Amazon Finally Pissed Me Off! (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

I guess I'm in the minority. I have no complaints and haven't had any problems with their packing and shipping. Newegg, on the other hand, really needs to stop using FedEx SmartPost. That shipping method is terrible.

*Edited to correct spelling errors.

I'm with you, mostly. My Prime items arrive on time and in good condition. I still plan on staying Prime. It just seems to me the customer service isn't what it once was.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

On the positive side, almost every item carried at Whole Foods has either already had a price reduction, or will have a price reduction in the next few days.

For now. It looks like they're doing the same thing Amazon did: using a massive amount of capital to undercut the market, even below costs at times. Once they've achieved market dominance, the prices will start creeping back up and the customer service will decline but the other options will have shuttered or become greatly diminished.

For that reason, while I use Amazon and I use Whole Foods, they're never going to be my primary source for goods or groceries. I like to do my part to keep the competition healthy.

 

[jcroy]

Only reason I still buy stuff from amazon, is largely because they are items which are either uncommon (ie. some types of books) or the nearby retailers hardly carry them at all (ie. particular cds/dvds/blurays titles).

Rather frustrating attempting to go shopping locally, just to walk out without finding anything of interest. Especially after wasting too much cash on gasoline, parking fees, and toll fees from driving around. Easier to just stay home and order online.

 

[jcroy]

(With that being said).

At this point I'm willing to "hold my nose" when it comes to ordering from amazon, in spite of the declining quality of service.

Apparently for the stuff I've been ordering, it is a lot less expensive than buying locally (which typically has to be done by special order). Easily 50% less expensive (or better) for non-dumpbin stuff.

(Special orders done for uncommon titles through local bookstores or indie record stores, can be very expensive).

 

[DaveF]

I understand financially why Amazon makes these decisions, but I don't think it's right. At the least, when a customer has complained multiple times about the same issue (whether it's the use of an unreliable, no-name carrier when there are multiple other options with better histories and reputations, or poorly packaged items arriving damaged), Amazon should take steps to make sure those same things don't continue to happen for the same customer.

...

I've written to Amazon's executive customer service several times, emphasizing that the reason I have Prime in the first place is to get new release movies on the Tuesday street date. I end up using Amazon for tons of other things because I'm already a Prime member, from office and kitchen supplies to household goods and clothing. But it's all about the movies for me. If Amazon is going to continue to deliver items late, in damaged condition, or not at all; if every other order is going to have a customer service issue; and if they're not going to take steps to correct the issue, I'll eventually make a decision that it's not worth keeping around. And it's kind of incredible to think that Amazon is more willing to throw away what amounts to thousands of dollars of purchases per year rather than spending an extra few cents on shipping.

Emphasis added.

Not to pick on Josh, but this is the core issue: everyone complains about Amazon, but no one stops shopping there. This isn't about right or wrong, but smart or poor business decisions. If people prefer the cost and convenience despite an occasional problem, then Amazon's doing their calculus correctly.

For me, there are products I won't buy from Amazon and products I will. They've got a counterfeit problem that they're not dealing with. I certainly didn't buy eclipse glasses from Amazon. I avoid as much as possible using "fulfilled by Jimmy Joe's Fish Bait and Top Shelf Liquor Electronics" sellers. When I do buy a new release movie, I'm more likely to buy from BestBuy, because their advertised prices are lower than Amazon's -- and I'm not interested in playing the wink-wink game of trusting A's price will get lower at the last minute.

But on many many other things, I buy from them often, increasingly because their convenience is so far beyond getting out to B&M stores.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Best Buy doesn't sell many of the catalog movies I'm interested in buying so Amazon gets my share of that business. However, other retailers like Deep Discount, importscd, Barnes & Noble, Kino and ClassicFlix gets some of my business too as they're sometimes cheaper than Amazon. I understand Amazon's business model and I don't like monopolistic business entities as I think they're overall bad for consumers, but I will use any retailer that gives me the cheapest price possible including Amazon's foreign sites which sometimes have better pricing than Amazon's site here in America.

 

[jcroy]

For me, there are products I won't buy from Amazon and products I will. They've got a counterfeit problem that they're not dealing with. I certainly didn't buy eclipse glasses from Amazon. I avoid as much as possible using "fulfilled by Jimmy Joe's Fish Bait and Top Shelf Liquor Electronics" sellers.

I generally avoid buying electronics online, unless it is direct from the manufacturer of an uncommon device. (For example, something like an Oppo). Easier to check the local BB or Costco for the mass market electronics stuff. If I have to order through amazon, I'll do some extensive checking first to see whether a particular "third party" dealer is the original manufacturer (whether fulfilled by amazon or not).


The stuff I'm willing to order through amazon's third party dealers, are typically books titles which don't have widespread counterfeiting issues. If you're familiar with particular niches in publishing, you'll know which types of titles have counterfeiting problems and which ones don't. For example back in the day in college, I remember classmates from places like India and China were able to get counterfeit copies of many then-current engineering (or math/physics) textbooks. (Some of these counterfeit textbooks even had hardcover binding).

In my experience, mass market book titles usually don't have too many major counterfeiting problems. Probably not enough "profit" in counterfeiting novels in america (ie. Star Wars, Star Trek, DaVinci Code, Harry Potter, etc ...).

When I do buy a new release movie, I'm more likely to buy from BestBuy, because their advertised prices are lower than Amazon's -- and I'm not interested in playing the wink-wink game of trusting A's price will get lower at the last minute.

Nowadays I'll only buy a title if I am willing to pay first day/week prices for it (or current non-dumpbin prices). If I'm not willing to pay first day/week prices for a particular dvd/bluray, then there is a high probability it will be another title which I'll only watch once.

In my experience, I rarely ever watch "blind buy" catalog or dump bin titles more than once. I've had it with buying too many dvds/blurays that I end up only watching once or twice, in spite of the low cost. Easier to watch such catalog (or dumpbin) movies on basic cable channels whenever they come on (such as superhero and generic action movies).

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Not to pick on Josh, but this is the core issue: everyone complains about Amazon, but no one stops shopping there.

I don't feel picked on, and you're absolutely right on that point. Like i was saying above, I use Amazon for other purchases because I already have the Prime subscription for disc purchases. Right now, even with the Disney feud, there's still enough that I get from Amazon to make it worth keeping (and I wouldn't jump ship before my Prime expires anyway). My Prime renewed in January of this year, so it would have been set to renew in January 2018. Because of the number of screwups, I think it's now renewing in June 2018. So I'd say they have until then to work out some of these kinks for me personally. In a year, if I still can't buy a Disney movie on Amazon, if I can't buy a Warner movie, and if the frequency of damaged or late items doesn't start improving, I can imagine myself walking away. Especially with boutique labels like Kino now opening their own web shot and having frequent sales, waiting to buy direct from the manufacturer is paying off for some of these discs.

 

[Stan]

In my experience, I rarely ever watch "blind buy" catalog or dump bin titles more than once. I've had it with buying too many dvds/blurays that I end up only watching once or twice, in spite of the low cost. Easier to watch such catalog (or dumpbin) movies on basic cable channels whenever they come on (such as superhero and generic action movies).

The last disc I bought was "Gravity" and it's still in its shrink-wrap. That's $30 I'll never see again. I've always kept HBO, but DISH sucked me into EPIX, all the Cinemax channels and Starz. I complained a lot when they came out with a great price for new subscribers and ignored their long term customers, so after endless complaining, phone transfer after phone transfer, I ended up with a pretty good deal. Eventually everything makes it to cable, if you're really in a hurry, there's pay per view.

 

[jcroy]

Eventually everything makes it to cable, if you're really in a hurry, there's pay per view.

For the time being, I primarily watch movies on basic cable channels (or sometimes even generic network tv) largely to see what might be a viable as a future dvd/bluray purchase.

Though in practice I've found that even for broadcast movies that i watched over and over again (on the dvr), which I ended up subsequently buying on dvd/bluray, I've found that I have rarely ever watched the dvd/bluray version more than once or twice.

This was especially the case for tv shows where I watched all the then-current episodes as many as a dozen times. After purchasing the dvd/bluray, I rarely ever watched the show again. (Shows like Person of Interest, the Nikita reboot, Fringe, etc ...).

I've come to the realization that the few dvds/blurays that I end up watching over and over again, are like needles in a haystack. Some are titles that I would have never guessed that I would like watching over and over again (such as the atrociously awful CSI Cyber).

 

[Stan]

Some are titles that I would have never guessed that I would like watching over and over again (such as the atrociously awful CSI Cyber).

Atrocious is possibly the most polite word for that thing, wow it was bad. I really like Patricia Arquette, but that was a dud. Naturally Ted Danson shows up to really ruin it.

To this day, even though I've sold many discs, yet I've probably still got 50+ movies still shrink-wrapped that I've not watched. Saving my money now and just don't do it any longer.

 

[jcroy]

To this day, even though I've sold many discs, yet I've probably still got 50+ movies still shrink-wrapped that I've not watched. Saving my money now and just don't do it any longer.

(As an aside).

Money wasn't an issue for me. Buying/collecting dvds and blurays was actually one of the least expensive hobbies I've had. (Especially buying at amazon and various local dump bins).

I've had other hobbies in the past which are much more cash intensive than dvd/bluray (such as collecting comic books, musical instruments, etc ...).

My issue with buying too many dvds/blurays, is that strong feeling of "being let down" repeatedly after every purchase. For some strange reason, my interest in a particular movie/tv show seems to nosedive to almost zero shortly after I buy and watch the dvd/bluray version. (I have no idea why exactly this happens all the time).

 

[jcroy]

(As an aside).

...

My issue with buying too many dvds/blurays, is that strong feeling of "being let down" repeatedly after every purchase. For some strange reason, my interest in a particular movie/tv show seems to nosedive to almost zero shortly after I buy and watch the dvd/bluray version. (I have no idea why exactly this happens all the time).

For lack of a better description, the one analogy to this ^ that I can think of offhand, could be summed up as:

"The chase is better than the catch".

 

[ScottHM]

Not to pick on Josh, but this is the core issue: everyone complains about Amazon, but no one stops shopping there.

I don't know about that. My purchases from Amazon have really declined recently. I haven't purchased anything from them since July, and I've placed 26 orders in the last six months, which would put me on course for an annual order total of about 52. By comparison, here are my order totals for the previous four years:

2016 - 99 orders
2015 - 74 orders
2014 - 84 orders
2013 - 85 orders

Amazon has definitely become less attractive to me this year, mostly due to higher prices. In particular, I'm buying far fewer Bluray/DVD products from Amazon. In previous years I've bought about 80% of my discs from there, but this year it's been more like 30%.

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[Stan]

My issue with buying too many dvds/blurays, is that strong feeling of "being let down" repeatedly after every purchase. For some strange reason, my interest in a particular movie/tv show seems to nosedive to almost zero shortly after I buy and watch the dvd/bluray version. (I have no idea why exactly this happens all the time).

The "being let down" is my biggest reason for not purchasing much any longer. We've all been burned buying the latest and greatest, only to find out a few months later there's an "enhanced" version, extra scenes etc.

Then further on, another one with director and actor commentary, more behind the scenes stuff. Then a special collector's edition, maybe in a special container, like they did with "Total Recall".

I literally bought four different versions of "Aliens". Not falling for it ever again.

 

[David Norman]

I've been Prime sicne the program started as a Free trial. I've been paid member since they started charging. The last 2-3 years I know I haven't directly used the $100 fee. I do still have my distant children on my grandfathered acct so maybe they've taken up the slack so I'm not wasting money completely

2011 -- 80 orders -- 90% Movies 1 return
2012 -- 80+ orders about 60 Bluray orders almost 100% directly from Amazon (likely 200 blurays total). 1 return for damage/incorrect
2013 -- 50 orders. 40 with Blurays. all Amazon (no Marketplace) with 5 returns for wrong orders, damages merchandise

Many/most of these orders were probably groups of 2-5 movies
2014 -- 30 orders, 10-15 with movies from Amazon and maybe 5 3rd party, often single. (20 BD total). Another 4 damaged orders returned
2015 -- 20 order 4 Movie orders from Amazon (1 or 2) + another 4-5 from 3rd Party
2016 -- 20 orders -- 2 Movie orders from Amazon (4 BD total), maybe half dozen from 3rd party. Mostly singles. 3 Damaged order returnd
2017 -- 15 orders to date. 6 for Blurays from Amazon (3 Price mistakes), another 5-6 3rd Party. 2 damaged orders returned.

I did increase my orders this year slightly due to much of the Free Money offers around Prime Day (GC refill bonus, Amazon Cash offer, and a couple other "try out this and we'll give you $20"). Dollar Totals from 2015-2017 are 10% what I spent in the peak years. Movie orders have almost entirely been shifted to other companies

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Speaking of damaged merchandise, this isn't exactly the same, but I do wish they'd do a better job of inspecting material from third party sellers that they fulfill, especially when their product searches will default you to the third party seller over Amazon.

The overwhelming majority of Blu-rays that I have received from third party sellers in the past year or two have not been as advertised. When I buy a product that's listed as being new, I expect to receive a sealed package with intact shrink wrap, without any physical damage to the case or disc, and no markings or punctures. Nearly every "third party fulfilled" Amazon order for a "new" item has come with the shrink wrap torn in some way, and the bar code punched out, usually causing collateral damage to the plastic case. These are not marked anywhere on the product page or seller page as being cutouts. In almost every case, the third party seller's item was not substantially cheaper than Amazon's, and most of the time, I didn't immediately notice that I was being directed to another seller. I would have gladly paid an extra twenty cents to get an intact copy. When I have complained, Amazon has often issued me a credit for the item and told me that I did not have to return it, but they don't seem to be cracking down on any of these sellers. If the sellers want to list the product as "like new" and give a detailed description of the damage to the case, I would perhaps consider buying it, but when I see a product listed as being new, I expect to receive a new product.

 

[ScottHM]

When I have complained, Amazon has often issued me a credit for the item and told me that I did not have to return it, but they don't seem to be cracking down on any of these sellers.

I admit that getting the product you want in pristine condition is the desired outcome, but getting it for free because the packaging was slightly damaged is not a bad thing.

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[Josh Steinberg]

I admit that getting the product you want in pristine condition is the desired outcome, but getting it for free because the packaging was slightly damaged is not a bad thing.

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For items that were purchased for myself, that's hasn't been terrible. But for items that were purchased to be gifts, those were unusable as gifts and had to be repurchased, in one case missing the actual occasion it was intended for. If this just happened once or twice, it's one thing, but it's something else that over 90% of the items I purchased in the past two years labeled as "new" from "fulfilled by Amazon" weren't actually in new condition. That to me suggests that there's a systemic problem in how merchandise is being evaluated. The third party sellers are clearly dropping their items to a lower price to get the first set of eyeballs, but I wonder if people would be inclined to order if it actually said "*Not actually new - shrink wrap may have been removed, cover is damaged and case may have been punctured - not suitable for collectors, displays or gifting" Is that really worth the twenty cent saving over the one sold by Amazon that actually is new?

 

[ScottHM]

I wonder if people would be inclined to order if it actually said "*Not actually new - shrink wrap may have been removed, cover is damaged and case may have been punctured - not suitable for collectors, displays or gifting" Is that really worth the twenty cent saving over the one sold by Amazon that actually is new?

I wouldn't buy something labeled like that, but I've been pretty lucky about not needing to exchange many orders, and so far I haven't had any significant customer service complaint with Amazon. My biggest issues with them are occasional delays in receiving orders and their rising prices.

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