oh well bye bye Am*zon.com (1 Viewer)

[Nick Martin]

My primary reason for buying from Amazon US was to avoid the gawd-awful bilingual Canadian packaging crap, but not if it's that pricey to do so now.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

You know, I would definitely file a complaint with the US Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission. Because Amazon is definitely violating Federal law by charging fees for something that doesn't apply.

 

[Cees Alons]

I wouldn't go to other parties first - but instead go back to them (even if they suggest it won't help) and argue that apparently they still aren't able to provide customers an import fees estimate for all shipping options, because they're charging the wrong fee, thus also destroying their competitive pricing (if any) as a side-result.

BTW, in my country, charges are collected at the door. So if I'm home, I pay Customs + VAT + a fee for the carrier, and then (and only then) receive the package.
However, by avoiding parcels with a total price above $60, (if possible - it fails when the one item is more expensive), I haven't payed those monies in 98% of the cases since several years. It's a matter of carefully grouping your orders (often, this will slightly increase the shipping fee however).

BTW 2, you Americans ordering from Amazon UK will pay less for the item than we do (not for shipping), because they will deduct the VAT.

BTW 3, the reason most of us Europeans don't have to pay customs when ordering from Amazon / UK (or Ge, or Fr), is because of the European Union. No Customs inside that structure. On the other hand, 19% VAT will have to be added to the price.


Cees

 

[Mark Talmadge]

Cees, Jim tried to state his problem with Amazon and they basically told him he was out of luck:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/3460249-post12.html

If Amazon is doing this to him, how many countless others are they doing this to? It's fraud on a large scale.

 

[Ruz-El]

Jim, I'm in the same boat with Amazon.com and just as disappointed. I got the same brush off reply from them to. I argued that the fee was immoral since it didn't matter on the size of the order based on weight (I was buying 7 pound books) or money, the $30 was added to $60 and $150 orders. I never had an issue with items arriving, and found that I nearly always received the items before the estimated date. This is simply a price gouge.

 

[Jim Browning]

Sorry to see that we share the same problem... but glad not to be alone in it. I was feeling like the lone Canadian getting shafted. The last reply in my mailbox from Amz basically said " we are not discussing this with you anymore".

and despite a few more emails on my behalf....they've kept their word. I too had no problems and fast service in the past. It's a shame

jim

 

[Jim Browning]

You're right! I just tried it myself. I made a couple of test purchases and the dreaded import fee was gone. The only way I could make it return was to select the priority courier option ( which I would never do because its damn expensive) and bingo, the import fee shows up.

Using the standard or expedited option and the import fee is nowhere to be found.

Sounds like a solution was found or and error discovered...whatever the case, it looks like I can get some deals again....i.e. complete Get Smart box set for $109.00 US rather than $169.00 Canadian


are things loking up??... we'll have to see.


Jim

 

[JoshuaB.]

I tried to test order quite a few items from amazon.com and I found the annoying import fee gone as well...which is a very good thing! I can understand the US amazon wanting Canadians to use .ca, but there are many things cheaper on .com (even factoring in the exchange rate and shipping vs. GST and $39+ free shipping on .ca) than .ca. I primarily use .ca mostly for Canadian film/TV DVDs, CDs, etc.

 

[Mark Talmadge]

It could be that either Amazon got a lot of complaints or that the FTC stepped in. Also could be that Amazon got rid of that fee for Canadian customers before they could be fined or investigated. Especially in light of these economic times ...

 

[froggi3]

Jim, try to get the extra money you spent refunded, if they don't respond, tell then you'll sue!

 

[Jim Browning]

Luckily no money was spent... when this whole issue first came up I called a halt to spending until I could check out the whole situation... after all, Amz.com has always treated me well. When there was a disk issue with The Land of the giants set, I contacted them and planned to return it...they said keep it and they would send me another no charge.

My experiences have all been good... and hopefully this situation is now take care of for all of us Canadians who use .com and .ca



jim

 

[JoshuaB.]

Yes, I've always had very good dealings with amazon.com so this whole import tax/fee nonsense was a bit disconcerting, but luckily it appears to be done with--we Canadian cinemaphiles probably spend a fair amount of money on their site!

 

[Cheetah]

I had placed an order with them before Christmas and the import tax was not charged, but unfortunately it appears that they are bringing it back. I was just about to finalize an order and it had shown up again. I then just backed out of it. They should not be charging this fee and I will not order from them as long as they continue to do so.

 

[Kenneth V]

I had the same thing happen....sometimes its charged and sometimes it's not

 

[WendyCR]

I live in the US but have ordered DVDs from Amazon UK with no hassles whatsoever. This sounds odd to me.

 

[Jim Browning]

Well the dreaded Amazon.com import fees seem to be back. I tried to order something today and had an extra $7.00 bucks added to my order. I thought we had seen the last of these.

I understand things are tough all over, but leave my wallet alone Amazon!

Frustrated Jim in Canada

 

[John Watson]

I have had the same problem in recent months, on cds and dvds, but it has been erratic. And so far, some partial(?) refund of the charge has been applied.

It's fishy on several levels.

But the Canadian Amazon site has such a small stock, that I'm not likely to shop much there.

Time to cut back on my Amazon ordering :frowning:

 

[John Watson]

the other cost factor that bugs me is their rigid shipping costs to Canada.

it's a flat rate per disk, whether I order 1 or 5. I would expect a reduction per unit if I order 4 or 5 at a time, but they don't do that. Plus the shipping cost per disk rose from $3 to $4 a couple of years ago

 

[potnoodle]

Have you ever ordered anything from Deep Discount? Right off the bat, most of their DVD prices are lower than Amazon's and they have free shipping (at least for US orders). I order most of my DVDs from them and I've had no problems, and even with their free shipping option, most of the time they were delivered within a week. Don't know what their policy is regarding Canadian orders, but it might be worth looking into.

 

[Jeff Willis]

I've used DD for several years. I'd give them a B+ vs Amazon's "A" grade, mainly due to, imo, slightly better Cust Svc at Amazon and, to me, an easier "return-postage" system vs DD.

One thing that I've noticed happening at DD recently is that they are shipping more of my orders in envelopes and not boxes which has caused damage in a couple of my orders received. I'm guessing that DD is using more envelope shippers to save $'s but maybe that's not saving them much, given the increase in returns. I heard from a friend that has also had to return damaged DVD's. His "Looney Tunes V6" set was completely crushed upon receiving it.

As for pricing, that perhaps depends more of what we're comparing. What I've noticed over the past couple of years is that they don't always beat Amazon's pricing which used to be true in nearly all TV/DVD sets that I priced. There are numerous times where Amazon's price is lower for pre-orders or recent releases. Where I've seen more savings at DD has been their movie DVD's that have been released for several years. More than half the time I check those prices vs Amazon's, DD's prices are lower.

As for shipping times, for my situation located in Dallas, my Amazon orders arrive faster than DD's nearly every shipment vs DD's and that's when I use Amazon's free shipping method.

One advantage that DD has vs Amazon is that there's no min order for their free shippping where Amazon requires a min of $25 to qualify. However, this is almost always a moot point for me since I always order above the min requirement at Amazon each time.