Amazon relents on Sales Tax, sets sights on Same Day Delivery instead (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

I've actually had TERRIBLE Prime service since Thanksgiving. Have had 4 packages, including one worth north of $500, take more than 5 days to deliver. Some were 3rd party fulfilled by Amazon fake prime but two were actual Amazon Prime items that did not ship in time.... Amazon's customer service was terrible, telling me my feedback was valuable and dumping it into the bit bucket....

The only time I've ever had late delivery of Prime, it was caused by severe weather. I didn't call to complain figuring that Amazon still can't control the weather. . I've always been well treated by CS. There was this one time when a package was going all over the country for no reason and Amazon over-nighted a replacement. I ordered Ben-Hur from Amazon UK and after 15 days or so, no disk. They shipped another. 2 days later the first shipment arrived. I emailed them, they said thanks for being honest, and keep the extra disc. My Kindle developed a cracked screen and Amazon replaced it with no questions asked. For me Amazon CS is the gold standard. I'd still rather have tax free as opposed to same-day delivery. I have Prime more for the one-time charge for delivery than for the 2 day delivery part. I've reached the point where I'd rather wait and not go to B&M as long as the price is comparable.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

My Amazon customer service experiences have been similar to Johnny's -- they have always been very positive. Even though I rarely shop there, I've had multiple bad experiences at Best Buy. So, if Best Buy just matches Amazon's pricing, including sales tax, I still will be giving Amazon my business. There has to be a significant savings to get me into BB's store.

 

[Sam Posten]

Imma just leave this right here: http://qz.com/54512/amazon-should-just-buy-radioshack/

 

[Carlo_M]

Only if they could make it financially make sense. Radio Shack is bleeding cash now and is such a financial drain that I wouldn't want any sort of acquisition of the "shack" to hurt Amazon instead of help.

 

[Sam Posten]

Amazon might not even be first:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/28/us-retail-walmart-delivery-idUSBRE92R03820130328

http://techcrunch.com/2013/03/28/google-starts-testing-google-shopping-express-today-in-sf-free-delivery-at-target-walgreens-staples-and-more/

 

[Carlo_M]

Crowd sourcing deliveries...great...I can go from USPS losing my packages to my fellow Americans losing my packages...

 

[Sam Posten]

More on the Grocery angle:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2013/06/04/amazon-reportedly-taking-its-grocery-deliver-service-to-la-sf-in-2013-20-more-markets-in-2014/

 

[Sam Posten]

Heh:

It’s hard to make much money when you’re opening refrigerated fulfillment centers around the country, manufacturing your first set-top box, preparing to launch a phone, buying up video content in a furious competition with Netflix, and creating original programming, all the while diving into new product categories and revolutionizing the publishing business.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-25/jeff-bezos-doesnt-care-what-you-think-about-amazons-quarterly-earnings

 

[Sam Posten]

Kaboom, Google hits it first!
https://www.google.com/shopping/express/about/index.html

(Hopefully it's better than the shitty service I have had buying the Chromecast under Google Play),

 

[mattCR]

To echo some of the comments above, Amazon Prime has been damn near perfect for me. Almost no issues to report.

 

[mattCR]

Kaboom, Google hits it first!
https://www.google.com/shopping/express/about/index.html

(Hopefully it's better than the shitty service I have had buying the Chromecast under Google Play),

No, they aren't. Amazon has been doing Same Day in some markets for a bit. Heck, Walmart.Com offers same day here..

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/business/wal-mart-tests-same-day-delivery.html?_r=0

 

[Sam Posten]

Ah cool, forgot they had the trials out!

 

[Sam Posten]

Sunday sunday sunnnnnday!http://techcrunch.com/2013/11/11/amazon-sunday-delivery/

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I was quite amazed to find an Amazon package on my doorstep yesterday, Sunday.

...then I heard the news this morning.

...and I work for the Postal Service and had no idea. I even pitch the Amazon parcels
every morning. We stop everything we are doing and make certain those parcels get
priority treatment -- the reason why Amazon is moving away from UPS and giving them
to us.

 

[Charles Smith]

Wow! Hadn't heard about this. And, Ron, call me old fashioned (and what can go wrong with one?), but I love USPS service. I have no particular dislike for the others (exception: DHL, a nightmare), but I'm truly happy to hear they're giving more to USPS.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thanks, Charles.

Amazon didn't want to give us their packages. Said we couldn't handle it
and get it done on time.

We proved them wrong.

UPS actually fell behind last Christmas.

So, this is a biggie for us and as and we really are giving priority attention
to anything that comes in as Amazon.

 

[Sam Posten]

This might actually not be great for me, not sure. In my community our postal mail gets delivered to a crappy central box post in the middle of the development, even packages, while UPS and Fedex deliver to the door. So I'd never even know if USPS put a package in there for me until monday afternoon....

 

[jsteed]

Thanks, Charles. Amazon didn't want to give us their packages. Said we couldn't handle itand get it done on time.We proved them wrong. UPS actually fell behind last Christmas.So, this is a biggie for us and as and we really are giving priority attentionto anything that comes in as Amazon.

Never had any issues with USPS, when I had an Amazon Prime free trial last year I received several movies that were damaged on arrival from UPS. Whenever I sell stuff on eBay I use USPS to ship it.

 

[David Weicker]

I actually prefer USPS over UPS.I don't have a problem with either as far as their service, quality, etc.However, living in an apartment where I can never have packages delivered when I'm out, I find the Postal Service more convenient for pick-up.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I wish Amazon used USPS for all my Prime shipments. Instead, sometimes I get packages from a private delivery service called Prestige. Twice over the span of about a month, packages through this delivery service never arrived. Amazon was great about sending replacements overnight, and I told Amazon something was amiss with that service. Amazon said they would investigate, but I never heard anything. I have not had a missing package from Prestige since, though.

I have never had a missing shipment from either USPS or UPS. Either work for me.

I did have a somewhat humorous interaction with our USPS mail lady a while back, though. I was installing a new mailbox about a year ago (our old one was looking pretty sad), and she drove by delivering the mail while we were setting the post in concrete. She jokingly asked: "installing a bigger box to hold more packages, huh?". Yes, I do shop a lot online.