned-unsafe-or-mislabeled-products-11566564990

 

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

2 hours ago, RPM said:

If you order stuff from Amazon, be sure to log in through Amazon Smile. A portion of your purchase goes to the charity of your choice. I chose the Texas Scottish Rite Children's Hospital. This year I donated $16. It's not much, but it's more than nothing. If everyone signed up it starts to add up.

I’ve been donating to Wounded Warriors Project for several years. I contacted Amazon a couple of years ago to see if their phone app would allow purchases to go toward Amazon Smile, and they said no. Do you know if that has changed?

[Texas_Rocks 347]

We order quite a bit from Amazon and haven’t really had any problems. We’ve saved so much money that we don’t know what to do with all of it. Life changing. But seriously, ordered a pump motor and some DE filters for the pool at far less than half the cost of what local sellers were asking. Both items arrived a day earlier than anticipated.

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

1 hour ago, XYZ said:

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

About 60% nutritional supplements and books this year. I buy a few things I can’t easily find (since Radio Shack closed) like the new needle and belt for my old Pioneer turntable. I try to buy name brands on Prime. Chinese knockoffs are everywhere, and I can actually inspect them.

Family members can see my Wish List (no used butt plugs) for gift ideas. I always tell them I don’t necessarily intend to buy them from Amazon, but I suspect Amazon gets the sale by default.

I shop WalMart.com more and more. I compare them with Amazon to see which site has the better price. They’re not much better for America, I know. 

Edited December 19, 2019 by ImissWallyPryor

[Capn81 373]

My only issue with Amazon is when they show a Sunday delivery. Things are never delivered to my location on Sunday, because they always “miss” me when trying to deliver. I am always home during their delivery times on Sunday.

Other than that I have yet to have an issue, and when I did, they instantly made it right.

[ImissWallyPryor 9,046]

Supplements are one of the sketchier categories to buy from Amazon. Most of the reviews get Ds and Fs on Fake Spot. We try to buy name brands like Swanson because I know where it’s made (North Dakota). I may start ordering directly from them. 
 

Last month, I order red yeast rice that comes in a white bottle (not Swanson). I received some shit I’ve even never heard of that came in a green bottle. For some damn reason, Amazon had slapped their own label saying red yeast rice over the other product label. I notified them, and they made me return it to get my refund, so one of you probably ended up with it. I no longer buy red yeast rice from Amazon.

[huge 3,795]

Ok what is the best 6 foot charging cable for iPhone?  That is the one thing I keep screwing up with Amazon.  They usually work for about 2 months.

[Apep 645]

This past year has been one of the few I've gone over 100 orders on Amazon. This holiday season, most deliveries have arrived early or no later than on-time. Earlier in the year, there were a few problems with stuff showing up late or getting "lost" for a couple of days, but the Amazon delivery drivers have gotten much better delivering packages. I did have one problem this year, a package that never arrived, but I could not get a refund through normal processes. And yes, it was one of those prime, "guaranteed two-day delivery" items. After ordering, it got bumped to two weeks and would have been delivered while I was on vacation. So I try to cancel the order, which kicked off a multi-week process with one of the most helpful support people ever. Seriously. Amazon's support people have been amazing.

I tend to order Amazon- or name-brand nutritional supplements, clothing, small electronics, hard-to-find, non-perishable foodstuffs, and small tools from Amazon. I try to make fewer, larger orders and use their once-a-week delivery day.

[Apep 645]

1 minute ago, huge said:

Ok what is the best 6 foot charging cable for iPhone?  That is the one thing I keep screwing up with Amazon.  They usually work for about 2 months.

I use braided nylon cables from AmazonBasics. They'll last at least a couple of years for me. My son runs through them in a few months.

[Liquor and Poker 3,659]

1 hour ago, Homercles said:

Them and USPS 

 

2 hours ago, PilotsError said:

 

I know people are complaining about FedEx, but Amazon's new delivery service sucks.  I have columns on my porch and FedEx would always put the packages behind them so they couldn't be seen from the street.  These idiot fucks now driving for Amazon REFUSE to do so and leave them right in the center.  Not just us, but every house.  It's infuriating.

Also, the stupid answers to questions is completely on Amazon.  It's not clear at all in the emails it's going on the site.  Sometimes they'll ask a question about the product and give multiple choice.  One of the answers is I Don't Know, and you might click on one of them thinking it's just a quality control survey, and then you click I don't know and it publishes under the fucking question.  Idiots.

After seeing the deep commitment and care that you get from the folks who deliver for Amazon, I can't imagine why anyone would sign up for that Key service where they have unfettered access to your garage.

[MissingInAction 25,178]

Have you tried not being poor?

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4,977]

2 hours ago, XYZ said:

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

If you live outside of town it makes mosmre sense to order something with free delivery than to drive into town and buy it unless you need it that same day.

[El Diablo 4,232]

Has anyone considered that maybe the fires are impacting the Amazon service?

[clapclapclap 9,000]

Last time I ordered Amazon they instead delivered a 4' 10" Squatemalan.

Edited December 19, 2019 by clapclapclap
Did get a refund

[Brisketexan 105,309]

16 hours ago, CleverNickname said:

The chinese seller crap has definitely increased noticeably. 

 

16 hours ago, Dbeasy said:

Chinese products have shot thru the roof and it sucks because the reviews are all fake.

 

14 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Other than weeding through all the Chinese shit becoming a chore, it’s still been good for me. I probably order from Amazon a hundred times per year.

I kinda get the Chinese thing though. You might as well private label all the shit you’re already manufacturing for other brands and sell it direct to consumers for more profit. At least they make easy to identify by always picking a made up word as the brand name.

 

14 hours ago, tx 3 putt said:

too much chinese crap

 

2 hours ago, hullabelew said:

WSJ has been giving them shit for awhile now, mostly about how they deal (or don't deal) with 3rd party sellers.  This is just one of the recent articles.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/amazon-has-ceded-control-of-its-site-the-result-thousands-of-banned-unsafe-or-mislabeled-products-11566564990

 

Yeah....glad I'm not the only one bothered by the absolute avalanche of chinese shit, and finding it overwhelming.  I mean, it creates so much "noise" in a search that you have to hunt out the legit products buried over several pages.

I first spotted it when looking for a particular color of wool coat for my daughter last year.  I'd looked for it on websites like Nordstrom and Macy's, so I knew I was looking for something that would probably be around $120-150.  I looked on Amazon, and there were dozens of different styles....for $40-80.  Every one was a shitty chinese knockoff, probably made of completely flammable material doused in kerosene and dioxin.

I remember back in the days of brick-and-mortar retail, stores getting slammed for stocking a shitty or dangerous product line.  While Amazon is getting SOME attention for this, it's not nearly enough.  I wonder if, at some point, the sheer number of shitty chinese goods will simply make Amazon unusable (for a good number of products, it already is for me), costing them users/sales.  These days, for many things, I do a Google search for the item, click the "shopping" tab, and it shows me products from a variety of sellers.  Then, I click on a seller I trust -- LL Bean, Cabelas, etc. (I shop for a lot of outdoors gear).  I've pretty much stopped using Amazon for that sort of stuff, because 98% of the products that pop up are garbage, and it is a pain sorting through them all to try to find the reputable one.

Edited December 19, 2019 by Brisketexan

[RomaVicta 30,008]

17 hours ago, TornACL said:

So what you guys are trying to tell me is that Amazon personally hates me? 

It doesn't stop with Amazon.

It's everybody.

[Doc Reeves 6,434]

3 hours ago, XYZ said:

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

You mean besides all the BDSM stuff? 
 

Quite a few computer water cooling components, computer cables/fans/radiators/led shit. got some swim stuff and toys for the babies this summer. had to get a good assortment of camping stuff and beach stuff too for the 4th. Some diapers, paper towels, wipes, hard to find shampoo and conditioner. Halloween makeup and a costume, replacement Xbox controller batteries, fancy salt, oils and dried bush cut oregano from Sardinia.

[jkates 316]

18 hours ago, TornACL said:

So what you guys are trying to tell me is that Amazon personally hates me? 

This shouldn't surprise you.

[orange dream 1,256]

767 orders so far this year.  Up from 657 last year.  Yeah, we may have a problem.

The Chinese knockoff stuff is an issue but usually not that difficult to spot.

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

2 hours ago, huge said:

Ok what is the best 6 foot charging cable for iPhone?  That is the one thing I keep screwing up with Amazon.  They usually work for about 2 months.

I bought amazonbasics cable for my office years ago that still works.  I probably roll over it in my chair or step on it 2 or 3 times a day.  Now the rest of my family wife + 3 kids have probably gone through 10+ cables in that time span.  I have no idea what they are doing to them.

[Gene Parmesan 4,014]

4 hours ago, XYZ said:

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

Pretty much anything except food/groceries and clothes.  Anything around the house that isn't in one of those categories, I'd be just as likely to buy it from amazon vs whatever store.  

[TwiceHorn 31,534]

4 hours ago, ImissWallyPryor said:

I’ve been donating to Wounded Warriors Project for several years. I contacted Amazon a couple of years ago to see if their phone app would allow purchases to go toward Amazon Smile, and they said no. Do you know if that has changed?

Yes you can change it in settings.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

4 hours ago, orange dream said:

767 orders so far this year.  Up from 657 last year.  Yeah, we may have a problem.

The Chinese knockoff stuff is an issue but usually not that difficult to spot.

you're placing more than 2 orders per day? Hopefully you're buying this for business purposes. I can't imagine that people need that many new things every day.

[Errestaurants 2,570]

23 hours ago, TornACL said:

From 2016-2018 I would consider myself as a heavy Amazon user. One stop source for everything, with solid dependability and no issues getting problems resolved in the rare occurrence that something went haywire.

This year I'm probably down to only 3-4 orders total via Amazon all year. Starting late last year, it seemed like everything went to shit and my experiences using Amazon became consistently terrible. I had a couple of orders that sat pending for two days and then canceled because out of stock, I had another delivery go "missing" (not porch pirated, never showed as picked up by FedEx for delivery).  Meanwhile, half the shit listed on there is terrible Chinese knockoff shit, with clearly juiced review pages saying things like "This phone chargers was great thing to happened in my life." 

Sure you can filter for Amazon Prime only, and that eliminates some of the clear scam sellers, but even then I wish there was a further filter option for "Not Knockoff Bullshit"

Sunday, I ordered a gift for a friend's kid. Traveling all week for work, I check for status to see when it will arrive, and it still hasn't shipped three days later. Oh but estimated delivery date is tonight. I guess it's going to be one of those fucking time traveling package that will ship tomorrow but will somehow arrive tonight. Waiting three days for something you ordered online to ship used to be commonplace with online shopping before Amazon came along and spoiled us all. Now they seem to be just another online retailer. I'm not sure how that's going to play in the marketplace, because speed, accuracy, and dependability was a key distinguisher for Amazon. Variety used to also be a key distinguisher, but what's the point when you have to wade through 5000 listings of bullshit to find something legit, and then it never ships on time anyway.

Is anyone else experiencing systemic problems using Amazon?  I know it's the holidays, and that puts strain on the supply chain, but fuck that -- they know Xmas is coming, a supposedly brilliant logistics company should have this shit down pat by now. Also this thread is strictly about Amazon's performance so please keep your Cloak Room Bezos Washington Post Bezos hot takes!!111! up your ass where they belong.

Have you sent them a Sternly Worded Letter? Maybe cut out and glue letters from old magazines. that will get Bezos attention. trust me.

[Bevo 13,598]

35 minutes ago, Errestaurants said:

Have you sent them a Sternly Worded Letter? Maybe cut out and glue letters from old magazines. that will get Bezos attention. trust me.

Id go with sex his ex wife

[Deej 76,903]

My first ever Amazon order in 2007.

 

[TornACL 7,722]

7 minutes ago, Bevo said:

Id go with sex his ex wife

Yes. Bezos, you fucked my order so I fucked your ex wife. And like your cheap knockoff products it was bad and didn't last very long. 

[orange dream 1,256]

16 hours ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

you're placing more than 2 orders per day? Hopefully you're buying this for business purposes. I can't imagine that people need that many new things every day.

Not business.  This includes books (kindle and audible), music, monthly channel subscriptions, as well as everything from vitamins to coffee to clothes/shoes, toys, almost all Christmas / birthdays, etc.  We have prime so we don't pay for shipping and as a result if we need something we order it and have it shipped as opposed to consolidating orders. It's probably at least an order every other day and then some significant spikes around the beginning of each month (subscription items) and Christmas / Birthdays.

Having said all that, it is a LOT of orders.  Here is a picture of our house on a Porch Pirate map...

Also, this appears to be our first ever order on Amazon (December 17, 2005)

 

Edited December 20, 2019 by orange dream

[Nice Guy Eddie 13,523]

timely article about being buying counterfeit child car seats, on Amazon, that easily shatter.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/20/tech/amazon-fake-kids-products/index.html

Quote

Amiad Raviv, the commercial manager of Doona, said the company has found more than 40 Amazon listings this year that contained fake versions of its products or versions that infringed on its intellectual property. Doona flags the listings they are concerned about to Amazon, which then removes them. According to Raviv and the other business owners CNN spoke with, this piecemeal process means listings are often online for several days, leading to a significant window when consumers can buy the potentially dangerous product. 

This is one of the problems that Amazon leaves it up the manufacturer to find the counterfeit products and then flag them to Amazon. Amazon may then remove the products.  

I get that Amazon's business model creates a problem that they cannot validate the source of every item. But they should at least flag something when they 100% sure that it's coming from the manufacturer. 

 

38 minutes ago, orange dream said:

Not business.  This includes books (kindle and audible), music, monthly channel subscriptions, as well as everything from vitamins to coffee...

you're ingesting something bought via Amazon? You're braver than I am. I realize that Kroger or HEB could potentially have fake items as well but it would seem to be much less likely. I would rather pay a few extra dollars knowing what I'm eating or drinking.

[TwiceHorn 31,534]

One strange thing.  Amazon has a facially robust system for trademark and brand owners to register their marks with them and quickly remove infringing/counterfeit products.

At least the registration system seems robust, amazon may be reliant on owners to report infringements and counterfeits or maybe it's all just a dog and pony show.

[smuggs 9,353]

On 12/19/2019 at 7:40 AM, XYZ said:

To the people ordering things from Amazon 100+ times per year, WTF are you buying?

I'm a contractor. I order a ton of odds and ends-type shit for jobs. Everything from plumbing/light fixtures to attic ladders to door hinges. Amazon is a lifesaver when the plans call for 150+ oddball-size Simpson connectors that nobody in town carries and can't get to me promptly. Amazon gets it to me the next day in most cases.

 

[Sbbruin 21,867]

On 12/18/2019 at 7:56 PM, Hornius Emeritus said:

All I buy from Amazon is books. Hard to counterfeit those.

However, I'm told that if you order very specific items at what seems to be high prices you will actually get weed from Colorado delivered to your doorstep.